Editing Redding, Connecticut (section)

==History==

===Early settlement and establishment===
At the time colonials began receiving grants for land within the boundaries of present-day Redding, Native American trails crossed through portions of the area, including the Berkshire Path running north–south.<ref>{{cite web | title=Indian Trails in and around Redding | website=History of Redding, Connecticut (CT) Past & Present | url=http://www.historyofredding.net/HRindians.htm | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

In 1639, [[Roger Ludlow]] (also referenced as Roger Ludlowe in many accounts) purchased land from local Native Americans to establish [[Fairfield, Connecticut|Fairfield]],<ref>{{cite web | title=English Settlement at Uncoway | website=Town of Fairfield, Connecticut | url=http://www.fairfieldct.org/content/10724/12146/12163.aspx | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> and in 1668 Fairfield purchased another tract of land then called Northfield, which comprised land that is now part of Redding.<ref name="pdfhost.focus.nps.gov">{{NRHP url|id=92001253}} "National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, Redding Center Historic District," U.S. Department of the Interior, October 1, 1992. Retrieved 2014-04-30.</ref>

For settlement purposes, Fairfield authorities divided the newly available land into parcels dubbed "long lots" at the time, which north–south measured no more than a third of a mile wide but extended east–west as long as 15 miles.<ref name=Brainard1904>{{Cite book|title=The revolutionary soldiers of Redding, Connecticut, and the record of their services|url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionarysol00grum|last=Grumman|first=William Edgar|date=1904|publisher=Hartford press: The Case, Lockwood & Brainard company|hdl = 2027/yale.39002007175780}}</ref> Immediately north of the long lots was a similar-sized parcel of land known as The Oblong.<ref>{{Google maps|url=https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1miqx10FBP5c4owKap1oKlexPy8w |title=Redding, CT's Oblong |access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

There are varying accounts as to the first colonial landholder in the Redding area; multiple citations suggest a Fairfield man named Richard Osborn obtained land there in 1671, while differing on how many acres he secured.<ref name="pdfhost.focus.nps.gov" /> [[Nathan Gold]], a Fairfield man who would serve as deputy governor of Connecticut from 1708 to 1723, received a land grant for 800 acres in 1681.<ref name="Early Settlement">{{cite web | title=Early Settlement of Redding | website=History of Redding, Connecticut (CT) Past & Present | url=http://www.historyofredding.net/HRearlysettlers.htm | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

The first colonials to settle in the area of present-day Redding lived near a Native American village led by [[Chickens Warrups]] (also referenced as Chicken Warrups or Sam Mohawk in some accounts), whose name is included on multiple land deeds secured by settlers throughout the area.<ref name="Early Settlement" />

According to Fairfield County and state records from the time Redding was formed, the original name of the town was [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], after the town in [[Berkshire]], England. Probably more accurately, however, town history attributes the name to John Read,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA334|year=1903|publisher=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=334}}</ref> an early major landholder who was a prominent lawyer in [[Boston]] as well as a former [[Congregationalist]] preacher who converted to [[Anglicanism]]. Read helped in demarcating the boundaries of the town and in getting it recognized as a parish of Fairfield<ref>{{cite web | title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Umpawaug District School | website=NPGallery Digital Asset Management System | url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/9c1948c8-eb26-45ad-bbc7-61dfc0f73166 | access-date=June 4, 2020}}</ref> in 1729. In 1767, soon after incorporation, the name was changed to its current spelling of Redding to better reflect its pronunciation.

