By Marie Connors Where is Clamtown?  Would you consider an oysters a delicacy?  Why did the oyster business virtually die in the Quinnipiac River in New Haven? In her book on Fair Haven, Doris B. Townshend   explains that originally the town named “Dragon” was known colloquially as Clamtown. This was a hot spot on the Quinnipiac River (older spelling “Quinepiac”) where an annual oyster derby took place on September 1 .  For about ten years from 1820-1830 this was a  fun, exciting family-oriented event where muscular men raced in canoes and all kinds of boats to the oyster beds. Once there, they raked up and pulled up with large tongs as many oysters as they could. Then they paddled or rowed back to shore where wagons were waiting to deliver the loads to the oystermen's houses. This was one day of diversion for this little fishing village. By the late Eighteenth Century until the early part of the Twentieth, Fair Haven was a beehive of activit...