Southport, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
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Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
of the town of Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
, located along Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
between the Mill River and Sasco Brook (the Westport
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
town line). As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,585. Settled in 1639, the downtown area has been designated a local historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
since 1967 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1971 as the Southport Historic District
Southport Historic District (Fairfield, Connecticut)
The Southport Historic District in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut is a area historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It preserves a portion of the modern neighborhood and former borough of Southport, Connecticut...
. The historic significance of Southport is because of its harbor, churches, public buildings, and the homesteads of some of the first families in southwestern Connecticut.
History
Great Swamp Fight
The Great Swamp Fight, or the Great Swamp Massacre, was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett tribe in December of 1675.-Battle:...
of King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
), an episode of the Pequot War
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...
in which English colonial forces led by John Mason and Roger Ludlow
Roger Ludlow
Roger Ludlow was one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut. He was born in March 1590 in Dinton, Wiltshire, England. Roger was the second son of Sir Thomas Ludlow of Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire and Jane Pyle, sister of Sir Gabriel Pyle...
vanquished a band of about 80 to 100 Pequot
Pequot
Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...
Indians who had earlier fled from their home territory in the Mystic
Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place in New London County, Connecticut, in the United States. The population was 4,001 at the 2000 census. A historic locality, Mystic has no independent government because it is not a legally recognized municipality in the state of Connecticut...
area and had taken refuge with about 200 Sasqua Indians who inhabited the area that is now Fairfield. The exact location of the battle is not known, but it is known to have been in the vicinity of Southport.
In the eighteenth century, Mill River village, a part of Fairfield, was a small hamlet of a few houses and a wharf at the mouth of Fairfield's Mill River. Farm products from the surrounding area were shipped from Mill River's small harbor to ports in New York and beyond.
By 1831 the village had changed its name to Southport and was a bustling commercial area with warehouses, churches, schools, stores and elegant houses. Before 1853, Southport had its own local government as a borough
Borough (Connecticut)
In the U.S. state of Connecticut, a borough is an incorporated section of a town. Borough governments are not autonomous and are subordinate to the government of the town to which they belong...
within the town of Fairfield. Southport became a leading coastal port on Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, its ships carrying produce and goods back and forth to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. A measure of Southport's success is the fact that throughout the 1800s it possessed the only two banks
Commercial bank
After the implementation of the Glass–Steagall Act, the U.S. Congress required that banks engage only in banking activities, whereas investment banks were limited to capital market activities. As the two no longer have to be under separate ownership under U.S...
in town. However, competition from steamboats and the railroad took its toll on prosperity. Resourceful shippers teamed with local farmers and businessmen to keep the port going; the Southport onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
, a high quality onion, was developed and grown on Fairfield's hills and shipped in Southport market boats, keeping the harbor profitable until the end of the century. In the 1890s, 100,000 barrels of locally grown onions, carrots, potatoes, and other goods were shipped annually from Southport harbor.
Today, much of the old village area is part of a town historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
, first established in 1967, where buildings from three centuries are protected for future generations. The boundaries of the town historic district are the railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
on the north; the Mill River and Southport Harbor on the south; Church Street; and Old South Road and Rose Hill Road on the west and east, respectively, including all properties on both sides of the roads. Strict historic zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
regulations apply in the district and have been upheld by the Connecticut Supreme Court
Connecticut Supreme Court
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol...
. The Southport Historic District is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Demographics
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Census tract
A census tract, census area, or census district is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Usually these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist within a county...
606. As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there are 2,201 people in the village, organized into 998 households and 606 families. The racial makeup of the town is 95.6% White, 2.3% Asian, 0.6% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.5% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. 1.6% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 998 households out of which 22.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% are married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.3% are non-families. 33.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 15.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.21 and the average family size is 2.81.
The median income for a household in the village is $140,307, and the median income for a family is $183,023. Males have a median income of $131,695 versus $55,475 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village is $66,432. 2.0% of the population and 1.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 1.5% of those under the age of 18 and 2.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Public services
Volunteer fire department
See also the Firefighter article and its respective sections regarding VFDs in other countries.A volunteer fire department is a fire department composed of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction.The first organized force of...
after a large arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
fire in the village. However, it is also protected by Fairfield Fire Department's Engine 4, out of the Southport Firehouse.