In 1809, Congress granted Redding its first U.S. Post Office,<ref>{{cite web | title=Post Offices | website=Town of Redding, Connecticut Official Website | date=August 1, 2019 | url=https://townofreddingct.org/about-redding/post-offices/ | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> which made official in 1844 the spelling of the town's name.<ref>{{cite web | title=Redding | website=Connecticut History | date=September 13, 2011 | url=https://connecticuthistory.org/towns-page/redding/ | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

===Revolutionary War and Continental Army encampment===

In the years preceding the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], tensions escalated in Redding between [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tory loyalists]] and larger numbers of those supporting the resolutions of the [[Continental Congress]], with some Tories fleeing to escape retribution.<ref name=Brainard1904 /> Some 100 Redding men volunteered to serve under Captain Zalmon Read in a company of the new [[5th Connecticut Regiment]], which participated in the siege of Quebec's [[Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec)|Fort Saint-Jean]] during the autumn of 1775 before the volunteers' terms of service expired in late November.<ref name=Brainard1904 />

In 1777, the Continental Congress created a new [[Continental Army]] with enlistments lasting three years. The 5th Connecticut Regiment was reformed, enlisting some men from Redding, and assigned to guard military stores in [[Danbury, Connecticut]].<ref name=Brainard1904 /> Getting word of the depot, the British dispatched a force of some 2,000 soldiers to destroy the stores, landing April 26 at present-day [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport]] and undertaking a 23-mile march north. The column halted on Redding Ridge for a two-hour respite, with many residents having fled to a wooded, rocky area dubbed the [[Devil's Den Preserve|Devil's Den]]. The British column resumed its march to Danbury where soldiers destroyed the supplies, then skirmished Continental Army and militia forces in Ridgefield while on the return march south.<ref>{{cite web | last=Prince | first=Cathryn J. | title=Taking to Devil's Den | website=Journal of the American Revolution | date=July 11, 2013 | url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/07/taking-to-devils-den/ | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

For the winter of 1778–1779, General [[George Washington]] decided to split the Continental Army into three divisions encircling [[New York City]], where British General Sir [[Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)|Henry Clinton]] had taken up winter quarters.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Poirier|first1=David A.|year=1976|title=Camp Reading: Logistics of a Revolutionary War Winter Encampment|url=https://orb.binghamton.edu/neha/vol5/iss1/5/|journal=Northeast Historical Archaeology|volume=5|issue=1|pages=40–52|doi=10.22191/neha/vol5/iss1/5|issn=0048-0738|doi-access=free}}</ref> Major General [[Israel Putnam]] chose Redding as the winter encampment quarters for some 3,000 regulars and militia under his command, at the site of the present-day [[Putnam Memorial State Park]] and nearby areas. The Redding encampment allowed Putnam's soldiers to guard the replenished supply depot in Danbury and support any operations along Long Island Sound and the [[Hudson River]] Valley.<ref>{{cite web | title=Park History | website=Putnam Memorial State Park | date=March 20, 2015 | url=https://www.putnampark.org/park-history/ | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> Some of the men were veterans of the winter encampment at [[Valley Forge]], [[Pennsylvania]] the previous winter. Soldiers at the Redding camp endured supply shortages, cold temperatures and significant snow, with some historians dubbing the encampment "Connecticut's Valley Forge."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=James M.|last2=Pryslopski|first2=Christopher|last3=Villani|first3=Andrew|title=Key to the Northern Country: The Hudson River Valley in the American Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfADAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA241|date=August 1, 2013|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-4814-5|page=241}}</ref>

===Establishment of rail service===
Construction began in 1850 on the [[Danbury and Norwalk Railroad]], which linked those two cities following a 23-mile route along the Norwalk River valley that passed through Redding. Regular steam-engine service commenced March 1, 1852;<ref>{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=James Montgomery|title=History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofdanbury00bail|year=1896|publisher=Burr Print. House}}</ref> Leading to the establishment of the Redding station in West Redding, the Sanford station in Topstone, and the Georgetown station, which was originally built in [[Wilton, Connecticut|Wilton]], But later rebuilt in Redding.

