Wilton, Connecticut

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Wilton, Connecticut
Location in Connecticut
Coordinates: 41°12′05″N, 73°26′15″W
NECTA	Bridgeport-Stamford
Region	South Western Region
Incorporated	1802
Government
- Type	Selectman-town meeting
- First selectman	William F. Brennan
Area
- City	71.0 km²  (27.4 sq mi)
Population (2005)[1]
- City	17,960
- Density	257/km² (665/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	06897
Website: http://www.wiltonct.org/

Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 17,633.

Settled in the early eighteenth century, Wilton became an independent town in 1802. Today, Wilton, like many other Fairfield County towns, is an expensive residential community with open lands (a testament to its colonial farming roots), historic architecture and extensive town services. Residents commonly commute to Stamford, New York City and White Plains, although there are a number of office buildings in town.

Its town center contains the Village Market, a CVS, a Starbucks, a Gap, a Stop & Shop, an art gallery, Subway (restaurant) and a four screen movie theater owned by Bowtie Cinemas. However, some of these stores were added around the year 2000. These new stores were built adjacent to the old Wilton Center. The old Wilton Center consists of the Wilton Library, the Wilton Post Office, a CVS, a hardware store, the Old Post Office Square, and the Village Market. In the Southern part of town, on Route 7, is a commercial section containing a Borders and an Outback Steakhouse. Until the early 1990's, Wilton was a "dry" town (it was illegal to sell alcohol in any form), but now alcohol can be sold in limited establishments and liquor licenses are strictly controlled (selling packaged alcohol is still prohibited).

Wilton, like its neighbors, is one of the most affluent small communities in the United States.

Contents 1 History 1.1 On the National Register of Historic Places 2 Housing stock and land use 3 Geography 4 Neighborhoods 5 Schools 5.1 Public Schools 5.2 Private Schools 6 Media 7 Clubs and organizations 8 Events in town 9 Transportation 9.1 Commute times 9.2 Airports 9.3 Railroad 9.4 Highways 10 Demographics 11 Famous residents, past and present 12 External links 12.1 References

[edit] History

For more information: History of Wilton, Connecticut

[edit] On the National Register of Historic Places

• David Lambert House — 150 Danbury Rd. (added August 24, 1992)
• Hurlbutt Street School — 157 Hurlbutt St. (added August 25, 1996)
• Marvin Tavern — 405 Danbury Rd. (added May 26, 1984)
• Sloan-Raymond-Fitch House — 224 Danbury Rd. (added May 29, 1982)
• Weir Farm National Historic Site — 735 Nod Hill Road (added November, 1990)
• Wilton Center Historic District — Roughly, area around jct. of Lovers Ln. and Belden Hill and Ridgefield Rds. (added September 19, 1992)
• Cannondale Historic District* — Roughly bounded by Cannon, Danbury and Seeley Rds. (added December 12, 1992)

Although officially registered as a historic site, Cannondale itself consists of authentic renovated 17th and 18th century buildings that were moved to the site. The train station is the only building at the site that was originally built at that location. The site itself does not hold any special historic value.

[edit] Housing stock and land use

Wilton has, by some estimates, more than 500 restored 18th and 19th century homes.

"Teardowns have become quite an issue in town," Marilyn Gould, Wilton's second selectman and director of the Wilton Historical Society, told a reporter for the New York Times in 2005. "People aren't taking down historic houses but the more modest homes that were built in the 50's and 60's," she said. "What that's doing is changing the affordability of the town and the demographic of the town. Wilton used to have a wide demographic of people who worked with their hands - artisans, builders, mechanics. Now it's management and upper management."^[2] From 1999 to 2005, the town's voters have endorsed spending $23 million through municipal bonds to preserve land.^[2]

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 70.9 km² (27.4 mi²). 69.8 km² (27.0 mi²) of it is land and 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (1.50%) is water, including the South Norwalk Reservoir.

