Shippan Point
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Shippan Point (or Shippan) is the southernmost neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut, located on a peninsula in Long Island Sound. Street names such as Ocean Drive West and Lighthouse Way reflect the neighborhood's shoreline location. It is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, with about 1,100 homes (including condominiums)[1].
Many of community's large homes overlook the water and have private beaches. It is even possible to see the skyline of Manhattan from the southernmost part of the peninsula.
The northern end of Shippan Point, especially along Shippan Avenue, becomes "Shippan" and gradually fades into the less-affluent East Side which has a business district Shippan residents use (for food shopping, dry cleaners, etc.). Shippan is also just southeast of (but not bordering) South End, one of Stamford's poorer neighborhoods, which is currently in planning phases for a major redevelopment.
Running down the middle of the peninsula, Shippan Avenue is the main road of the community, with many of the streets on either side dead-end roads ending in private beaches owned by neighborhood associations.[1]
Some local historians say "Shippan" means "the shore where the sea begins."[2] but others say the meaning of the Indian name is lost.[3]
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[edit] Marion Castle
A waterfront mansion known as Marion Castle (1 Rogers Road) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in the style of a French chateau either in 1914 (according to an Oct. 2, 2005 New York Times article) or in 1916 ("completed in 1916," according to a July 2006 article in New Canaan/Darien Magazine[4]) for Frank J. Marion, a producer of silent films. Today (July-2006) the pile is owned by Thomas L. Rich, a Stamford real estate developer well known in the area. Mr. Rich has allowed the usage of the home extensively for non-profit community events.[1]
[edit] Shopping and restaurants
Unlike a similar seaside community, Rowayton in Norwalk, there is no central business district of any size in Shippan, but further up Shippan Avenue there are stores, and downtown Stamford is very close by. Spazzio (401 Shippan Avenue) and Cafe Sylvium (371 Shippan Avenue) are two dining spots where many Shippan residents spot each other.[1] Brennan's restaurant at 82 Iroquois Road is also a spot where "all the locals hang out."[5]
[edit] Local organizations and associations
Shippan is home to two yacht clubs: The Stamford Yacht Club and Halloween Yacht Club. The Woodway Beach Club is also in Shippan.
Community groups include the Shippan Point Association, Shippan Point Gourmet Club (which sponsors dinners at members' homes six times a year)[1] and Shippan Point Garden Club.
The ALC Beach Association is a community based beach club for the residents of Auldwood, Lanark and Chesterfield streets.
[edit] The "Shippan Shuffle"
It's become so common for residents to move from one home to another in the neighborhood that the practice has been called the "Shippan Shuffle." "It's not unusual for people to have lived in more than one house here," a near-lifelong resident said. "In fact, there are probably 100 people here now who have done that." [6]
[edit] A Christmastime tradition
The Shippan Point Garden Club encourages residents to decorate their doors "according to specific guidelines" at Christmastime, and even people from outside the neighborhood drive through to see the doors. [4] Mainly the Denhams
[edit] History
[edit] Up to the American Revolution
The earliest document with Shippan's name in it dates to July 1640 when the area that became Stamford was sold by the Indians to the English. The deed was marked not only by the more well-known Ponus, Sagamore (local chief) of Toquams, but also by Wascusse, Sagamore of Shippan.[3]
Indians used the peninsula for corn fields, and the Puritans continued that practice, farming it in common, although by the end of the seventeenth century, the land had been divided up into individual lots.[3]
Early in the American Revolution, the peninsula was used as an embarkation point for a small flotilla attacking British troops on Long Island.[3]
[edit] Nineteenth century
In 1812, Moses Rogers, a successful businessman, built a "mansion house" on the east side of Shippan Avenue, although it isn't known exactly where or how long the building lasted. A description of Rogers magnificent estate was written by his brother-in-law, Timothy Dwight (president of Yale College),Travels in England and New York written in 1822:[3]
- Another is a peninsula on the east side of the harbor, mentioned above under the name of Shippan, the property of Moses Rogers, Esq., of the city of New York. This also is an elegant and fertile piece of ground. The surface slopes in every direction, and is encircled by a collection of exquisite scenery. The Sound, and Long Island beyond it, with a gracefully indented shore, are directly in front, and both stretch westward to a vast distance and eastward till the eye is lost. On each side also lies a harbor bounded by handsome points. A train of groves and bushy island, peculiarly pleasing in themselves, increase by their interruptions the beauty of these waters. The farm itself is a delightful object, with its fields neatly enclosed, its orchards, and its groves. Here Mr. Rogers has formed an avenue, a mile in length, reaching quite to the waters edge. At the same time, he has united plantations of fruit tress, a rich garden, and other interesting objects, so combined as to make this one of the pleasantest retreats in the United States.
Rogers died in 1825, but his descendants and relatives administered the estate in Shippan until the 1870s. In 1866 the first of a number of auctions was held for lots (covered with illustrations by Harper's Weekly magazine in 1869). By the 1870s "the estate was broken up into into nearly 400 lots "and new streets appeared on the map, including two named for Moses Rogers' grandchildren: Verplanck and Van Rensselaer. It wasn't until 1913 that a street on the peninsula was named "Rogers."[3]
As part of the promotion of Shippan, a large hotel was built in 1870, called The Ocean House. It stood where the Woodway Beach Club is today. To encourage New York City residents to visit the area, a new steamer, THE SHIPPAN, was built in 1866. However, the financial “Panic of 1873” intervened and real estate sales slowed drastically, not resuming again until the 1880's.[3]
To encourage potential buyers of real estate from New York City to visit Shippan, a steamer The Shippan was built in 1866, but the Panic of 1873 caused a collapse in the market, which didn't recover until the 1880s. Another promotional scheme was the building of the Ocean House Hotel, where potential buyers could stay to get a feel for the area.[3] (In Darien, a company trying to develop the Tokeneke area also started a hotel for the same purpose.)
