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In 1731, Connecticut's colonial legislature
established Canaan Parish as a religious entity in northwestern
Norwalk and northeastern Stamford. The right to form a
Congregational church was granted to the few families scattered
through the area. As inhabitants of Norwalk or Stamford, Canaan
Parish settlers still had to vote, pay taxes, serve on juries,
and file deeds in their home towns. Because Canaan Parish was
not planned as a town, New Canaan, when incorporated in 1801,
found itself without a central common, a main street or a town
hall.
Until the Revolutionary War, New Canaan was
primarily an agricultural community. After the war, New Canaan's
major industry was shoe making. As New Canaan's shoe business
gathered momentum early in the nineteenth century, instead of a
central village, regional settlements of clustered houses, mill,
and school developed into distinct district centers. Some of the
districts were centered on Ponus Ridge, West Road, Oenoke Ridge,
Smith Ridge, Talmadge Hill and Silvermine, a pattern which the
village gradually outgrew.
With the 1868 advent of the railroad to New
Canaan, many of New York City's wealthy residents discovered the
quiet, peaceful area and built magnificent summer homes.
Eventually, many of the summer visitors settled year-round,
commuting to their jobs in New York City and creating the
residential community that exists today. |
