North Stamford
Encyclopedia
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
north of the Merritt Parkway
Merritt Parkway
The Merritt Parkway is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the...
. Often hilly and woodsy, it is less densely developed than the rest of the city.
To the southeast is the Springdale
Springdale, Connecticut
Springdale is a section or neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut. It is known around Stamford to have a small-town feel in the middle of a mid-sized city...
section of Stamford, to the south is the Turn of River section and to the southwest is the Westover section of Stamford. To the west is the "back country" of Greenwich
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
and to the north is Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census.The town is located in the eastern corner of the county, bordered by New Canaan, Connecticut, to the east, Stamford, Connecticut, to the south, Bedford, New York, to the west and...
. To the east is New Canaan
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
.
High Ridge Road, in the area just south of the Merrit Parkway, is the largest shopping district near North Stamford. A shopping plaza and some surrounding stores are also nearby on Newfield Avenue, and downtown Springdale also offers nearby stores.
When Stamford's population began to grow during and after World War II, 30,000 new residents arrived from 1940 to 1960. "North Stamford developed with one- and two-acre zoning, looking just like Wilton or New Canaan," Janice Green, manager of the William Pitt Real Estate office, told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1989. "Executives moved up there who had no connection with the factories and ethnic working-class neighborhoods downtown."
Landmarks and institutions
City reservoirs are located in North Stamford, as are the Bartlett ArboretumBartlett Arboretum and Gardens
The Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens contains 91 acres of parkland, gardens, landscapes, and hiking trails, that focus on the regional plants, ecology and character of Southwestern New England. The Arboretum is open and accessible to the public every day of the year. It is located at 151 Brookdale...
and the Stamford Historical Society headquarters and museum.
Also in the neighborhood is the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, a 118 acre (0.47752948 km²) facility on Scofieldtown Road. The museum works with schools in Stamford, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Darien and Greenwich, and more than 10,000 students visit every year. In 2007 the museum and nature center started working with Aquarion, a water utility serving much of Fairfield County, in a program meant to educate children about water ecology and watershed protection.
Buttonwood Manor, a Colonial-style house on an estate of 8 acres (32,374.9 m²), is in North Stamford. The original main house was built by Jacob Stevens in 1809, then sold it in 1821 to Gould Raymond. For 77 years the Raymond family farmed the land. By 1926 Mary Stella Tisdale Atwood had bought the house from Otto Sarrach and began restoring it. She sold the estate to William E. Stevenson
William Stevenson (athlete)
William Edwards Stevenson was an American track and field athlete, lawyer and diplomat, who won the gold medal in 4x400 m relay at the 1924 Summer Olympics and later served as president of Oberlin College....
, a Gold Medal winner in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris (setting a new world record of 3:16.0 as member of the American 400-meter relay team) and later a president of Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
. While Stevenson and his wife were in England running American Red Cross operations in World War II, they rented the house to Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
, a lyricist.
Cemeteries
North Stamford contains numerous old cemeteries from the nineteenth century and before, some quite small and often with gravestones bearing elaborate engravings and even poetry.These old cemeteries are in North Stamford:
- June (1846-1866) — north side of Constance Road, in the woods
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- William S. June, 1846, age 25:
- Dear young friends, as you pass by
- As you are now so once was I
- As I am now so you must be
- Prepare for death & follow me
- William S. June, 1846, age 25:
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- Webbs Hill (1796-1878) — east of Webbs Hill Road, south of Jeffrey Lane
- Dean (1838-1891) — south side of Lolly Lane
- Seth Smith (1831-1846) — southeast corner of Riverbank Road and Riverbank Drive
- Ebenezer Smith (1835-1877) — west side of Riverbank Road
- Isaac Smith (1860) — west side of Riverbank Road
- Scofieldtown (1807-1932) — east side of Scofieldtown Road, north of Woodley Road
- Thaddeus Lockwood (1827-1851) — east side of Riverbank Road
- Hait (1807-1860) — west side of Riverbank Road, south of Farms Road
- Edwin R,. Lockwood (1857-1896) — east side of Hunting Ridge Road
- North Stamford (1776-1932) — east side of Lakeside Drive, north of reservoir
- Poorhouse (no dates) — east side of Scofieldtown Road, southeast of former University of Connecticut campus
- East Hunting Ridge (1830-1856) — northeast corner of East Hunting Ridge and Haviland roads
- Smith-Clason (1826-1849) — south side of Hunting Glen Road
- Brush (1760-1828) — west side of East Middle Patent Road
- Long Ridge Union (1796-"present" [at least 1980]) — south side of Erskine Road near Long Ridge Road
- High Ridge (1796-"present" [at least 1980]) — west side of High Ridge Road, opposite United Methodist Church
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- Mary E. Dann, 1861, age 26:
- Dear husband and children and sisters, farewell
- I go to the land of the blest
- Where our parents and children dwell
- Where soon we all may find rest.
- Two bright little cherubs up there
- Call out for their mother to come
- Our mothers and children are there
- Awaiting to welcome me home.
