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Welcome to Wilton
Fairfield County
Connecticut
School Information
Detailed Town Statistics
Summary Town Statistic
Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 17,633.
Settled in the early eighteenth century, Wilton became an independent town in 1802. Today, Wilton, like many other Fairfield County towns, is an expensive residential community with open lands (a testament to its colonial farming roots), historic architecture and extensive town services. Residents commonly commute to Stamford, New York City and White Plains, although there are a number of office buildings in town.
Its town center contains a Starbucks, a Gap, a Stop & Shop, and a Crown Cinema. However, some of these stores were added around the year 2000. These new stores were built adjacent to the old Wilton Center. The old Wilton Center consists of the Wilton Library, Old Post Office Square, the Village Market. The selling of packaged alcohol is illegal in Wilton.
Wilton, like its neighbors, is one of the most affluent small communities in the United States.
Housing stock and land use
Wilton has, by some estimates, more than 500 restored 18th and 19th century homes.
"Teardowns have become quite an issue in town," Marilyn Gould, Wilton's second selectman and director of the Wilton Historical Society, told a reporter for the New York Times in 2005. "People aren't taking down historic houses but the more modest homes that were built in the 50's and 60's," she said. "What that's doing is changing the affordability of the town and the demographic of the town. Wilton used to have a wide demographic of people who worked with their hands - artisans, builders, mechanics. Now it's management and upper management.” From 1999 to 2005, the town's voters have endorsed spending $23 million through municipal bonds to preserve land.
Neighborhoods
The southwest corner of town includes part of the Silvermine neighborhood (which also extends into New Canaan and Norwalk. Georgetown, which is primarily in Redding and partly in Weston, extends a bit into the northeast corner of town. Other neighborhoods in town are South Wilton, Wilton Center, Gilbert Corners, Cannondale and North Wilton.
Four designated historic districts exist in Wilton and feature examples of early American homes. Stately traditional houses and impressive contemporaries as well as luxury condominiums are integrated among historic structures. One- and two-acre lots help give many parts of the town a pastoral character.
Famous residents, past and present
• Sophie Cabot Black, poet who grew up in and lives in town.
• Chance Browne, cartoonist of syndicated comic strip Hi and Lois
• Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
• David Canary, actor
• Paul Dano (born 1984), actor born and raised in town
• Charles Grodin, actor
• Johnny Gruelle, artist who created Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy
• June Havoc, actress, who also renovated buildings to create the Cannon Crossing center of small shops. Her sister Gypsy Rose Lee frequently visited her.
• "Patty Hearst," now Patricia Hearst Shaw
• Soccer star Kristine Lilly, a longtime member of the US national team who has more international appearances than any other soccer player (male or female) in history, grew up in Wilton.
• Joe Pantoliano, actor
• Steve Phillips, Former NY Mets General Manager and current ESPN baseball analyst
• John Scofield (not a current resident, but grew up in the town), jazz guitarist for Miles Davis
• Christopher Walken, actor
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Wilton, Connecticut”.
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