Norwalk

Enriched with more than 1400 acres of parks and shoreline recreation areas, Norwalk is a delightful blend of the urban and suburban, the trendy and the traditional. Founded in 1640, Norwalk consists of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own style and character: East Norwalk, South Norwalk, West Norwalk, Silvermine, Cranbury, WoJfpit, Sasqua Hills & Rowayton. Major employers, diversified housing and excellent educational opportunities attract people from all over the U.S. to live and work in Norwalk. Norwalk has been named by Money Magazine as one of the best places to live in the nation. The revitalized downtown district of SoNo, the area's active cultural community, good schools, and superb recreational advantages will continue to maintain Norwalk's place as the pinnacle of desirability.

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HISTORY

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In 1640, Roger Ludlow and Daniel Patrick purchased the site of Norwalk from the Native Americans. The first settlers arrived from Hartford in 1649 and the town was incorporated in 1651. The common tradition concerning the name is that the name Norwalk is derived from the one day's "North-walk" that limited the northern extent of the purchase from the Native Americans. The Native Americans were called "the Norwake Indians"' and the river bore the name of "Norwake River," when the English first came to these shores. Connecticut's state song, Yankee Doodle, has Norwalk-related origins. During the French and Indian War, a regiment of Norwalkers was assembled to report as an attachment to British regulars. Assembling at Col. Thomas Fitch's yard in Norwalk, Fitch's younger sister Elizabeth, along with other young local women who had come to bid them farewell, were distraught at the men's lack of uniforms and so they improvised with plumes from chicken feathers which they gave to the men for their hats. British regulars began to mock and ridicule the rag-tag Connecticut troops.