- Then grieve not, dear loved ones, that I
- Must leave this sad world and its woe
- Tis to join with the loved ones on high
- That I part with the loved ones below.
- Mary E. Dann, 1861, age 26:
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- Hannah Jones Lockwood, 1842, age 4:
- O Father dear, prepare to follow me
- In Heaven your wife & sweet babes to see
- Affliction sore this infant bare
- Physicians aid was in vain
- Till God did please to call her home
- And freed her from her pain.
- Hannah Jones Lockwood, 1842, age 4:
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- Oren S. Palmer, 1865, age 1:
- Two more little hands
- Close folded on the breast
- One more little form
- Is gently laid to rest.
- Oren S. Palmer, 1865, age 1:
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Fire Department
The Stamford Fire RescueStamford Fire Rescue
The Stamford Fire and Rescue Department provides fire suppression and rescue, as well as first-responder emergency medical services alongside five volunteer fire departments to the City of Stamford, Connecticut.-Personnel profile:...
Department's Fire Station #'s 8 and 9 serve the neighborhood, as well as the Turn of River Volunteer Fire Department Station #'s 1 and 2 and the Long Ridge Volunteer Fire Department's Station #'s 1 and 2.
Notable residents, past and present
- Michael BoltonMichael BoltonMichael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, singer, lived in North Stamford (as of 1998) before moving to Westport. - Gutzon BorglumGutzon BorglumGutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American artist and sculptor famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the famous carving on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, as well as other public works of art.- Background :The son of Mormon Danish immigrants, Gutzon...
, sculptor of Mount RushmoreMount RushmoreMount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
, lived in North Stamford from 1910 to 1920. - Chambers Brothers, psychedelic soul, recorded Time Has Come Today. with drummer Brian Keenan, were the 2nd black family to integrate No. Stamford
- Dorothy FieldsDorothy FieldsDorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
, lyricist, rented Buttonwood Manor from William E. StevensWilliam Stevenson (athlete)William Edwards Stevenson was an American track and field athlete, lawyer and diplomat, who won the gold medal in 4x400 m relay at the 1924 Summer Olympics and later served as president of Oberlin College....
during World War II. - Harry HoudiniHarry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
, magician and escape artist, had a home on Webbs Hill Road. - Cyndi LauperCyndi LauperCynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, singer, has (or had, as of 1998) a home in North Stamford. - Josh LoganJosh LoganJosh Logan of Manchester, New Hampshire, is the front man and vocalist for his three-person band whose self-titled first album is "Josh Logan and Nobody's Business." In 2006, he was a contestant on the CBS program Rock Star: Supernova.-Biography:Inspired by Stevie Wonder and Pearl Jam, Logan began...
, a theatrical producer, lives or lived (as of 1998) in North Stamford. - Ezio PinzaEzio PinzaEzio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
, a star of the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, was a resident of North Stamford. - Alex RaymondAlex RaymondAlexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
, creator of the Flash GordonFlash GordonFlash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
comic strip, lived in North Stamford.
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- Jackie RobinsonJackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, baseball player, made North Stamford his home later in his life. One of the several Stamford Little League Baseball leagues is named after him. - Chuck ScarboroughChuck ScarboroughCharles Bishop "Chuck" Scarborough III is an American television journalist and author. Since 1974 Scarborough has been the lead male news anchor at WNBC-TV, the New York City-based flagship station of the NBC Television Network, and has also appeared on NBC News. He currently co-anchors with...
, news anchor for WNBC-TV Channel 4 in New York City, has a home here. - Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
lived in North Stamford when he was a boy. - William E. StevensonWilliam Stevenson (athlete)William Edwards Stevenson was an American track and field athlete, lawyer and diplomat, who won the gold medal in 4x400 m relay at the 1924 Summer Olympics and later served as president of Oberlin College....
, 1924 Olympic Gold Medal winner in track, president of Oberlin CollegeOberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, bought Buttonwood Manor in 1937. - Bobby ValentineBobby ValentineRobert John "Bobby V" Valentine is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is currently the manager of the Boston Red Sox. He previously managed the Texas Rangers and New York Mets as well as the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan...
, former manager of the New York MetsNew York MetsThe New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
, has a home in North Stamford. - Gene WilderGene WilderGene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
, actor, is a resident. - Travis the Chimp lived in North Stamford before being shot and killed by police after going on a rampage and assaulting a friend of his owner.
- Carly SimonCarly SimonCarly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
's parents owned the estate which is now a private school campus on Newfield Avenue. - Gutzon BorglumGutzon BorglumGutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American artist and sculptor famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the famous carving on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, as well as other public works of art.- Background :The son of Mormon Danish immigrants, Gutzon...
owned a sizable estate north of what is now the Merritt ParkwayMerritt ParkwayThe Merritt Parkway is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the...
near High Ridge Road. - Michael Lee Aday aka rockstar Meat LoafMeat LoafMichael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
lived on Eagle Drive in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He coached local little league baseball during that period. - Vivian VanceVivian VanceVivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...
, actress was a resident from 1961 to 1974. - Gilda RadnerGilda RadnerGilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
, comedianne, actress.