[edit] Resort
The late nineteenth century and early twentieth century were the heyday of Shippan as a summer resort, both for Stamford residents and others who owned or rented summer cottages or stayed at the Ocean House Hotel. "When Michael McDevitt bought it, he renamed it 'Shippan House,'" according to a Web page of the Stamford Historical Society. "By 1890, he had added a pavilion, bath houses, a casino, and a carousel from Asbury Park, N.J. It was situated at the spot where later the Woodway Beach Club was built. The Hotel was renovated in 1911 by Leonard Barsaghi." It is unknown when the hotel was torn down. It later became the site of the Woodway Beach Club.[7]
In 1887 John Ennis bought land at the southwest end of the point and built a bathing pavillion over the water, where people could swim beneath a roof. He also put in ball fields, and a shed for 150 horses, which wasn't big enough to meet demand.[3]
For two years, starting in 1891, the town of Stamford considered buying the park. A long debate ensued and it became the subject of town meetings, including one with the biggest attendance up to that time. One town meeting approved the purchase, but another one rescinded it, and the land was sold to private owners.[3]
By 1902, the municipality again became interested in starting a public park in the area. On Halloween night, 1906, Homer Cummings cast the deciding vote to buy 95 acres for a public beach. In 1916, a nine-hole golf course was built on the property, first known as Halloween Park and later renamed Cummings Park.[3]
[edit] Early Twentieth century
In 1899, the Fosdick Syndicate, later known as Shippan Manor Company, bought a large home (possibly the Rogers mansion) and a private school was opened there in 1901, with a three-story dormitory built on the site the next year. That became the site of the Stamford Military Academy and eventually the Massee School. The Low-Heywood school moved to a new building on the west side of Shippan Avenue in 1911.[3]
The neighborhood continued to be developed in the early Twentieth century. The Shippan Land Company, developed over 100 acres of the peninsula, including Saddle Rock and Rogers Roads in 1913. The Atlantic Realty Company held a large public auction of land in 1914 at Lanark, Auldwood, Downs, and Whittaker avenues. The company even put a new twist on the old Shippan boat ride promotion -- it offered three-minute airplane rides to attract prospective buyers.[3]
Shippan residents complained about city services (it wasn't until 1931 that Shippan Avenue was paved) and zoning decisions, and the area once petitioned the state Legislature to separate from Stamford and become its own town, although the petition was rejected.[3]
[edit] Off-shore wreck
The Isabel, a wooden passenger steamship, ran aground off the point on September 28, 1915. There were no fatalities. Scattered wreckage remains in the 20-foot-deep area.[8]
[edit] Notable residents
[edit] Current
Current residents include the current mayor of Stamford, Dannel Malloy (in a converted barn on Ocean Drive)[1], and artist Helen Frankenthaler.
[edit] Past residents
- Harry Connick Jr.[4]
- Faye Dunaway[4]
- The family of the Gillespie brothers, formerly publishers of The Advocate of Stamford (the house no longer exists).[4]
- U.S. Rep. Schuyler Merritt "who chaired the commission that created the Merritt Parkway" lived at 75 Rogers Road.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f [1] New York Times, Oct. 2, 2005, Real Estate section, "A Neighborhood to Move Around In,'" by Lisa Prevost. Page accessed on 22 June 2006
- ^ McPherson, Bertha Mather, editor, "Darien: 1641-1820-1970: Historical Sketches," Pequot Press: Essex, Connecticut (1970), "Part I: A Brief History of Darien," by Louise H. McLean, page 2
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n [2]Web page titled "EXHIBITS: Marion Castle: History Preserved," a reprint from a brochure ("A CONCISE HISTORY OF SHIPPAN" by Rosemary H. Burns, from the brochure: "Marion Castle: History Preserved: An Exhibit at the Stamford Historical Society: April 28 – September 28, 1985"), accessed August 24, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f New Canaan-Darien Magazine, "A Gateway to the Sound: Shippan" by Leslie Chess Feller, page S4, July 2006]
- ^ New Canaan-Darien Magazine, "A Gateway to the Sound: Shippan" by Leslie Chess Feller, page S4, July 2006], this article also agrees on Spazios and Cafe Sylvium as local hangouts.
- ^ [3] New York Times, Oct. 2, 2005, Real Estate section, "A Neighborhood to Move Around In,'" by Lisa Prevost, page accessed on 22 June 2006, Gail Molloy, a real estate agent who lives in Shippan, was quoted in Darien/New Canaan Magazine defining the "Shippan Shuffle" the same way, "A Gateway to the Sound: Shippan" by Leslie Chess Feller, page S4, July 2006.
- ^ [4] Web page titled "PHOTO ARCHIVIST’S SELECTION OF THE MONTH: JULY 2004: Postcards: Fun at the Beach" accessed August 24, 2005
- ^ Wreckhunter.net click on "Explore Our Wreck Lists" then on new page click on "Wrecks in Connecticut" Last accessed on July 1, 2006
[edit] External links
- "A Concise History of Shippan" by Rosemary Burns
- Our Lady Star of the Sea Church (Roman Catholic), 1200 Shippan Ave. The church, established August 21, 1964 and Mass was celebrated in various locations until January 15, 1989, when the church building opened. Monseignor Edward Surwilo has served the parish since 1984.
- Chesterfield Inn at Shippan Point, 1404 Shippan Avenue
- Images of Shippan Point from Guide to Nature magazine, June 1910
- Stamford Yacht Club
