Ridgefield, Connecticut

—The Museum in the Streets—

The Fire District in Ridgefield was organized in 1896 following the devastating fire of 1895. Ex-Governor Phineas Lounsbury was an early benefactor of the Department and the new engine company took his name. The firehouse is also the site of the old Sholes and Smith Shirt factory, later moved to the Big Shop then located at the corner of Main Street and West Lane. The eastern section is the original 1908 Georgian Revival Style building of brick and wood with granite corner quions.
Benjamin Burt, a blacksmith, arrived in 1712 from Norwalk and was assigned building lot #28 on the northwest corner of Catoonah and Main Streets. Shoeing horses was of great importance, but his skills were also needed for making tools, hinges, cranes, kettles, latches, nails and all things made from steel that were needed in a new settlement. During the Revolution the Burt family cast their lot with the Crown and as a result their property was confiscated by the government and sold at public auction, and the family expelled from town.

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Show me all markers in:  Ridgefield, CT  |  Fairfield County  |  06877  |  Connecticut  |  United States of America

The Livery Stable and the First Catholic Church
A Much-Loved Old Church and a Watering Trough for Horses
The Village Center in the Early 1900s
The Great Fire of 1895
More of the Great Fire
The Museum in the Streets
The First Society of Ridgefield
The Original Episcopal Church
The Village in the 1900s
Bissell's - Destroyed by Two Conflagrations

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