The Communities
of Greenwich, CT

Mention Greenwich, Connecticut, to anyone and chances are they have heard of it. Our town is home to artists, actors, sports personalities and, yes, corporate executives and leaders in the world of finance. Yet it is both a wealthy and diverse community: Its fifty square miles, stretching from the backcountry to thirty-two miles of shoreline on the Sound, encompasses seven villages or hamlets, each with its own distinct identity and geography, many with roots that predate the Revolutionary War.

Chronologically, this is how Greenwich evolved:

Old Greenwich
Old Greenwich is where it all began. On July 18, 1640, the Siwanoy Indians, for the price of twenty-five English coats, sold the land that is now Old Greenwich to four Englishmen. One of the Englishmen, Jeffrey Ferris, named the area after his birthplace, Greenwich, England. As Greenwich developed to the west, Old Greenwich became known as "Old Town." In 1872 the name was changed to Sound Beach at the urging of the New Haven Railroad, which preferred that name for their rail stop. The name remained until 1930 when the area was renamed Old Greenwich.

Old Greenwich has evolved from a farming community to a summer resort to the quiet commuter community it is today. Residents of the village have a particular pride in their community with its special amenities: its intimate downtown shopping center; proximity to popular Greenwich Point with its fine beach, park and public boating facilities; and scenic Binney Park where Little League baseball and soccer are regular weekend events and the annual model sailboat races on the pond draw many young would-be sailors.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In Old Greenwich & Riverside - New York Times, August 23, 1998
• Old Greenwich - Wikipedia

Cos Cob
As the Old Town farmers struggled with the area's rocky soil, the tiny hamlet to the west prospered as a seaport. Cas Cob, Originally known as Mianus, was named after the Siwanoy Chief, Myanos. It was an Englishman named John Cae, an early settler, who built a seawall at the mouth of the Mianus River, referred to as a "cob." He left in 1659, but the name Cos Cob (without the" e") remained.

Cos Cob flourished as a seaport during the 1700s and 1800s. At the turn of the nineteenth century, it evolved into an intellectual and artist colony playing host to the likes of Eugene O'Neill, Willa Cather and Anya Seton, whose father Ernest Thompson Seton, was a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. The historic Bush-Holley House, presently the home of the Greenwich Historical Society, became famous as the residence and studio of the renowned Cos Cob School of American impressionists.

Today, Cos Cob has its own shopping center. The lovely Mianus River flows through its residential areas and offers extensive marinas on the upper Mianus Harbor.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In Cos Cob - New York Times, September 22, 2002
• Cos Cob - Wikipedia

Central Greenwich
In 1686 the tract of land between the Byram and Mianus rivers was traded by the Miossehasseky Indians for just thirty acres of planting ground elsewhere. Known then as Horseneck, it was the principal farming area of the town and supplied much of the produce for New York. The advent of the railroad in the mid-nineteenth century was an economic boon for Central Greenwich, transforming Greenwich Avenue into the major shopping center it is today, with its many upscale stores and top-rated restaurants. Trademarks of the Avenue are the uniformed policemen who direct traffic every weekday. Central Greenwich is the hub of economic activity and the seat of town government. It is also where the main Greenwich library, the Bruce Museum, hospital and many other town institutions are located.

The Central Greenwich area offers a wide range of residential opportunities, from apartments and condominiums convenient to shopping and transportation to mid-country homes and the exclusive waterfront properties in Belle Haven and Mead's Point.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In Central Greenwich - New York Times, August 24, 2003

Glenville
This tiny mill town in the northwest corner of Greenwich was founded in 1774 by Baptist settlers who established their church by the Byram River. Its industrial history began with a mill for grinding Peruvian bark into patent medicines. Later, the American Felt Company turned out the majority of felt for men's and women's hats in the United States. It operated until the mid 1970s. Restaurants, office space and condominiums now occupy the mill with its scenic millpond and spillway.

There is also a small shopping area for everyday needs.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In Glenville - New York Times, February 18, 2001

Riverside Known as Mianus Neck until 1870, Riverside was predominantly a community of farmers, fishermen and oystermen. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, Riverside Avenue was known as the Potato Road for all the potato cellars near the cove. Today it is one of the most desirable of our suburban communities. It is closely linked to neighboring Old Greenwich, and its abundance of waterfront on the river, harbor and Long Island Sound attracts those who have a particular interest in living near the water and in sailing and fishing. Like Old Greenwich, its location near the railroad stations makes it ideal for commuters to the city.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In Old Greenwich & Riverside - New York Times, August 23, 1998
• Riverside - Wikipedia

Byram Tucked into the southwest comer of town, Byram was settled in 1660 by Thomas Lyon and was originally known as New Lebanon.

Today, Byram is a diverse residential community. Beautiful shorefront estates with dramatic views of the Sound are backed by more modest residential properties in the rest of the village. Together with neighboring Port Chester across the Byram River, there are any number of fine restaurants featuring a variety of ethnic cuisines plus retail shops of every kind. An ongoing program revitalizing properties along the shores of the Byram River and Byram's central business district is giving this Greemvich enclave a distinctly up-and-coming future.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In Byram - New York Times, May 21, 2006

Banksville
Banksville was named after Samuel Banks, who settled on the upper reaches of the Mianus River in the northeast comer of Greenwich in 1700. For the next 200 years it was a quiet farming community, but in 1904 Edmund Converse assembled more than 1,000 acres to create Greenwich's greatest estate, with forty buildings and a staff of 200. Farming operations continued up until 1960. It then lay fallow for twenty years when it was finally sold to the Conyers Farm Partnership and its 1,468 acres subdivided into sixty lots. Conyers Farm is the home of many well-known residents who can afford its magnificent ten -acre lots. It is also the locale for the Greenwich Polo Club where many town residents go to enjoy the polo games on a Sunday afternoon. (As an interesting sidelight, Conyers Farm would not exist nor would most of backcountry Greenwich be the same, had a proposal in 1945 to locate the headquarters of the United Nations here not been defeated by an alarmed group of Greenwich citizens.)

Banksville's small business center near the New York State line is reminiscent of a simpler time. Many of its residents refer to Banksville as the land that time has forgotten.

The Backcountry and Mid-Country
While not a village, any description of the unique areas of Greenwich wouldn't be complete without mention of the extraordinarily beautiful mid-country and backcountry that encompass nearly two thirds of the town's geography. Four-acre zoning is the rule in most of the backcountry area, defined as north of the Merritt Parkway, while one- and two-acre zoning is most common in the mid-country to the south.

Thanks to preservation efforts by the Greenwich Land Trust and other conservation organizations, there is still a remarkable amount of open space remaining, especially in the backcountry. The area is characterized by a diversity of rivers, lakes and ponds, winding country roads, woods and meadows, and scenic glacial carved gorges - enough to please the eye of the most ardent environmentalist. Here is where most of the town's golf courses and many of its parklands are found, including the Audubon property with its impressive new headquarters and study center. Perhaps most surprising, this is all within thirty-five miles of Manhattan.

• If You're Thinking Of Living In The Back Country - New York Times, February 19, 1995

William Boeckelman