The community's public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
is the Pequot Library, housed in a Romanesque
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
building, designed by Robert Robertson and built in 1887, that is a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the National Register Southport Historic District. The library is reputed to have a large collection of old and rare books. The library's annual summer book sale featured more than 140,000 volumes on sale in 2007.
The neighborhood's ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 06890, whose scope extends further north from the historic village area to include the Mill Hill area.
Education
Eagle Hill School-SouthportEagle Hill School
Eagle Hill School is a private co-educational college preparatory boarding school for students with learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder in Hardwick, Massachusetts, established in 1967. Related, but independent schools of the same name were established in Greenwich and Southport,...
, a private day school for children with learning disabilities, has been located since 1985 in the former Pequot School in Southport. The historic school building was earlier acquired by the Southport Conservancy to save it from demolition.
Southport is served by the Fairfield Public Schools. Southport is home to Mill Hill Elementary School, although children in some areas considered part of the Southport neighborhood but outside the census tract attend Timothy Dwight Elementary School. Both Mill Hill and Dwight Schools feed into Roger Ludlowe Middle School
Roger Ludlowe Middle School
Roger Ludlowe Middle School is a co-educational secondary school located in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. The school is named after Roger Ludlow, the founder of the Town of Fairfield.-History:...
, Tomlinson Middle School
Tomlinson Middle School
Tomlinson Middle School is a secondary school located in Fairfield, Connecticut. TMS serves 775 of Fairfields students in the middle school age group. Its current principal is Mrs...
(currently only grandfathered Southport students in 7th and 8th graders attend Tomlinson until the end of 2013) and Fairfield Ludlowe High School
Fairfield Ludlowe High School
Fairfield Ludlowe High School is a co-educational secondary school located in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States.-Origins:Fairfield Ludlowe High School opened in the fall of the 2003–2004 as a satellite campus of Fairfield High School...
.
Transportation
Commuter rail service to the community is provided at the Southport railroad stationSouthport (Metro-North station)
The Southport Metro-North Railroad station is one of two New Haven Line stations serving the residents of Fairfield, Connecticut.Southport is 48.9 miles from Grand Central Terminal and the average travel time from Grand Central is one hour, 12 minutes though this varies depending on run and time of...
, a historic property that is included in the Southport Historic District and is separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Southport is served by US 1 as well as an exit on Interstate 95
Interstate 95 in Connecticut
Interstate 95, the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, runs in a general east–west compass direction for 111.57 miles in Connecticut from the Rhode Island state line to the New York State line. I-95 Southbound from East Lyme to the New York State...
.
Notable people
- James Truslow AdamsJames Truslow AdamsJames Truslow Adams was an American writer and historian. He was not related to the famous Adams family...
, historian and writer - John Akers, former chief executive officer of IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
- Anatole BroyardAnatole BroyardAnatole Paul Broyard was an American writer, literary critic and editor for The New York Times. In addition to his many reviews and columns, he published short stories, essays and two books during his lifetime...
, author - Samuel J. PalmisanoSamuel J. PalmisanoSamuel J. Palmisano was president and chief executive officer of IBM, which as of 2009 was the largest IT company in the world and 45th largest company overall. He was elected chairman in October 2002, effective January 1, 2003, and has served as CEO since March 2002. Before he became CEO,...
, chief executive officer of IBM - Jason RobardsJason RobardsJason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, actor, producer and director
External links
- The Southport Conservancy (organization for preservation and restoration of historic properties in Southport)
- The Southport Globe (a website focused on the community)
- The Southport Picture File (a collection of 800 historical photos compiled by historian V. Louise Higgins. Housed at Pequot Library and accessible online.)
- Living in Southport, Conn. (New York Times photo collection)
- Brilvitch, Charles. 1977. Walking Through History. The Seaports of Black Rock and Southport. Fairfield Historical Society.