===Mining===
[[File:Garnet_rock_near_Redding,_CT.jpg|thumb|right|Cinnamon colored garnet rock near the train station in Redding.]]
In 1876, after A.N. Fillow began extracting [[mica]] in the [[Branchville, Connecticut|Branchville]] section of Redding, two [[Yale University]] mineralogists noted the presence of previously undiscovered minerals lodged in [[pegmatite]] there and furnished funds to expand the operation. Historians say the mine produced between seven<ref>{{cite web|url=https://connecticuthistory.org/the-industrial-might-of-connecticut-pegmatite/|title=The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite|last=Pawlowski|first=John A Sr. |date=2010|website=Connecticut History|access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> and nine minerals until then unknown, including one that was named [[reddingite]]. Over time, the mine would produce quantities of [[quartz]], [[feldspar]], mica, [[beryl]], [[spodumene]] and [[columbite]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shainin|first=Vincent E.|date=August 1, 1946|title=The Branchville, Connecticut, Pegmatite|url=http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/arc/cnbranchville.htm|journal=American Mineralogist|language=en|volume=31|issue=7–8|pages=329–345|issn=0003-004X}}</ref>

Another unique geological feature is the bedrock close to the train station. It is composed of nearly pure and massive garnet.<ref name="AgarKrieger1932">{{cite journal|last1=Agar|first1=W. M.|last2=Krieger|first2=P.|title=Garnet rock near West Redding, Connecticut|journal=American Journal of Science|volume=s5-24|issue=139|year=1932|pages=68–80|issn=0002-9599|doi=10.2475/ajs.s5-24.139.68|bibcode=1932AmJS...24...68A}}</ref>

===Gilbert & Bennett factory===
{{Main|Gilbert & Bennett}}
In 1834, [[Georgetown Historic District (Georgetown, Connecticut)|Gilbert & Bennett]] Co. purchased the site of a former comb mill alongside the Norwalk River in the Georgetown section of Redding, and began producing wire mesh cloth for varying uses, in time to include sieves and window screens. In 1863, Gilbert & Bennett built a facility at the site for drawing metal wire. During [[World War I]], the U.S. military adapted the company's products for camouflage netting, gas masks and trench liners; and during [[World War II]], for signal corps uses.
[[File:PostcardGeorgetownCTGilbertAndBennettMfg1909.jpg|left|thumb|Gilbert & Bennett in Georgetown, Connecticut.]]

A private equity group purchased the company in 1985, and began relocating operations elsewhere. In 1987, the Gilbert & Bennett site was included as part of the [[Georgetown Historic District (Georgetown, Connecticut)|Georgetown Historic District]] listing on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite web | title=History of Gilbert & Bennett in Georgetown, Connecticut | website=History of Redding, Connecticut (CT) Past & Present | date=December 15, 1947 | url=http://historyofredding.net/HGgilbertbennett.htm | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

In a 1987 nomination document for the National Register of Historic Places, proponents cited Gilbert & Bennett as an "anachronism" in the history of U.S. industry and labor.

"Peaceful, tree-lined residential streets converge on a functioning industrial complex; well-preserved historic houses stand cheek-by-jowl with modern factories; the deteriorated slum neighborhoods associated with modern industry do not exist," the nomination states. "The elite of Georgetown, almost exclusively people associated with Gilbert and Bennett, lived in the midst of their workers. The predictable ethnic neighborhoods did exist in Georgetown, outside the district for the most part, but their employees were apparently encouraged to occupy, or build houses next to the mansions of the managers and officers."<ref>{{NRHP url|id=87000343}} "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Georgetown Historic District, Georgetown, Connecticut," U.S. Department of the Interior, March 9, 1987. Retrieved 2014-04-30.</ref>

