Fall is a busy season for the Ridgefield Historical Society, with programs and events that share the town’s rich history and, we hope, make townspeople more aware of what we do here at the Scott House and throughout the town.
The September History Club focused on the proposed new Olmstead Lane Historic District, with a program about the area’s many interesting residents and historic homes by Town Historian Jack Sanders. He returned for the October History Club to complete a program on Ridgefield Then and Now, taking a tour of southern Main Street and several other familiar locations.
A number of Ridgefield Men’s Club members and spouses enjoyed an early evening visit to our headquarters in September and learned what the 1714 saltbox, originally built by David W. Scott on Main Street, has to offer. While enjoying refreshments, the guests toured exhibits throughout the building and were escorted to the climate-controlled vault where collections manager Tyler Ingram showed them some of the many documents, photographs, works of art, architectural drawings and works of art that are protected there.
In that same week, members of the Cannon Ridge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution visited Scott House for a reception with historical society board members to celebrate the chapter’s $17,000 donation towards our Battle of Ridgefield historic preservation efforts. This greatly appreciated support will help complete the documentary about the battle, scheduled to debut next spring.
The Peter Parley Schoolhouse’s Last Sundays open house in September featured the story of Cyrus B. Northrop, the longtime president of the University of Minnesota, who attended the school as a boy. The final open house of the season was a seasonal celebration of Halloween, with schoolhouse hosts in costume providing treats for guests.
Jack Sanders led a walking tour of southern Main Street on Saturday, Oct. 10, offering historical details and sharing images of buildings no longer standing. The stories of owners and how they brought their needs and tastes to bear on Main Street properties emphasized how the establishment of a Historic District in 1966 has helped preserve the streetscape that is so much the face of Ridgefield.
Dr. David Naumec, who was part of the first two Battle of Ridgefield archaeology projects sponsored by the historical society under a National Park Service grant, narrated a bus tour of the battle route on Oct. 18, pointing out sites of engagements and explaining how recent discoveries had enhanced understanding of the battle.
The Ridgefield Historical Society annual membership meeting on Oct. 21 marked 25 years since the frame of the venerable David Scott House was reconstructed at its new Sunset Lane home, rising over the poured concrete vault that would eventually hold many of the town’s most precious papers. Next fall, 2027, will be the 25th anniversary of the building’s opening as the Ridgefield Historical Society headquarters.
