Norwalk, Connecticut, United States

🇺🇸 Norwalk is a city located in south-western Connecticut, in southern Fairfield County, one the northern shore of Long Island Sound. Norwalk lies within both the New York metropolitan area and the Bridgeport metropolitan area.

History Roger Ludlow purchased the areas east of the Norwalk River from Chief Mahackemo of the Norwaake (or Naramauke) Indians in 1640. Norwalk was settled in 1649, incorporated September 1651, and named after the Algonquin word noyank, meaning "point of land", or more probably from the Native American name "Naramauke".

The Battle of Norwalk took place during the Revolutionary War, and led to the burning of most of the town. In 1836, the borough of Norwalk was created, covering the central area of the town. In 1853, the first ever train disaster in the United States happened over the Norwalk River. During the 19th and early 20th century, Norwalk was a major railroad stop for the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The city of South Norwalk and the remaining parts of the town of Norwalk were both combined in 1910 to form the current city.

The Ku Klux Klan had a brief presence in Norwalk during the 1920s, but quickly fell apart due to internal issues. In 1955, multiple hurricanes hit the city, causing flooding in Norwalk Harbor. During the 1970s, efforts were taken to historically preserve South Norwalk, resulting in the creation of the Washington Street Historic District.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.3 square miles (94 km²), of which 13.5 square miles (35 km²) (37.24%) are covered by water.

Economy Pepperidge Farm, Xerox, Frontier Communications, and Booking Holdings have headquarters in Norwalk. Companies currently headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut include:

Economy: Publishing • Abaris Books • The Daily Voice (U.S. hyperlocal news) • Easton Press

Economy: Travel • Booking Holdings • HEI Hotels & Resorts • Priceline.com • Tower Optical

Economy: Financial • Danbury Mint • FactSet • Financial Accounting Foundation

Economy: Accessories • Dooney & Bourke

Economy: Technology • Applera • Datto (company) • Emcor • Frontier Communications • North American Power • Media Storm • Ventus (wireless company) • Xerox • Potoo Solutions

Economy: Food • Pepperidge Farm • Sclafani Foods • Stew Leonard's.

Events • St. George Greek Orthodox Festival, held in late August, features Greek delicacies, Pontic Greek dance exhibitions, and a large carnival. • Round Hill Highland Games, a festival of Scottish culture and athletic events, was started in 1923 in Greenwich, but was interrupted during World War II, then restarted in 1952. It has been held in Norwalk's Cranbury Park on or around July 4 for a number of years. In 2006, the 83rd annual event attracted 4,000 people to hear bagpipes and watch the caber toss, the hammer throw, and other events, with athletes often wearing wool kilts. Games for children are offered. Food and Scottish items are available for sale. Organizers say the event is the third-oldest Scottish-games festival in the United States.

Places of worship • Beth Israel Synagogue • Saint Jerome Church • Saint Joseph Church • Saint Ladislaus Church • Saint Mary Church • Saint Matthew Church • St. Philip Church • Saint Thomas the Apostle Church • Parkway Assembly of God (Norwalk Connecticut) New Canaan Avenue

Attractions • Norwalk Oyster Festival • Norwalk Boat Show • Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum • Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk • The Mill Hill Historic Park and Museum • Norwalk Film Festival • Norwalk Historical Society Museum • Norwalk Islands • Norwalk Symphony Orchestra • Norwalk Youth Symphony • Sheffield Island Light (house) • SoNo Switchtower Museum • Stepping Stones Museum for Children • National Havoc Robot League

Historic Places • Norwalk Green Historic District • Joseph Loth Company Building • Lockwood-Mathews Mansion • Rock Ledge • Norwalk's Former City Hall • Sheffield Island Light • Peck Ledge Lighthouse • Greens Ledge Light • Beth Israel Synagogue • Village Creek • White Barn Theatre.

Education Norwalk Public Schools operates public schools, while the community also has various private schools. Norwalk was granted a town charter by the Connecticut General Court in 1651. On May 29, 1678, town records mention the establishment of community-supported teaching activities with a passage that reads: "'At a town meeting… voted and agreed to hier a scole master to teach all the children in ye town to lerne to Rede and write; and that Mr. Cornish shall be hierd for that service and the townsmen are to hier him upon as reasonable terms as they can".