In 1999, the U.S. [[Environmental Protection Agency]] designated the factory pond and surrounding land a federal [[Superfund]] site to spur the remediation of pollution there.<ref>{{cite web | title=G & B LAGOON | website=yosemite.epa.gov | date=April 26, 2014 | url=http://yosemite.epa.gov/r1/npl_pad.nsf/51dc4f173ceef51d85256adf004c7ec8/e4b1135a71af905285256b42006031a1!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,redding | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426201118/http://yosemite.epa.gov/r1/npl_pad.nsf/51dc4f173ceef51d85256adf004c7ec8/e4b1135a71af905285256b42006031a1!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,redding | archive-date=April 26, 2014 | url-status=dead | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> Multiple developers have since attempted to finance the construction of a village development at the Gilbert & Bennett site, to include a mix of residential and commercial buildings.<ref>{{cite web | title=Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill Renovation & Redevelopment News in Georgetown, Connecticut | website=History of Redding, Connecticut (CT) Past & Present | date=February 20, 2010 | url=http://www.historyofredding.net/HGgilbertbennettnews.htm | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>
[[File:Umpawaugschoolhouse.jpg|thumb|right|Umpawaug District School]]

===On the National Register of Historic Places===
* [[Aaron Barlow House]]
* [[Daniel and Esther Bartlett House]]
* [[Georgetown, Connecticut|Georgetown Historic District]]
* [[Putnam Memorial State Park]]
* [[Redding Center Historic District]]
* [[Umpawaug District School]]

===On the Connecticut Historic Resource Inventory===
The Connecticut Historic Resource Inventory lists 230 structures in Redding, the oldest built in 1710 by early settler Moses Knapp.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.townofreddingct.org/Public_Documents/ReddingCT_Houses/RddgOldHses-CT_HRI.pdf|title=Houses in Redding - Listed in State of Connecticut Historic Resource Inventory|date=January 21, 2007|website=Town of Redding, Connecticut Official Website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302034853/http://www.townofreddingct.org/Public_Documents/ReddingCT_Houses/RddgOldHses-CT_HRI.pdf|archive-date=March 2, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> The Town of Redding lists another 285 structures that are believed to have been built before 1901 that are not listed in the Connecticut Historic Resource Inventory, the oldest built in 1711 by John Read.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.townofreddingct.org/Public_Documents/ReddingCT_Houses/RddgOldHsesNonlisted.pdf|title=Houses in Redding - Houses 1900 and Earlier, NOT LISTED on State of Connecticut Historic Resource Inventory|date=January 21, 2007|website=Town of Redding, Connecticut Official Website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302034819/http://www.townofreddingct.org/Public_Documents/ReddingCT_Houses/RddgOldHsesNonlisted.pdf|archive-date=March 2, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

===Disasters===
Redding has experienced several disasters, including the 2020 [[pandemic]] of the [[COVID-19]] strain of [[coronavirus]], with Connecticut declaring on March 10, 2020, a public health emergency and federal agencies subsequently approving Connecticut for disaster assistance. Through June 30, the state of Connecticut listed 69 Redding residents as having contracted COVID-19 or probably so,<ref>{{cite web | title=COVID-19 Update June 30, 2020 | website=The State of Connecticut Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | date=June 30, 2020 | url=https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/Coronavirus/CTDPHCOVID19summary6302020.pdf | access-date=June 30, 2020}}</ref> with eight town residents having died of complications from coronavirus.<ref>{{cite web | title=Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | website=CT.gov | date=June 30, 2020 | url=https://portal.ct.gov/coronavirus | access-date=June 30, 2020}}</ref> Statewide, schools closed and businesses furloughed workers after the closure of work sites deemed "non-essential" with the state allowing a phased resumption of business activities starting May 20. More than 700 Redding residents filed initial claims for unemployment compensation between March 15 and June 29, with unemployment peaking in mid-April when 434 residents were receiving benefits.<ref>{{cite web | title=Statewide Claims Profile - State of Connecticut | website=Connecticut Department of Labor | date=June 29, 2020 | url=https://www1.ctdol.state.ct.us/lmi/claimsdata.asp | access-date=June 30, 2020}}</ref>

