Ridgefield, Connecticut

Encyclopedia : R : RI : RID : Ridgefield, Connecticut

Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 23,643 at the 2000 census.

Contents

1 Attractions, Landmarks, Institutions
2 History
3 Geography
4 Schools
5 Demographics
6 Notable people, past and present
7 External links

Attractions, Landmarks, Institutions

Ridgefield is home to the [Keeler Tavern Museum] and the prestigious [Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum].

[Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra] began as the Ridgefield Symphonette in 1965 with 20 players, a third of them professionals. It became fully professional by the end of the decade and changed its name to the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra in 1986. In 1984, Maksim Shostakovich conducted a sold-out concert of music by his father, Dmitri Shostakovich, with the composer's grandson, Dmitri, performing as piano soloist.

Annually, the RSO presents four subscription concerts at the Anne S. Richardson Auditorium at Ridgefield High School, and two chamber music concerts at the Ridgefield Playhouse for the Performing Arts (only one is scheduled in the 2006-07 season), along with an annual "family concert" and performances in Ridgefield schools.

Ridgefield's public open space includes Aldrich Park (65 acres), the previously-disputed Benett's Pond (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 Farms 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].

History

Ridgefield was founded in 1708, when a group of settlers purchased land from the Ramapoo tribe. The most notable historical event to occur there was the Battle of Ridgefield (on April 27, 1777), a Revolutionary War skirmish between colonial militia (led by, among others, Benedict Arnold), and a British force returning from a raid on the colonial supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut. 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.

Of the families to settle in Ridgefield, the Rockwells and Lounsburys owned approximately one third of the land in Ridgefield by 1900. Among the major buildings built or owned by this family were the State Police Barracks (at the time, a family home) and the Keeler Tavern. The families lost most of these landholdings in the Great Depression of 1929.

These two families had a tremendous impact on politics, not only in Ridgefield, but at all levels in the United States. At the state level, the Lounsburys supplied two of Connecticut's governors. More recently, the Rockwells and the Lynches (linked through marriage) continued the connection to politics through Patricia Lynch, who married US President Richard Nixon.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 90.6 km² (35.0 mi²). 89.2 km² (34.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.4 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (1.52%) is water. The town is bordered by Westchester County, New York to the west, Danbury, Connecticut to the north, Wilton, Connecticut to the south and Redding, Connecticut to the east.

The town has a Metro North railroad station called Branchville.

Schools

The public school system of Ridgefield comprises 9 schools. The 6 elementary schools are Veterans Park, Branchville, Farmingville, Scotland, Barlow Mountain, and Ridgebury. Scotts Ridge and East Ridge are the town's middle schools. The one high school is Ridgefield High School. Ridgefield High School's team is the Tigers.

A small private school named Ridgefield Academy teaches preschool through 8th grade.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 23,643 people, 8,433 households, and 6,611 families residing in the town. The population density was 265.1/km² (686.7/mi²). There were 8,877 housing units at an average density of 99.5/km² (257.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.12% White, 0.62% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.08% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.97% of the population.

There were 8,433 households out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.6% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the town the population was spread out with 30.6% under the age of 18, 3.2% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $107,351, and the median income for a family was $127,981. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $50,236 for females. The per capita income for the town was $51,795. About 1.3% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people, past and present

