Old Greenwich, the eastern-most section of town, is where the story of Greenwich begins. Unlike other New England communities, Old Greenwich was not settled by church-going Puritans. It was first settled by English nonconformists on the run from the highly puritanical Massachusetts Bay Colony. On July 18, 1640, two such agents for the New Haven Colony, Captains Daniel Patrick and Robert Feake, landed at Greenwich Point, then called Monakewego, and purchased from the Siwanoy Indians the land between the Asamuck and Patomuck rivers. The boundaries of this land are the stream that runs through Binney Park and a creek that runs through the Innis Arden Golf Course on the Greenwich/Stamford border. Greenwich Point became the special purchase of Elizabeth Feake, wife of Robert Feake, and the name was changed from Monakewego to Elizabeth Neck. The price paid to the Siwanoys for all this land was twenty-five English Coats. One of the witnesses of this purchase was an Englishman, Jeffrey Ferris, who named the new settlement after the place of his birth, Greenwich, England.
Organized religion did not begin in Greenwich until 1658, when the town held its first religious services in settlers' homes. In 1662, Greenwich and neighboring Stamford came under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony. The first recorded Greenwich Town Meeting took place in 1664. Seven men petitioned the General Assembly to become independent from Stamford and create their own government. These seven proprietors were Jeffrey Ferris, Joshua Knapp, Joseph Ferris, Jonathan Reynolds, Angell Husted, John Mead and John Hobbe. Greenwich then became known for its New England orthodox religion, Congregationalism. This independently-run Protestant congregation chose their own religious leaders and governed the secular community as well. At that time, there was no separation of church and state.
As Greenwich began developing westward, Old Greenwich was renamed Greenwich Old Town to distinguish itself from the newly forming areas of central Greenwich. When the railroad came in 1848, the New Haven Railroad objected to having a Greenwich station and a Greenwich Old Town station, so the name Greenwich Old Town was changed to Sound Beach. In 1930, the village was officially renamed Old Greenwich. Today, the village's fire department and its main street still carry the name of Sound Beach.
In the late nineteenth century, a wealthy newcomer, J. Kennedy Tod, built a great home, a nine-hole golf course and a bird sanctuary on his one-hundred-forty-seven acre waterfront estate. After World War II the town bought the Tod estate which was willed to Presbyterian Hospital of New York upon Mr. Tod's death. The estate, in its entirety, was purchased for $550,000 and the beaches were open to the Greenwich public. Today, Tod's Point is known as Greenwich Point and it is the largest public beach in Greenwich.
Old Greenwich was originally a farming and fishing community. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the coming of the Greenwich Inn on the Long Island Sound attracted tourists and summer residents to the area. More and more summer homes were being built and were available for seasonal rentals. Guests at the Inn loved the waterfront area and would return to rent homes the following season. Ultimately, many of these families purchased or built residences for both seasonal and year-round use. This began the transformation of Old Greenwich into a modern, waterfront community.
In the late 1920's the site of today's Binney Park was a salt marsh, breeding beautiful wildflowers. At that time, little was known about the ecological importance of wetlands, and a development of homes was planned for the site. The two daughters of Edwin Binney, wishing to preserve the threatened meadow, suggested to their father that he buy the land and create a park for the town. Mr. Binney agreed that if the sisters arranged the purchase, he would supervise the landscaping of the property and donate it to the town. The beautiful 32-acre park was dedicated on September 28, 1933.
Today, Old Greenwich is a sought-after residential community. Homes on the Long Island Sound command extraordinary prices. Old Greenwich is best known for its excellent schools, Perrot Library, charming shopping village, picturesque Binney Park and, of course, its beautiful shoreline at Greenwich Point.
Pemberwick, a small residential section located just north of the Post Road on the western edge of town, borders New York State in the southern-most portion of the greater-Glenville area. Many of the homes in Pemberwick lie on the banks of the beautiful Byram River which runs along Pemberwick Road.
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