The school that was established in the 1670s was located near the Ludlow Square area of East Norwalk (near the former Roger Ludlow Junior High School).

Sport Baseball and softball are popular amateur sports with active leagues across many age groups in Norwalk. Four baseball fields and 16 Little League fields are in the city. Several of the fields, including Calf Pasture Beach, are illuminated for nighttime play. The fields at the Norwalk Little League team won the Little League World Series in 1952. The 14-year-old Babe Ruth League team won the championship in 2008. In 2010, the 12-year-old Norwalk all-star team made it to the Cal Ripken League World Series and placed third in the country. In 2011, the Norwalk Senior American Legion baseball team won the Connecticut state championship. This had not been accomplished by any other Norwalk Legion team in the storied 83-year history. The team defeated Branford, Connecticut, in the championship game. The girls' Norwalk Pride fast-pitch softball team won the Connecticut state championship in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

The Norwalk Biddy Basketball All-Star team Won the state and regional titles and then went on to the world championships in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1986 and placed seventh in the world.

Being a coastal city, Norwalk is home to a great many water sports, including competitive swimming, recreational boating and fishing, sailing, windsurfing, and kayaking. The Norwalk River and inner Norwalk Harbor host rowing events and organizations.

Norwalk resident Daniel Walsh won a bronze medal in Beijing with the U.S. Olympic rowing team in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Three golf courses are in the city of Norwalk: Shorehaven Golf Club is a private club in East Norwalk, the Silvermine Golf Club is a private club in Silvermine (part of the course lies in the town of Wilton), and the Oak Hills Park golf course is a public course in West Norwalk.

The cross-town rivalry between the city's two largest high schools, Norwalk High School and Brien McMahon High School, is fierce, particularly for the football, basketball, soccer, and field hockey teams in the fall, as well as lacrosse, baseball, and softball teams in the spring. Brien McMahon High School's football team won the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference and Class M State Football championship in 1994. McMahon High School's boys' lacrosse team won the state division 2 lacrosse championship in 2000.

Norwalk was once the home of the Connecticut Wildcats, part of the American National Rugby League, from 2003 to 2015.

Media News sources in Norwalk include News 12 Connecticut, a regional news channel for south-western Connecticut and based in Norwalk. The Hour was an independent daily newspaper based in Norwalk and founded in 1871, which was purchased by Hearst Communications on April 12, 2016. NancyonNorwalk.com is a self-published, nonprofit news site founded in 2010 that covers local issues.

Transport: Road Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway lead through Norwalk, with several exits within the Norwalk city limits, and are the major thoroughfare through the city. U.S. Route 1 goes through the centre of the city, mostly following local streets. The major north–south corridor in Norwalk is U.S. Route 7, which is an expressway throughout most of the route in the city. The expressway section ends at Grist Mill Road in Norwalk from where Route 7 resumes northbound along Main Ave. Other state routes include Routes 53, 123, and 136.

Transport: Bus Public transport bus service within Norwalk is provided by Norwalk Transit District. Norwalk Transit District operates fixed-route public bus service in Norwalk and Westport with evening and Sunday shuttles (serving South Norwalk, Main Avenue, and Connecticut Avenue) and commuter shuttles. Access to other cities through bus services Milford, Danbury, and Stamford. All fixed-route buses meet at the Transportation Hub.

Railroad The Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line runs through and stops in Norwalk. The train goes west and east, with Grand Central Terminal and New Haven Union Station being the final stops. The Danbury Branch runs from South Norwalk to Danbury, CT. Four stations are in Norwalk, three of them on the main line which is: Rowayton, South Norwalk and East Norwalk. The fourth station, Merritt 7, is on the Danbury Branch. Metro-North provides commuter service for all four stations.

The structure at 47 Wall Street was formerly the Wall Street station of the Danbury Branch, which operated from 1896 to 1936. The city's trolley system barn also operated on Wall Street.

Transport: Air Norwalk is within reasonable distance of 11 airports - four general aviation, two regional, and five international.