EASTON, CONNECTICUT

'Easton' is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,272 at the 2000 census. Easton is among the most affluent communities on the eastern seaboard.
The town is a rural community situated among Redding, Monroe, Trumbull, Fairfield, Weston and Newtown. Most residents' children attend Samuel Staples Elementary School, Helen Keller Middle School, or Joel Barlow High School.
The Route 59 bridge in town, which carries more than 10,000 cars and trucks every day over the Mill River, has a substructure rated in critical condition by state safety inspectors. As of early August 2007, the bridge was one of 12 in the southwestern part of the state (including New Haven) with safety inspection ratings so low they are considered to be in critical condition. The ratings for these bridges were worse than the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed during rush hour on August 1, 2007.^[1]

Contents

Geography

History

On the National Register of Historic Places

Demographics

Notable residents, past and present

School Systems

Notes

External links

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 74.2 km² (28.6 mi²). 71.0 km² (27.4 mi²) of it is land and 3.1 km² (1.2 mi²) of it (4.23%) is water.

History

Easton was first settled in 1757 by men from Fairfield. In 1762 a congregation called the North Fairfield Society was established, and it gradually evolved into Easton. In 1787 Weston, then including lands now defined as Easton, was incorporated from Fairfield. The area was slow to develop because of the rough hills along the Aspetuck River, and so it was not until 1845 that Easton was incorporated from Weston. Today, while close to the New York metropolitan area, Easton remains a quiet and even rural residential town. Half of the town's property is owned by the Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut, the major supplier of water in the area.
On June 1, 1968, the deaf and blind activist Helen Keller died at the age of 87 in her Easton, Connecticut home, where she chose to spend her final days. Her house is still intact today and has been owned by several families since her death.

On the National Register of Historic Places

'Historical population of Easton'[1]
1850	1,432
1860	1,350
1870	1,288
1880	1,145
1890	1,001
1900	960
1910	1,052
1920	1,017
1930	1,013
1940	1,262
1950	2,165
1960	3,404
1970	4,885
1980	5,962
1990	6,303
2000	7,272

★ 'Aspetuck Historic District' — Roughly, Redding Rd. from jct. with Old Redding Rd. to Wells Hill Rd. and Old Redding Rd. N past Aspetuck R. (added September 23, 1991)

★ 'Bradley-Hubbell House' — 535 Black Rock Turnpike (added May 18, 2003) was built in 1816 for Aljah and Elizabeth Bradley. Two occupants have left memoirs. The first was John Dimon Bradley, son of Aljah and Elizabeth, who described life on what was mainly a subsistence farm in the Nineteenth century. In 1912, Bradley descendants sold the property to the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, which flooded much of the farmland for a reservoir and leased the house to Franklin Hubbell (d. 1996), one of its employees. His daughter, Patricia, wrote about her life while she lived in the house between about 1932 and 1954. The house is a Colonial with a traditional center-chimney plan. The house has a few Federal-style ornaments, including oval windows in the gables, a parlor mantel, and rope molding on the stairs.^[2]

★ 'Ida Tarbell House' — 320 Valley Rd. (added May 19, 1993)

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 7,272 people, 2,465 households, and 2,077 families residing in the town. The population density was 102.4/km² (265.2/mi²). There were 2,511 housing units at an average density of 35.4/km² (91.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.74% White, 0.22% African American, 0.04% Native American, 2.02% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.76% of the population.
There were 2,465 households out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.8% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.7% were non-families. 12.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the town the population was spread out with 28.6% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $125,557, and the median income for a family was $135,055. Males had a median income of $85,777 versus $51,528 for females. The per capita income for the town was $53,885. About 1.9% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 1.0% of those age 65 or over.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[3]
Party		Active Voters	Inactive Voters	Total Voters	Percentage	Republican	1,797	68	1,865	35.08%	Democratic	1,011	37	1,048	19.71%	Unaffiliated	2,307	87	2,394	45.03%	Minor Parties	9	0	9	0.17%
Total		5,124	192	5,316	100%

Notable residents, past and present

★ Hume Cronyn, actor (Jessica Tandy's husband)[3]Kaufman, Joanne. "Weekender: Easton, Conn." article in ''The New York Times'', October 12, 2002, accessed September 25, 2006

★ Helen Keller, blind-deaf-mute author, lived in town.

★ Jessica Tandy, actress (wife of Hume Cronyn)

★ Franco Ventriglia, opera singer, may not have lived in Easton, but he was working at a gas station in town at the time he was discovered.

★ Eileen Fulton was a resident.

★ Anne Baxter, a weekend resident.

★ Edna Ferber, playwright and novelist, was a weekend resident.

★ Dan Rather, former CBS News anchor, has been a weekend resident.

★ Igor Sikorsky, aircraft pioneer.

★ Robert Heindel, Artist, former resident 1968-2004

School Systems

Easton has two schools, Samuel Staples Elementary school, which takes children grades K-5,and Helen Keller Middle School, which takes children grades 6-8. High school students go to
Joel Barlow High School in Redding.

Notes

1. Kaplan, Thomas, Martineau, Kim, and Kauffman, Matthew, "12 state bridges are judged to be in critical condition" article in ''The Advocate'' of Stamford, Connecticut, article reprinted from ''The Hartford Courant'', August 5, 2007, pp1, A6
2. [2]Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Web page titled, "New Listings on the National Register" accessed September 25, 2006
3. Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 25, 2005

External links

★ Town government Web site

★ "Living in: Easton, Conn.: A Town of Homes and Country Roads," by Eleanor Charles, an article in the Real Estate section of ''The New York Times'', July 8, 2001

★ Coastal Fairfield County Convention & Visitor Bureau