Most other disasters were the result of severe weather events including [[Hurricane Sandy]] with [[tropical storm]]-force winds when it reached Connecticut October 29, 2012, toppling trees throughout the town and cutting power to 98 percent of homes and businesses.<ref>{{cite web | title=Residents help clean up after Hurricane Sandy | website=The Redding Pilot | date=November 3, 2012 | url=http://www.thereddingpilot.com/6021/residents-help-clean-up-after-hurricane-sandy/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103063122/http://www.thereddingpilot.com/6021/residents-help-clean-up-after-hurricane-sandy/ | archive-date=November 3, 2012 | url-status=dead | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

Sandy was the third storm to cause extensive electrical outages and property damage in Redding and Connecticut within the space of just over 14 months, along with [[Hurricane Irene]] in August 2011 and the so-called [[2011 Halloween nor'easter|"Halloween nor'easter"]] in late October that year. The nor'easter dropped extensive snow onto trees that still had foliage, resulting in an increased number of snapped branches and trunks that damaged property and power lines, with some areas not seeing electricity restored for 11 days.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/05-31-2012-ne-outage-report.pdf|title=Report on Transmission Facility Outages during Northeast Snowstorm of October 29-30, 2011: Causes and Recommendations|date=2011|website=Federal Energy Regulatory Commission|access-date=August 14, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224084107/http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/05-31-2012-ne-outage-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1995, police arrested<ref>{{cite web | last1=Springer | first1=John | last2=Williams | first2=Thomas D. | title=Suspect in Killing of 5 'No Different' than Others | website=courant.com | date=April 30, 1995 | url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1995-04-30-9504300115-story.html | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> and a jury subsequently convicted<ref>{{cite web | last=Springer | first=John | title=Landlord Guilty in Murders | website=courant.com | date=April 25, 1998 | url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1998-04-25-9804250166-story.html | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> Geoffrey K. Ferguson on charges he shot and killed tenants Scott D. Auerbach and David J. Froehlich, as well as three other men named David A. Gartrell, Sean E. Hiltunen, and Jason M. Trusewicz, at a house in Georgetown.

Beginning October 15, 1955, heavy rains caused flooding along the Norwalk River and other Connecticut waterways.<ref>{{cite web | last=Jones | first=Mark | title=The Connecticut Floods of 1955 | website=cslib.org | date=July 12, 2014 | url=http://www.cslib.org/flood1955.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712205408/http://www.cslib.org/flood1955.htm | archive-date=July 12, 2014 | url-status=unfit | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> The [[Flood of 1955 (Connecticut)|flood of 1955]] resulted in a dam failing at the Gilbert and Bennett factory and the inundation of the Georgetown neighborhood, amid other damage to property and infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cruson | first=Daniel | title=The Flood of 1955 Pictures | website=History of Redding, Connecticut (CT) Past & Present | date=August 19, 1955 | url=http://www.historyofredding.net/HRfloodpictures.htm | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

A [[1938 New England Hurricane|1938 hurricane]] known as "the Long Island Express" destroyed crops in Redding,<ref>{{cite web | title=Our Katrina: Looking back on the Hurricane of 1938 | website=NewsTimes | date=September 21, 2008 | url=https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Our-Katrina-Looking-back-on-the-Hurricane-of-1938-79480.php | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref> but western Connecticut was spared the brunt of the storm that was the most destructive in New England recorded history.<ref>{{cite web | last=Helman | first=Christopher | title=Where Will Sandy Rank Among These Worst U.S. Storms Of All Time? | website=Forbes | date=October 29, 2012 | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2012/10/29/where-will-sandy-rank-among-these-worst-u-s-storms-of-all-time/ | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

The [[Great Blizzard of 1888]] (also known as the Great White Hurricane of 1888) buried Redding under significant snow in March that year, with one resident recollecting horses and cows "stood to their middles" in snow.<ref>{{cite web | last=Henderson-Shifflett | first=Jeannine | title=Blizzard of 1888 Devastates State | website=Connecticut History | date=March 14, 2017 | url=http://connecticuthistory.org/blizzard-of-1888-devastates-state/ | access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>