Ridgefield (Connecticut)
Fairfield County
09-63970
Ridgefield is a small town near New York City in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
History
Ridgefield was founded in 1708 when a group of settlers purchased land from the Indians Ramapoo. The best-known historical event was the " Battle of Ridgefield " on April 27, 1777, a skirmish of the American Revolutionary War between colonial militia and British troops who were returning from a raid on a colonial supply depot from the nearby Danbury. The Keelern Tavern Museum at the scene of the battle is a reminder of this event.
Geography
The city extends to the United States Census Bureau, over an area of about 90 square kilometers (35 square miles), of which 1.4 square miles of water. The city is bordered to the west by Westchester County (New York State ), in the north of Danbury, on the south by Wilton and east to Redding (all State of Connecticut ).
Population
According to the last census from 2000, the city Ridgefield has 23643 inhabitants living in 8433 households and 6611 families. The population density is 265 inhabitants per square kilometer ( 686 per square mile). The vast majority of the population is white ( about 96 percent), largest minority group is the Hispanic / Latino community (about 2 %). In many households, children living below the age of 18 ( 43%). Approx. 70 % of households are married couples living only in about 19 % of households singles. For every 100 adult women are 89 men. Average age of residents is 39 years. The average household income is about 107,000 U.S. dollars (about 128,000 per family).
Famous residents
More or less famous residents of the city include Carolyn Kepcher, known from the NBC TV show " The Apprentice"; The author Maurice Sendak, best known for his book " Where the Wild Things Are"; the entrepreneur Jay Walker, founder of Priceline.com; the actor and screenwriter Harvey Fierstein; the composer and poet Stephen Schwartz; the writer Mark Salzman, as well as the well-known Hollywood actor Robert Vaughn. Likewise, the politicians Joel Abbot was born here.
Former residents have included the adviser to President John F. Kennedy Theodore Sorenson; the television journalist Morton Dean; the publisher George Doubleday; the soprano Geraldine Farrar; the writer Howard Fast; Jolie Gabor ( mother of Zsa Zsa Gabor ), the architect Cass Gilbert; the governors of Connecticut George Lounsbury and Phineas Lounsbury; the children's author Richard Scarry; the composer Maxim Shostakovich (son of the more famous Dmitri Shostakovich ), the Nobel Prize for Literature Eugene O'Neill; and Henry Luce, founder of the American news magazine TIME.
Education
Ridgefield has nine public schools. The six elementary schools are called Veterans Park, Branchville, Farmingville, Scotland, Barlow Mountain, and Ridgebury. The so-called "Middle Schools" are Scotts Ridge and East Ridge. The gymnasium is the Ridgefield High School, home of the sporting group Ridgefield Tigers.