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Welcome to Ridgefield
Fairfield County
Connecticut
School Information
Detailed Town Statistics
Summary Town Statistics
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community has a population of 23,643, spread across 34 square miles. Ridgefield is known for its wealth, and like many other communities in Connecticut, it is among the most affluent towns in the United States.
History
Ridgefield was first settled by English colonists from Norwalk and Milford in 1708 when a group of settlers purchased land from Chief Catoonah of the Ramapoo tribe. The town was incorporated under Royal Charter in 1709. The most notable 18th Centery event was the Battle of Ridgefield (on April 27, 1777). This Revolutionary War skirmish involved a small colonial militia force (the Connecticut Continentals), led by, among others, General David Wooster, who died in the engagement, and Benedict Arnold, whose horse was shot from under him. They faced a larger British force that had landed at Norwalk and was returning from a raid on the colonial supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut. The battle was a tactical victory for the British but a strategic one for the Colonials since the British never again attempted a landing by ship to attack colonial strongholds during the war. Today, the dead from both sides are buried together in a small cemetery....."...foes in arms, brothers in death..." The Keeler Tavern, a local inn and museum, features a British cannonball still lodged in the side of the building. There are many other landmarks from the Revolutionary War in the town, with most along Main Street.
In the summer of 1781, the French army, under the Comte de Rochambeau marched through Connecticut, encamping in the Ridgebury section of town, where the first Catholic Mass in Ridgefield was offered.
For much of its three centuries, Ridgefield was a farming community. Among the important families in the 19th Century were the Rockwells and Lounsburys, which intermarried. They produced two Connecticut governors, George and Phineas Lounsbury. The Ridgefield Veterans Memorial Community Center, also called the Lounsbury House, on Main Street was built by Gov. Phineas Chapman Lounsbury around 1896 as his home.
In the late 1800s, spurred by the new railroad connection to its lofty village and the fact that nearby countryside reaches 1,000 feet above sea level, Ridgefield began to be discovered by wealthy New York City residents, who assembled large estates and built huge "summer cottages" throughout the higher sections of town. Among the more noteworthy estates were Col. Louis D. Conley's "Outpost Farm," which at one point totalled nearly 2,000 acres, some now Bennett's Pond State Park; Seth Low Pierrepont's "Twixthills," more than 600 acres, much now Pierrepont State Park; Frederic E. Lewis's "Upagenstit," 100 acres that became Grey Court College in the 1940s, but now mostly subdivision; and Col. Edward M. Knox's "Downesbury Manor," whose 300 acres included a 45-room mansion that Mark Twain often visited.
These and dozens of other estates became unaffordable and unwieldy during and after the Great Depression, and most were broken up. Many mansions were razed. In their place came subdivisions of one- and two-acre lots that turned the town into a suburban, bedroom community in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. However, strong planning and zoning has maintained much of the 19th and early 20th Century charm of the town, especially along its famous mile-long Main Street.
Attractions, landmarks, and institutions
The Keeler Tavern Museum preserves an early 1700s house that, by the time of the Revolution, had become a tavern and inn. The tavern was a center of community activities, an early post office, and a stop on the northern New York to Boston post road. In the early 20th Century, it was the home of noted architect Cass Gilbert. The tavern is open several days a week, offers tours, and has a gift shop.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is a leading venue for the world's best contemporary artists. Its exhibitions have attracted international attention and respect. The museum was redesigned and expanded in 2004, and offers many special programs, including concerts.
Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra began as the Ridgefield Symphonette in 1965 with 20 players, only a third of them professionals. It became fully professional by the end of the decade and today has 75 musicians and draws soloists of international reputation. In 1984, Maxim Shostakovich, then a Ridgefielder, conducted a sold-out concert of music by his father, Dmitri Shostakovich, with the composer's grandson, Dmitri, performing as piano soloist.
The Ridgefield Playhouse, opened in December 2000, is housed in the "old Ridgefield High School" auditorium, designed in the 1940s by Cass Gilbert Jr. (son of Cass Gilbert, architect of the Supreme Court building and the Woolworth Building), and extensively remodeled as a playhouse. The Playhouse is the year-round venue for dozens of concerts and other performances, many by internationally known artists such as Joan Baez, Paul Newman, Arlo Guthrie, Jose Feliciano, the Bacon Brothers, Peter Yarrow, Marcel Marceau, Barbara Cook, and Moscow Boys Choir. The Playhouse also shows movies, many of them first-run.
Weir Farm National Historic Site straddles the Ridgefield-Wilton border, and is the only National Park Service property in Connecticut. The site preserves much of the farm of J. Alden Weir (1852-1919), a painter of the American Impressionism style, and was later used by his son-in-law, Mahonri Young (1877-1957), noted sculptor and a grandson of Brigham Young. The site include the Weir Farm Art Center and a gallery, and many special events take place there, including shows by visiting artists in residence.
Ridgefield's public open space includes Aldrich Park (65 acres), Bennett's Pond state park (460 acres), Brewster Farm (103 acres), Florida Refuge (63 acres), Hemlock Hills/Lake Windwing (421 acres), Pine Mountain (368 acres), the Seth Low Pierrepont State Park (313 acres), and the Weir Farm National Historic Site (57 acres). A more complete list, along with descriptions and a few trail maps, can be found the Ridgefield Open Space Association's website. Rules governing the use of this land can be found at town hall, or on ROSA's page.
The town's largest industry Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., whose United States headquarters are located in the Ridgebury section of town.
Notable people, past and present
Ridgefield has been associated with numerous famous people in many different fields. A brief summary includes actor Robert Vaughn and actor/playwright Harvey Fierstein live in town. Authors have included Eugene O'Neill, Howard Fast and Cornelius Ryan. Children's book authors Richard Scarry and Maurice Sendak have both lived in town. Businesswoman Carolyn Kepcher, who appeared on the NBC show The Apprentice, is a resident, as is Judy Collins. Conductor Maxim Shostakovich once lived in town, as did Time magazine owner Henry Luce and his wife, Clare Boothe Luce, who was also a playwright and Congresswoman.
Kurt Waldheim, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, rested in town at the estate of a friend, and Theodore Sorenson, former advisor to President John F. Kennedy, was once a town resident. Ira Joe Fisher, a poet who is also a weatherman on CBS television, lives in town.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Ridgefield, Connecticut”.
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