Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk

The city of Norwalk, located in Fairfield County, is in the southernmost part of the state on the Long Island Sound. Settlers from Massachusetts purchased the land in two separate transactions in 1640 and 1641. The first homesteaders arrived from Hartford in 1649 and incorporated as a town in 1651. This early community grew flax and hemp and raised cows. During the Revolutionary War British forces under General Tryon nearly destroyed the entire town. By 1880, oyster farming dominated local industry and Norwalk had the largest fleet of steam-powered oyster boats in the world. In 1893 the town reincorporated as a city and consolidated in 1913 to the city we know today.

More on Norwalk from the CT Digital Archive

Browse more interactive content on the CT Digital Archive website.

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New York and New Haven Railroad train bound from Manhattan

Misread Signal Leads to Deadly South Norwalk Train Wreck – Who Knew?

By 1853, the era of steamboat transportation had largely given way to trains, but there was still a need to manage drawbridges for safe passage. …[more]

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Websites

“Discover Norwalk,” 2017. Link.

Places

“Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum,” 2017. Link.
Norwalk Historical Society. “Mill Hill Historic Park,” 2017. Link.
“Norwalk Historical Society,” 2017. Link.
Norwalk Public Library System. “Norwalk History Room,” 2017. Link.
“Rowayton Historical Society,” 2017. Link.

Documents

“Broadside - Stage Coach Schedule: States Schedule for Stagecoach Line Between Ridgebury, Ridgefield, Wilton, and Norwalk, Conn., with Connections for Steamboat to New York City.” D. Hunt, 1845. Connecticut History Illustrated, Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
Connecticut State Library. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Various Dates - Norwalk Daily Gazette,” 2017. Link.
Google News Archive. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Various Dates - Norwalk, The Evening Hour,” 2016. Link.
Google News Archive. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Various Dates - Norwalk, The Hour,” 2017. Link.
“Digitized Image - List of Freemen in Norwalk, Connecticut: Section, April 1778 to April 1781,” 1778. Norwalk Public Library and the Treasures of Connecticut Libraries. Link.
Vassos, John. “Map of Silvermine, Connecticut.” Bird’s-eye. Connecticut, 1945. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Norwalk - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2017. Link.
“Norwalk Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Bailey, O. H. “View of Norwalk, South Norwalk, and East Norwalk, Conn. 1899.” Bird’s-eye. New York: Landis and Hughes, 1899. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.

Books

Jewell, Karen. A History of the Rowayton Waterfront: Roton Point, Bell Island & the Norwalk Shoreline. Charleston,  SC: History Press, 2010.
McCain, Diana. Connecticut Coast: A Town-by-Town Illustrated History. Guilford,  CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2009.
Hurd, D. Hamilton, ed. History of Fairfield County, Connecticut with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Company, 1881. Link.
Norwalk Historical Society, and Deborah Ray. Norwalk: Being an Historical Account of That Connecticut Town. Canaan,  NH: Norwalk Historical Society, 1979.
Roton Point History Committee. Roton Point. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia, 2011.
Hall, Edwin, ed. The Ancient Historical Records of Norwalk, Conn. with a Plan of the Ancient Settlement, and of the Town in 1847. Norwalk, CT; New York: Andrew Selleck; Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Company, 1865. Link.