The latitude of Wilton is 41.201N. The longitude is -73.438W.

[edit] Neighborhoods

The southwest corner of town includes part of the Silvermine neighborhood (which also extends into New Canaan and Norwalk). Georgetown, which is primarily in Redding and partly in Weston, extends a bit into the northeast corner of town. Other neighborhoods in town are South Wilton, Wilton Center, Gilbert Corners, Cannondale, and North Wilton.

Four designated historic districts exist in Wilton and feature examples of early American homes. Stately traditional houses and impressive contemporaries as well as luxury condominiums are integrated among historic structures. One- and two-acre lots help give many parts of the town a pastoral character.

[edit] Schools

[edit] Public Schools

Modern facilities include three elementary schools(Miller-Driscoll School, Cider Mill School), one middle school (Middlebrook Middle School), and one high school (Wilton High School), which features accelerated classes for gifted students, music and visual arts courses, and a well-appointed resource center. An innovative language laboratory encourages foreign language studies, including French, German, Spanish, Russian and Latin.

The Town of Wilton has 4,151 students who attend pre-K through 12th grade in the 5 schools. Two of the elementary schools (Miller and Driscoll Schools) are located on the same campus and they teach children from preschool through 2nd grade. The third elementary School (Cider Mill School) teaches 3rd through 5th grade. The three elementary schools have class sizes ranging from 18 to 22 and a 19 to 1 student/ teacher ratio. Language studies begin in the 4th grade with French and Spanish. The junior high (Middlebrook) school is for grades 6-8 and features interdisciplinary instruction teams in languages and science, mathematics, social studies, computers, art, and gifted student instruction. Class sizes range from 20 to 25 students with a student/teacher ratio of 13 to 1. In the past five years, over 91% of Wilton High School graduates have gone on to colleges and universities. The mean SAT scores at Wilton High School are 584 verbal and 598 math. The schools are supported by an active PTA organization.

Wilton's sports teams have won many FCIAC and state titles, and many individuals have been recognized on those levels as well. For example, Wilton has won more state championships in lacrosse than any other town in Connecticut. Wilton, New Canaan and Darien comprise "The Big Three" in Connecticut lacrosse.

[edit] Private Schools

There are three private elementary schools in town:

• The Connecticut Friends School, a Quaker school, Kindergarten through eighth grade.
• Our Lady of Fatima, a Catholic school, preschool through eighth grade.
• Montessori School, preschool through sixth grade.

[edit] Media

• Wilton Bulletin, a weekly paper published by Hersam Acorn.
• The Wilton Villager, a weekly paper published by The Hour of Norwalk and distributed free-of-charge is the town's largest circulated newspaper.
• Wilton Magazine and WiltonOnline.com are published by Town Green Media, LLC, a Wilton-based publishing company. Wilton Magazine is its first publication, launched in the Fall of 2003.

[edit] Clubs and organizations

Clubs and civic organizations in town include a Newcomers Club, League of Women Voters, Kiwanis Club, youth coalition, senior meal delivery, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, The Wilton Land Conservation Trust, and the Wilton Family Y. Cultural amenities include the Wilton Historical Society, a Library Association, an Arts Council, Audubon Society, and the Wilton Playshop.

[edit] Events in town

• Minks to Sinks is a large, twice-a-year flea market that benefits the local Family and Children's Services Agency.
• Cannon Grange, "a kind of 4-H club for adults,"^[2] hosts an annual fair.
• Ambler Farm Day is an annual fall tradition bringing family and friends together to enjoy a variety of events and farm activities, including hays rides, apple sling shots, and scarecrow making contests.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Commute times

• Hartford: 65 Minutes
• LaGuardia Airport (LGA): 60 Minutes
• Manhattan: 60 Minutes
• Stamford: 30 Minutes
• White Plains, NY: 50 Minutes
• JFK 70 minutes

[edit] Airports

• Bradley International Airport, in Hartford, Connecticut.
• LaGuardia Airport, in New York City
• JFK Airport, in New York City
• Westchester County Airport, in Harrison, N.Y., just over the border from Connecticut (link to airport's web site).

