Redding, Connecticut

Redding is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,270 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 83.0 km² (32.1 mi²). 81.6 km² (31.5 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (1.75%) is water. Redding is a very attractive rural substitute to the towns along the Golden Coast. Although Redding boasts the wealth that is identified with Fairfield County, it is a more secluded option for home ownership. As such, real estate prices have remained at a premium for the last couple years. Like many towns in western Connecticut, Redding is among the wealthiest communities in the United States.

Sections of Redding

Georgetown is largely in Redding. West Redding, Redding Center, and Redding Ridge are three other parts of town.

History

According to Fairfield county and state records from the time Redding was formed, the original name of the town was Reading. But in 1767, soon after incorporation, the name was changed to its current spelling of Redding. The resulting confusion lasted into the mid 1880's when the U.S. Post Office formalized the name. The first land grant was given to Cyprian Nichols in 1687 and 2 more followed soon after the turn of the century.

On the National Register of Historic Places

• Aaron Barlow House — Umpawaug Road at Station Road (added May 29, 1982)
• Daniel and Esther Bartlett House — 43 Lonetown Road (added May 15, 1993)
• Georgetown Historic District — Roughly bounded by U.S. Route 7, Portland Avenue, state Route 107, and the Norwalk River (added April 9, 1987)
• Putnam Memorial State Park — at the junction of state Routes 58 (Black Rock Turnpike) and 107 (Park Road) (added 1970)
• Redding Center Historic District — Roughly, 4-25B Cross Highway, including Read Cemetery, 61-100 Hill Road, 0-15 Lonetown Road and 118 Sanfordtown Road (added November 1, 1992)
• Umpawaug District School — Umpawaug Road (added 1988)

Mark Twain Library

Mark Twain, a resident of the town in his old age, contributed the first books for a public library which was eventually named after him. A brief description of how the library started, written by one of the original trustees, Albert Bigelow Paine, is featured on the library's Web site:

"When Mark Twain moved into his new home in Redding he found that he had a great many more books than his library at Stormfield would hold. He proposed that as Redding had no public library he would contribute these books as the nucleus of one. Shelves were put in a little chapel standing on the Umpawaug Road, and the library opened with a small gathering of farmers and summer residents, on which occasion Mark Twain made one of his happy speeches. A year or so later, a more permanent location being desired, Mr. Theodore Adams, an old resident of the "Four Corners," donated a corner lot for the new library building."

"Shortly before Mark Twain's death, he realized a sum of money from the sale of a small farm, left by his daughter Jean, who had died at the end of the previous year. He told me that he would like to build the Redding library with this money as a memorial for Jean, and it was only a few days before his death that he gave me a check for that purpose, naming William E. Hazen, Harry A. Lounsbury and myself as trustees of this fund. This was in April, 1910. The library was ready for occupancy that winter, or early in 1911, and was called the Jean Clemens Memorial Library.

"A sum being needed for current expenses I wrote to Andrew Carnegie, a very old friend of Mark Twain, and asked him if he would like to provide it. His reply was that he would be proud to do this in memory of his friendship with Mark Twain.

"From that day until Mr. Carnegie's death, the library received $500.00 yearly from him. Following his death, the Carnegie Foundation sent a lump sum to provide that amount of income.

"Other contributions have been received and a variety of entertainments have aided in keeping the library open."

Politics

The town selectman is Natalie Ketchum (R).

Attractions

• Highstead Arboretum, which may be visited by appointment.
• The Mark Twain Library, endowed by Redding's most famous resident of 1908-1909.
• Redding Road House, restaurant-cum-bar with live music.
• Devil's Den Nature Preserve, which features great hiking and scenic views of the Saugatuck Reservoir from the "Great Ledge."
• Putnam Memorial State Park, of historical interest for the American Revolutionary War, and for it's unique geology and caves

Demographics

As of the census² of 2004, there were 8,270 people, 2,918 households, and 2,413 families residing in the town. The population density was 101.4/km² (262.5/mi²). There were 3,086 housing units at an average density of 37.8/km² (98.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the town as of 2005 was 93.94% White, 1.51% African American, 0.14% Native American, 2.47% Asian, 1.93% from other races or from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.89% of the population.

There were 2,918 households out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.7% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.3% were non-families. 13.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 3.1% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 30.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $104,137, and the median income for a family was $109,250. Males had a median income of $77,882 versus $52,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $50,687. About 1.2% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Trivia

• The two secondary schools are named Joel Barlow High School and John Read Middle School.
• Redding was selected as "Connecticut's Best Small Town."
• Bridgeport Hydraulic is a major landowner.
• The fictional book My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier was based in Redding during the Revolutionary War.

Notable residents, past and present

See also People of Redding, Connecticut

People associated with Redding, listed in area they are most known:

Actors, musicians and entertainers

• Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor, lived on Fox Run Road in the 1950s.*Daryl Hall, musician with Hall & Oates, lived on Topstone Road.
• Jascha Heifetz, violinist who lived on Sanfordtown Road in the 1940s
• Charles Ives, musician
• Hope Lange, actress
• Barry Levinson, film director, current resident
• Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday), rock singer, Joel Barlow High School softball coach while his daughters attended the school during the 1990's
• Jessica Tandy, actress, lived with her husband, Hume Cronyn, on Stepney Road in the 1940s and 1950s.
• Mary Travers, of the Peter, Paul and Mary group

Authors and other writers

• Joel Barlow, poet and diplomat, born in Redding
• Howard Fast, auther, lived on Cross Highway in the 1980s.
• Jane and Michael Stern of West Redding, write the "Roadfood" column for Gourmet magazine (also authors of Roadfood and other books).
• Flannery O'Connor, novelist, wrote Wise Blood while a border at the home ofRobert Fitzgerald and family on Seventy Acre Road (from 1949 to 1951).
• Mark Twain lived (on present-day Mark Twain Lane) and owned property in town until his death in 1910

Artists, art experts and critics, cartoonists

• Dan Beard, illustrator and one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, lived on Great Pasture.

People in government and politics

• Stuart Chase, economist, philosopher and political activist who worked for Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who took the name of Chase's book, "A New Deal" for his political program), lived on Redding Road from the 1930s to 1980s.
• Dick Morris, political consultant and author

Other

• Frank M. Hawks, aviator who made the fourth-ever nonstop coast-to-coast flight in the United States in 1929, lived in town
• Alfred Winslow Jones, called "the father of the hedge fund industry," lived on Poverty Hollow Road
• Lawrence Kudlow, host of Kudlow and Company television program, current resident
• Major General Samuel Holden Parsons, commander in the Continental Army under Gen. Israel Putnam, later chief judge of the Northwest Territory, lived on Black Rock Turnpike
• Orville Schell, civil Liberties lawyer
• Evan Tiefenthaler, local artist and photographer currently lives in redding center

Movies filmed at least in part in Redding

(in reverse chronological order)

• Reckless (1995) -- filmed in Georgetown
• Other People's Money (1991) -- filmed in Georgetown
• Stepford Wives, The (1975)
• The Last House on the Left (1972)
• Rachel, Rachel (1968) -- filmed in Georgetown
• Valley of the Dolls (1967) -- filmed in Redding Center

Source (unless otherwise noted): Internet Movie DataBase Web site's page for Redding, Connecticut

External links

• Town government Web site
• List of town elected officials
• Town history Web site
• Easton Redding Region 9 school district
• John Read Middle School
• Mark Twain Library, the town public library
• Northeast Connecticut Convention and Visitors Bureau