Ridgefield Encyclopedia 8-30-21
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A compendium of more than 4,500 people, places and things relating to Ridgefield, Connecticut. by Jack Sanders [Note: Abbreviations and sources are explained at the end of the document. This work is being constantly expanded and revised; this version was updated on 8-30-2021.] A A&P: The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company opened a small grocery store at 378 Main Street in 1948 (long after liquor store — q.v.); moved to 378 Main Street in the Bissell Building in the early 1940s. It became a supermarket at 46 Danbury Road in 1962 (now Walgreens site); closed November 1981. [JFS] [DD100] A&P Liquor Store: Opened at ONS133½ Main Street Sept. 12, 1935; [P9/12/1935] later was located at ONS86 Main Street. [1940 telephone directory] Aaron’s Court: A short, dead-end road serving 9 of 10 lots at 45 acre subdivision on the east side of Ridgebury Road by Lewis and Barry Finch, father-son, who had in 1980 proposed a corporate park here; named for Aaron Turner (q.v.), circus owner, who was born nearby. [RN] A Better Chance (ABC) is Ridgefield chapter of a national organization that sponsors talented, motivated children from inner-cities to attend RHS; students live at 32 Fairview Avenue; program began 1987 with six students. A Birdseye View: Column in Ridgefield Press for many years, written by Duncan Smith (q.v.) Abbe family: Lived on West Lane and West Mountain, 1935-36: James E. Abbe, noted photographer of celebrities, his wife, Polly Shorrock Abbe, and their three children Patience, Richard and John; the children became national celebrities when their 1936 book, Around the World in Eleven Years. written mostly by Patience, 11, became a bestseller. [WWW] Abbot, Dr. Joel (1776-1826), a physician, was the first native Ridgefielder to be elected a U.S. Congressman; served from Georgia, 1817-1825, where he had moved in 1790s; in 1820, was a delegate to the convention in Philadelphia, Pa., that prepared the original edition of the National Pharmacopoeia; his house in Washington, Ga., is a National Historic Landmark and Georgia state historic site (but under the name of subsequent owner, Robert Toombs, a congressman and U.S. senator). [WWW] Abbott, David: See Abbott’s Mill Road. Abbott, George Irving, (1857-1932), a village businessman who was born in Irvington, N.Y., lived on and probably developed Abbott Avenue (q.v.). He was an early leader of the RVFD and served as a Republican state representative, 1903-05. Abbott, Rev. Larmon Wooster, (1818-1900), was a Methodist minister who served at Jesse Lee Methodist Church, 1870-72, but lived in Ridgefield at least until 1882. He was a state representative in 1881 and a longtime school board member. He died in Waterbury, where he is buried. Abbott Avenue: Between High Ridge and Gilbert Street, ca. 1900; probably named for George Abbott, businessman, who owned and probably developed the neighborhood. [RN] Abbott’s Mill Road: 18th Century name for Florida Hill Road (q.v.) because it led to grist mill of David Abbott (now site of Moongate — q.v.); name appears 1745 deed. See also Iron foundry. [RN] ABC: See A Better Chance. About Ridgefield: What We Were - What We Are: 80-page, comprehensive, illustrated report on many facets of Ridgefield, including architecture, neighborhoods, history, landmarks, natural resources, cultural and religious centers, open spaces, cemeteries; by Madeleine Corbin, produced in 2002 by Ridgefield Design Council (q.v.); soft-cover, extensive index. Ackworth Cottage: Home of Mary Linda Bradley (q.v.), ONS33 West Mountain Road (now 143?). Ackworth was the Yorkshire home of Rev. Thomas Bradley, chaplain to Charles I, and ancestor of the Connecticut Bradleys. Acorn Cottage: Name Herschel Brickell (q.v.) used for his home at 569 Branchville Road. Acorn Place: 1,200-foot, dead-end road off lower Silver Spring Road, approved 1976; developed by William Hornibrook; only road in town named for a nut. [RN] Acorn Press: Name of parent company for The Ridgefield Press and other weekly newspapers from 1938 until 1997, when merged with Hersam Publications of New Canaan to become Hersam Acorn Newspapers, then HAN Network; headquarters were at 16 Bailey Avenue; purchased November 2018 by Hearst Media; all Ridgefield operations closed by end of 2018. Acoustic Celebration, an affordable Sunday evening singer/songwriter series, produced by Barbara Manners (q.v.), usually at Congregation Shir Shalom. Acre Lane: Off Wilton Road West, developed around 1964 by brothers Frank, John, and Robert Symone as Parkview Estates; 23 one-acre lots; size inspired name. [RN] ACT of Connecticut was founded and is led by Katie Diamond, Daniel C. Levine, and Bryan Perri, and presents limited engagement runs of well-known Broadway musicals and plays, as well as world-premiere productions by