Wilton History

The Beginning ---
The area now called Wilton was originally part of the town of Norwalk, established in 1651. In 1726, the families living in the northern reaches petitioned the General Assembly for the right to establish Wilton Parish. With a Grand List sufficient to build a church and support a minister, the petition was granted and Wilton was incorporated as a “Village having parish privileges.” It was still part of Norwalk and subject to its TOWN MEETING, but in addition to the church, the families of Wilton Parish were responsible for establishing schools, an animal pound, care of the roads and to maintain a militia for protection.

In the theocratic 17th and 18th centuries, the “church” --- the Congregational Church --- was virtually synonymous with the “state.” The Meeting House served as both church and town hall. This practice ceased when the “Town House,” or Town Hall was built across the road from the church in 1831

The Churches ---
The first church, a small frame building to accommodate 42 families, was built in the vicinity of the Norwalk River and present day Wolfpit Road. Within ten years, a much-improved structure, out of the flood plain, was built near where Sharp Hill Road is today. Though no trace of the churches remains, the early cemetery is part of Wilton’s continuing history. In 1790, with the need for a larger and finer edifice to serve an expanding population, the current church was built on Ridgefield Road. Remodeled in the fashionable Greek Revival style in the 1840’s, it is the oldest continuously operated church in Fairfield County. Several additions have occurred over the years.

In 1803, when animosity toward Tories subsided, an Episcopal Church was built on Danbury Road. In 1863, the original frame building was replaced with a grander stone structure and the original was moved across the river to Wilton Center where it still serves as a commercial building. During the 1830s and 40s several small Methodist churches were built in town. Only two – Zion’s Hill and the Georgetown Church - remain active today.

Wilton Becomes a Town ---
In May, 1802, a group of leading citizens succeeded in gaining approval from the State Legislature to finally secede from Norwalk, become an independent town and form its own TOWN MEETING to govern itself.

Wilton, with a land area of 28 square miles, was a rural town of scattered small farms and home industries. Its road system consisted of a road which roughly followed the river to Danbury and roads on each of the ridges to connect Norwalk to the towns northward. A few cross-town roads developed to connect the two ridges and the valley.

The railroad came through in 1852, but it brought few advantages, for the growth of Midwestern agriculture, large-scale industrialization and a continental transportation system, made Wilton’s small farms and home-based shoe making, shirt making, comb and tool making obsolete. Wilton’s population had grown slowly from 1,728 in 1820 to 2,208 in 1860, but declined to 1,600 in 1920. With few opportunities locally, young people moved elsewhere.

In the early 20th century, prosperous New Yorkers, seeking quiet country summer homes, found Wilton’s abandoned farms and sturdy though shabby farm houses to be quite attractive. Travel from New York to Wilton was relatively easy by train or by motorcar. New owners improved the properties without introducing the grand homes built elsewhere and without changing the basic character of the community, but the old timers were still quietly uneasy with the newcomers.

From Exurb to Suburb ---
The transformation of Wilton from a farming community to a suburban community occurred primarily after WWII. Farm fields became subdivisions. Schools were built as rapidly as possible along with the requisite playing fields and other amenities. The population grew from 4,558 in 1950 to 13,752 in 1970. By 1980 growth had slowed and the school population plummeted, causing the closing of three schools. By 2000 the school population had increased, but was still much smaller than during the 70s. However, increased expectations required the schools to be significantly expanded and upgraded. Nearly $100,000,000 has been invested in schools, field and recreational facilities in the last ten years.

Danbury Road --- and Adaptive Use ---
Danbury Road, Route 7, saw the beginning of commercialization shortly after WWII and the demolition of some of Wilton’s earliest homes, to make room for office buildings and strip shopping. Around 1970, DOT acquired properties for Super 7 and tore down many houses before an injunction stopped the project. A desire to avoid continuous strip development and to save the remaining 18th and 19th century houses led to the development of “Adaptive Use,” a zoning regulation designed to allow appropriate commercial use of historic buildings along the corridor. Adaptive Use has worked well to avoid zone changes and increased strip development while improving the buildings and retaining the historic character, especially in the Cannondale area.

Wilton Center ---
Anchored by the Sloan-Raymond-Fitch house on the corner of Danbury Road [this building has now been relocated because of the Route 7 widening], Ridgefield Road meandered across the river and up the hill to the Congregational Church and the Town Hall [now called Old Town Hall]. The “Center” developed with some small homes and scattered buildings, without a grid format. It provided basic services, a library, school, post office and nearby train station. In 1940, with the relocation of the connection of Ridgefield Road to Danbury Road, and the later closing of a bridge, it was made a cul-de-sac instead of continuing as a direct connection between north and south. During the mid 20th century, some newer, well set-back buildings were added to the historic buildings there and it continued as a casual local shopping area. It has a unique character because it never developed as a typical urban “downtown.” In the late 80s, with the building of the Stop ad Shop Mall and several multi-family housing complexes, it was essentially divided into two centers – the original historic Wilton Center, and the other, a typical development area. Center Street was extended southward to Wolfpit Road in order to facilitate this development.

Despite increased development and traffic, Wilton manages to maintain something of its semi-rural atmosphere. Second-growth trees cover the rolling hills and the roads are still lined with nearly 500 houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Town’s commitment to preserving open space, the protection of wetlands, slopes, vistas and scenic roadscapes contributes to this fairly bucolic character. The challenge now is to maintain and preserve the past for the future, and avoid losing the attributes which drew most Wiltonians here in the first place.

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