Murals: Stamford scenes from yesteryear
Settlers
observe the Sabbath
Spring of 1642
Stamford
was settled about two decades after the landing of the Pilgrims. Some Puritans
were not satisfied with the soil of Massachusetts and under Thomas Hooker
began
to migrate south across what is now the Connecticut State line. Some of these
people formed a church at Wethersfield. A schism developed among members
of
the church and twenty-eight men and their families moved once more to the south.
During the winter and spring of 1640-41 they travelled on foot to their new
home which they called Rippowam.
The purchase
of Rippowam was arranged by the Reverend John Davenport of New Haven. The
Puritans of Rippowam appealed
to the New Haven jurisdiction for permission to change the name of their plantation.
In 1642 they received permission to use the name “Stamford”.
Contemporary data indicates that the
nucleus of Stamford was built at the site now known as Atlantic Square. Nearby
was an Indian trail which ran from New Haven to New Amsterdam. The trail at
this point followed about the same route as our present Main Street.
Two of the first buildings to be erected
were the meeting house, approximately in front of The Fidelity Trust Company's
present main office, and a grist mill at Mill River, now the Rippowam River.
The mural depicts the meeting house
surrounded by a stockade. It was the fort of the plantation giving protection
against Indian uprisings. A guard was on constant watch. The people were called
to church on Sundays by a drummer. Every man, woman and child, unless ill, was
expected to attend church two hours Sunday morning and two hours Sunday afternoon.
The slight man in ministerial garb is the Reverend Richard Denton, one of the
original founders, and the minister of this first Congregational meeting house
to be built in Stamford.
Preface
Spring
of 1642: Settlers observe the Sabbath
About 1655: Setting the boundaries
October 1789: Townfolk greet George Washington
About 1842: Canal to the sound
Christmas Day 1848: First train to Stamford
Atlantic Street 1905
Stanley J. Rowland: About the artist
Image © The Stamford Historical Society