the next generation of writers and composers. Normally four shows per season are produced, with each show featuring Broadway professionals and Fairfield and Westchester County talent. ACT also offers youth education classes, camps, workshops, and a conservatory program for high school students. [JFS] Actors from Ridgefield: David Cassidy, Crocker family, Kay Young Eason, Miles Eason, Gene Ellis, Tom Gilroy, Ellen Hanley, Glynis Johns, Don McKay, Douglass Montgomery, Olaf Olsen, Cyril Ritchard, Hilda Spong, Erland van Lidth de Jeude, Robert Vaughn. [WWW] Adam Broderick Salon and Spa: Established 1986 at 89 Danbury Road by Broderick, a well- known Manhattan colorist. Adams, Dr. Daniel L. (1814-1899), a physician known as “Doc Adams,” has been called the “father of baseball” because he set down many of the rules by which modern game is played; member Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in New York City, serving six times as president; Yale, 1835; lived here 1865-88, in old Philip Burr Bradley (q.v.) house, now Ballard Park (q.v.); was the first president of Ridgefield Savings Bank (q.v.), 1871-79; first president of Ridgefield Library, 1880; served as Republican state representative, 1870; died in New Haven where he was buried. [WWW, RSB21] Adams and Keeler: 1. A real estate and insurance firm established 1892 by Russel R. Keeler or son William R. Keeler; were lumber dealers and had a livery stable; in 1941 became Keeler and Durant (q.v.), a real estate and insurance firm. 2. A large livery stable on southern Main Street that burned down Oct. 15, 1912. Some 40 horses and many carriages are rescued from the fire. [RT] Adams Road: Between Lincoln Lane and Jefferson Drive at Washington Park Estates off Branchville Road; named for second president, John Adams, at suggestion of Selectman Paul J. Morganti (q.v.); developed by Bert Ison; town road, 1956. [RN] Addessi Block: The two brick buildings of stores and offices, originally called Scott Block (q.v.), from 387-395 Main Street; owned by the Addessi family whose jewelry store is one of the shops in the block. Addessi Jewelry Store opened in 1966 at 387 Main Street in a spot that had been the post office; owned then by Rick and Donna Addessi; later taken over by son Wayne Addessi; [RP5/1966] Adler, Larry (1914-2001), harmonica virtuoso, gave concerts around the world; made many recordings; lived at James Waterman Wise house on Pumping Station Road in early 1950s; wrote film scores including “High Wind in Jamaica” and “Genevieve,” the latter nominated for Academy Award, was probably written here; accused of supporting communism, which he denied; discouraged by communist witch hunt, moved to England in 1952. [WWW] Address numbers: See Renumbering. A Dying Fall: Murder mystery by Hildegarde Dolson, Lippincott, 1973: The victim supposedly slips on a step in the Aldrich Museum sculpture garden, falls and is mortally impaled upon a sharp work of art. Dolson lived in Lewisboro, married to Richard Lockridge (q.v.). African Americans: The first known African American living in Ridgefield was Mingo (q.v.), an enslaved man who ran away from his owner, Timothy Keeler, in 1734, but there were probably enslaved Blacks before him. The first free Black to own land here was Michael Dimorat, who bought a lot on West Lane in 1736 and apparently built a house there. He was soon followed by Robert and Samuel Jacklin, who owned sizable farms; at least two of Robert’s sons fought in the Revolution. At least seven men from Ridgefield served in the Revolution. At least 83 African Americans lived in town in the 18th Century, of which 53 men, women and children were enslaved. Two African Americans, Edward and Betsey Armstrong (q.v.) operated an Underground Railroad station in the first half of the 19th Century in Ridgebury. Four Blacks — two of them Armstrong grandchildren — who grew up at the station served in the Civil War. Ridgefield’s Black population through its first three centuries has been around 1% or less of the total population. It was the greatest (2.3%) in 1860. Blacks in the 18th and early 19th Centuries were prevented by law from holding office (or voting), but that ban vanished in 1870 with the passage of the 15th amendment, and the following year, Thomas F. Brown and Hart Stiles, were elected town haywards (q.v.). It was not until the 1970s that a major African-American official — Clifford V. Smith — was elected to the school board. Age: The media age of a Ridgefielder in 2017 was 44 compared to 40 in the state and nation. 33% of the residents were 45 to 64 while 5 to 14 was the second largest group, 20%. [RP1] See also Oldest resident. Age of Video: Shop with movie rentals, TVs, recorders, etc., opens Oct. 10-12, 1980, at Girolametti Court, 19 Danbury Road [P10/9/1980] Airdrifts Farm: Spread on both sides of Ridgebury Road, south of Regan Road, owned by Ellis B.