Hidden History of Ridgefield, Connecticut

Hidden History of Ridgefield, Connecticut
Author: Jack Sanders
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 1467118141

Time nearly erased many astounding tales and unexpected anecdotes from Ridgefield's history. Its colorful characters include a widow who built a landmark Manhattan hotel, her neighbor who invented one of the first "helicopters" and a CIA operative who helped one thousand Americans flee Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. Lesser known are the stories of the Ridgefield artists who gave the world Superman and Lowly Worm and brought the Wild West to life. One local writer helped make Hawthorne famous, while another penned thousands of hymns still sung around the globe. Join retired newspaper editor Jack Sanders as he uncovers nearly forgotten people and moments of Ridgefield's past.

Wicked Ridgefield, Connecticut

Wicked Ridgefield, Connecticut
Author: Jack Sanders
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 1
Release: 2016
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1467136824

Ridgefield is no stranger to life's shadier characters. The history of this idyllic community includes cunning crooks, suburban embezzlers, bungling burglars and wandering scallywags. In 1894, a group of bank robbers literally blew it in a heist at the Saving Bank--the explosion attracted witnesses to see the gang miss out on a grand haul of fifty dollars. Half a decade later, in 1940, a skeleton whose origins still befuddle experts was unearthed in a tree nursery. This look at the darker side of Ridgefield's past includes sad and tragic moments as well, such as newlyweds imprisoned in the Tombs, the Satanists of the '70s and a hermit murdered for love. Local editor Jack Sanders tells fascinating tales of two centuries of Ridgefield criminals, n'er-do-wells and even wayward do-gooders in this entertaining--and occasionally humorous--glimpse into some of the town's wickedest moments.

Ridgefield Park

Ridgefield Park
Author: Donna E. Rose-McEntee
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738512235

Ridgefield Park is a collection of photographs and memorabilia that spans more than three hundred years. Although the community was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape Indians, Hendrick Brinkerhoff became Ridgefield Park's first settler in 1685. Surrounded by the Hackensack River and the Overpeck Creek, and in close proximity to New York City, Ridgefield Park has grown into a bustling suburb that maintains its small-town appeal. The village's strong history of community involvement, coupled with a unique form of nonpartisan government, make Ridgefield Park the distinctive and well-loved town it is today.

The Old Leather Man

The Old Leather Man
Author: Dan W. DeLuca
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2013-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0819574457

In 1883, wearing a sixty-pound suit sewn from leather boot-tops, a wanderer known only as the Leather Man began to walk a 365 mile loop between the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers that he would complete every 34 days, for almost six years. His circuit took him through at least 41 towns in southwestern Connecticut and southeastern New York, sleeping in caves, accepting food from townspeople, and speaking only in grunts and gestures along the way. What remains of the mysterious Leather Man today are the news clippings and photographs taken by the first-hand witnesses of this captivating individual. The Old Leather Man gathers the best of the early newspaper accounts of the Leather Man, and includes maps of his route, historic photographs of his shelters, the houses he was known to stop at along his way, and of the Leather Man himself. This history tracks the footsteps of the Leather Man and unravels the myths surrounding the man who made Connecticut’s caves his home. Ebook Edition Note: Six of the 111 illustrations have been redacted.

Connecticut's Indigenous Peoples

Connecticut's Indigenous Peoples
Author: Lucianne Lavin
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2013-06-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0300195192

DIVDIVMore than 10,000 years ago, people settled on lands that now lie within the boundaries of the state of Connecticut. Leaving no written records and scarce archaeological remains, these peoples and their communities have remained unknown to all but a few archaeologists and other scholars. This pioneering book is the first to provide a full account of Connecticut’s indigenous peoples, from the long-ago days of their arrival to the present day./divDIV /divDIVLucianne Lavin draws on exciting new archaeological and ethnographic discoveries, interviews with Native Americans, rare documents including periodicals, archaeological reports, master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, conference papers, newspapers, and government records, as well as her own ongoing archaeological and documentary research. She creates a fascinating and remarkably detailed portrait of indigenous peoples in deep historic times before European contact and of their changing lives during the past 400 years of colonial and state history. She also includes a short study of Native Americans in Connecticut in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book brings to light the richness and diversity of Connecticut’s indigenous histories, corrects misinformation about the vanishing Connecticut Indian, and reveals the significant roles and contributions of Native Americans to modern-day Connecticut./divDIVDIV/div/div/div