[edit] Railroad

The town has one Metro-North railroad station, and a sub-station (tickets not sold) in Cannondale. It takes about an hour from the train stations to get to New York City.

[edit] Highways

Although no highways run through Wilton, there are several which run through neighboring towns.

Among them:

• I-84
• I-95
• 15

Route 7 is intended to be a four lane divided highway from I-95 in Norwalk to I-84 in Danbury (the so-called Super 7), passing through Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding in addition to Norwalk and Danbury. While there is a four lane section from I-95 through Norwalk to close to the Wilton border, the road becomes a normal surface road in Wilton, sometimes two lanes and sometimes four lanes (As of Oct 2006: They are making the 2-lane sections into an entirely 4-lane road), with frequent stop lights, and continues as such through Ridgefield and Redding (near the border of the two towns, often crossing back and forth), until the road resumes its status as a divided highway about two miles after the Danbury/Ridgefield border. Route 7 was not expanded into a highway because of concerns about wetlands and other environmental issues, and as a measure to reduce growth in the outer suburbs. However, high average housing costs (Wilton's average house costs $791,558 according to CNN) have pushed more and more people into the distant suburbs, and Route 7 now carries over 30,000 cars and trucks per day, resuling in significant traffic delays. It is the only major north-south road running through Fairfield county, although some commuters use alternative residential streets in an attempt to beat the traffic.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 17,633 people, 5,923 households, and 4,874 families residing in the town. The population density was 252.6/km² (654.3/mi²). There were 6,113 housing units at an average density of 87.6/km² (226.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.55% White, 0.60% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.69% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.53% of the population.

There were 5,923 households out of which 46.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.4% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.7% were non-families. 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.25.

The age distribution is 31.5% under the age of 18, 2.8% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $141,428, and the median income for a family was $158,415. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $61,611 for females. The per capita income for the town was $65,806. About 1.3% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous residents, past and present

Main article: :Category:People from Wilton, Connecticut

• Sophie Cabot Black, poet who grew up in and lives in town.
• Robert Sidney Bowen, an author, lived here in the 1940's.
• Chance Browne, cartoonist of syndicated comic strip Hi and Lois
• Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
• David Canary, actor
• Paul Dano (born 1984), actor born and raised in town^[3]
• Ace Frehley, rock guitarist, lived in Wilton in the early 1980s
• Charles Grodin, actor
• Johnny Gruelle, artist who created Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy
• June Havoc, actress, who also renovated buildings to create the Cannon Crossing center of small shops. Her sister Gypsy Rose Lee frequently visited her.^[4]
• "Patty Hearst," now Patricia Hearst Shaw
• Ira Levin, writer, lived in Wilton in the 1960s and claimed in a March 27, 2007 letter to the New York Times that he based the fictional town of Stepford on Wilton.^[5]
• Soccer star Kristine Lilly, a longtime member of the US national team who has more international appearances than any other soccer player (male or female) in history, grew up in Wilton.
• Joe Pantoliano, actor
• Steve Phillips, Former NY Mets General Manager and current ESPN baseball analyst
• John Scofield (not a current resident, but grew up in the town), jazz guitarist for Miles Davis
• Christopher Walken, actor
• Chris Elliott, actor
• Randy Rasmussen, former left guard of the New York Jets for 15 years (1967-1981), started in Super Bowl III.
• David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman
• Christopher Plummer, The Sound of Music, A Beautiful Mind

[edit] External links

• Town of Wilton
• Wilton Public Schools
• Town Calendar
• Coastal Fairfield County Convention & Visitor Bureau
• The 1802 Incorporation of Wilton, CT
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 41.195278° -73.438333°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

[edit] References

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