Jessica Auerbach, novelist (current resident)
Peggy Bacon, author and artist (1895-1987), whose works are in the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
David Bruce Cassidy, actor (The Partridge Family) and singer (past resident)
Roz Chast, cartoonist (current resident)
Judy Collins, Grammy-award wining folk singer (current resident)
Robert Daley, author ("Prince of the City," "Night Falls on Manhattan") resident 1984-89)
Morton Dean, television journalist (current resident)
George Doubleday, Ingersoll-Rand President [1913-1935] (past resident)
E.P. Dutton, publisher (1831-1923)
Ralph Edwards, producer and erstwhile host of television show "Truth or Consequences" (past resident)
Geraldine Farrar, soprano (past resident)
Howard Fast, novelist (past resident)
Harvey Fierstein, queer actor and playwright (current resident)
John H. Frey, Assistant Minority Leader, Connecticut House of Representatives
Jolie Gabor, Zsa Zsa Gabor's mother, (past resident)
Cass Gilbert, architect (past resident)
Max Gunther, author (d. 1978)
Walter Hampden, late actor
Janel Jorgensen, first Ridgefielder to win Olympic medal (on 1988 U.S. women’s 4x100 medley relay team, Silver Medal, Seoul)
[Alexander Julian], designer (current resident)
Roger Kahn, author including "The Boys of Summer," 1972 (past resident)
Carolyn Kepcher, who appears on the NBC show The Apprentice and runs Donald Trump's golf course in Briarcliff, N.Y. (current resident)
Richard Kluger, author whose works include 1997 Pullitzer winner, "Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris" (resident,1969 -1976)
Nicholas Krushenick, abstract artist, a dozen of whose works are in the National Gallery of Art (d. 1999)
George Lounsbury, past Connecticut governor, brother of Phineas (died, 1909)
Phineas Lounsbury, past Connecticut governor, brother of George
Clare Booth Luce, playwright, ambassador, politician, husband of Henry Luce (past resident)
Henry Luce, founder of TIME magazine, husband of Clare Booth Luce (past resident)
"Typhoid Mary" Mallon (THE Typhoid Mary), spent some time as a cook in town, where she infected some. (according to brief, front-page story in the July 22, 1909 Ridgefield Press)
Allan Nevins, the only writer to win two Pulitzer prizes for historical biography, lived in and loved Ridgefield in the 1920s. won Pulitzers for his biographies of Grover Cleveland (1933) and Hamilton Fish (1937). He died in 1971 at the age of 80.
Alex North, film composer and 12-time Academy Award nominee whose scores include "A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), "Death of a Salesman" (1951), "Viva Zapata!" (1952), "Spartacus" (1960), "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1968), and "Good Morning, Vietnam" (1987). Won an Emmy for the score to "Rich Man, Poor Man" in 1976. He died in 1991.
Elmer Q. Oliphant, established nation's first college intramurals program while a cadet at West Point, played with NFL's Buffalo All-Americans (1920s); 1955 inductee, National Football Hall of Fame. (resident from 1940s to 1952)
Eugene O'Neill, Nobel-prize-winning playwright (past resident)
Alice Paul, author of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, author and suffragist, part-time resident (1885-1977).
Westbrook Pegler, columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner (resident, 1941-48)
Frederick Remington, an American painter, illustrator, and sculptor who specialized in depictions of the American West (past resident)
Cyril Ritchard, actor; played Captain Hook alongside Mary Martin in "Peter Pan," staged live for television (March 7, 1955) making TV history. His funeral Mass in Ridgefield was celebrated by his longtime friend and TV celebrity, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.
Cornelius J. Ryan, author of "A Bridge Too Far" (died 1974). At his funeral at St. Mary's Church in Ridgefield, he was eulogized by CBS Network Anchor Walter Cronkite.
Jay David Saks, music producer who won seven Grammys and two Emmys.
Mark Salzman, author and actor who wrote about the town in his novel, "Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia," (past resident)
Richard Scarry, children's author (past resident)
Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist ("Godspell," "Pippin")(current resident)
Robert P. Scripps, president of Scripps-Howard Newspapers (past resident)
Maurice Sendak, author and artist best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are (current resident)
Maxim Shostakovich, conductor (past resident)
Theodore Sorenson, JFK advisor (past resident, now lives in Bedford, N.Y.)
Robert Lewis Taylor, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist (for "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters," 1959)
Norman Thomas, six-time Socialist candidate for president, spent summers in Ridgefield until the early 1920s
Alvin Toffler futurist, author (past resident, 1967-74)
Erland Van Lidth de Jeude, actor, wrestler; ranked third in his class for Greco-Roman wrestling in 1978, also acted in "Terror," "The Wanderers," and (using the name "Erland Van Lidth") "Stir Crazy." Grew up in town; died in 1987 in his mid-30s.
Robert Vaughn, actor (current resident) Most famous for role in Man From U.N.C.L.E. Currently in BBC hit The Hustler.
Kurt Waldheim, U.N. secretary-general (1972-1981), frequently stayed at the estate of a friend in town
Jay Walker, Priceline founder (current resident)
Thomas Walsh, mystery writer resident 1949 -1965; died, 1984)
Julian Alden Weir, impressionist painter, bought Nod Hill farm in 1882, now a National Historic Site (died in 1919)
Max Wilk, author (resident, 1951-66)
Bari Wood, author of horror books, including two which have been made into movies (current resident)
Mahonri Young, sculptor, sometimes lived at home of J. Alden Weir, his father-in-law
Brittany the Brazilian Bombshell, superhero, Named sexiest woman alive by Chocolate Thunda' magazine in 2006

External links

	The State of Connecticut
Capital	Hartford
Regions	Coastal Connecticut · Greater New Haven · Greater Hartford · Inland Connecticut · Litchfield Hills · Lower Connecticut River Valley · Naugatuck River Valley · New York metropolitan area/Gold Coast · Quiet Corner · Southeastern Connecticut · Southwestern Connecticut
Counties	Fairfield · Hartford · Litchfield · Middlesex · New Haven · New London · Tolland · Windham
Cities	Ansonia · Bridgeport · Bristol · Danbury · Derby · Groton · Hartford · Manchester · Meriden · Middletown · Milford · New Britain · New Haven · New London · Norwalk · Norwich · Shelton · Stamford · Torrington · Waterbury · West Haven
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		Geography	Government	History

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