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Greenwich Area Information

Greenwich Area Guide

The affluent and historically rich community of Greenwich, Connecticut, has been named one of the best places to live in the country by leading publications due to its incredible infrastructure, endless communal programs, and outstanding public institutions.

The town occupies roughly fifty-square miles of land located just forty minutes outside of Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. It is bordered on the north by Westchester County, New York, Stamford to the east, and to the south by the Long Island Sound.

Greenwich features many fantastic beaches, museums, corporate entities, top-notch schools, and historical sites.

It was named 12th on the list of the “100 Best Places to Live in the United States” by Money Magazine, which also ranked Greenwich the “#1 Earner.”

Originally named after a borough in England by the same name, Greenwich is a beloved community of hard-working citizens teeming with life and opportunity!

History

Greenwich was first settled in 1640 following a land purchase by Daniel Patrick and Robert Feake, who named their new settlement “New Haven Colony” after procuring it from the original inhabitants.

This tract of land nestled at the southwest corner of present-day Connecticut included all the land between the Asamuck and Potomuck rivers. This area is today known as Old Greenwich.

Greenwich was the tenth town to be established in Connecticut in the prolific seventeenth century and originally existed as a manor of the Dutch colony New Netherland.

In 1650, the colonies of New Haven and New Netherland agreed to adjust boundary lines, thus making Greenwich part of New Haven Colony once again.

Six years later, New Haven authorities issued a proclamation demanding that the allegedly disorderly citizens of Greenwich join with the governmental body of Stamford.

In 1664, a formal request was made to allow Hartford to separate from Stamford in order to better serve their people and show higher regard for personal liberties. As a result, one year later Hartford declared Greenwich a separate entity.

The so-named “twenty-seven proprietors” that authored and issued this request subsequently acquired the remaining local land from Native American tribes in 1672.

Greenwich expanded and prospered over time as a result of their prolific trade port and robust agricultural yields. During the Revolutionary War, Greenwich played a considerable role as a safe haven for Colonial soldiers despite occasional sieges from British troops.

As a stop en route to New York, it served as an important gateway for colonial travelers, including the Founding Forefathers riding along Connecticut roads toward the First Continental Congress.

Several of these famous taverns, inns, and battle sites are presently maintained as historical sites and museums.

Following the war, Greenwich again began to prosper with the arrival of the railroads halfway through the 19th Century. This transportation revolution provided jobs and allowed Connecticut to expand its horizons and transcend its boundaries as young men were able to travel, work, and increase their own experiences.

In the early 20th Century, Greenwich began to see its tourist industry flourish, with a plethora of resorts and inns springing up throughout the township. These buildings featured modern amenities including steam heat, electricity, and even telephones. 

Today, Greenwich is an enduringly enthusiastic collection of familial citizens committed to the enjoyment of life and the personification of American liberties.

Greenwich Historical Society
Operating out of the historic Bush-Holley House, this historic organization was founded in 1931 and oversees local monuments, landmarks, and collections. In 1975, the Strickland Road House District was named the town’s first National Register and Local Historic District. This district includes over twenty-five houses built between 1730 and 1938.

Parks and Recreation

The Greenwich Parks and Recreation Department oversees hundreds of acres of public land across more than forty diverse locations including harbors, nature preserves, conservation areas, and civic playgrounds. The department is overseen by a director and is organized into four distinct divisions; Recreation, Marine and Facility Operations, Parks and Trees, and the Griffith E. Harris Golf Course. The devoted public servants working for the parks department of Greenwich make it their personal mission to ensure equitable recreational opportunities to each of their beloved citizens. 

Parks and Recreation
Phone:  (203) 622-7814

BABCOCK PRESERVE
The sprawling three-hundred acres of this rugged Connecticut nature preserve stretch in all directions beneath looming cedar and oak forests permeated by winding trails and babbling streams. The park is ideal for hiking, horse-back riding, bird-watching, or skiing depending on the season, and happens to be open to the public during daylight hours free of charge. Camping is permitted with permission and there are also picnic pavilions and fishing ponds.
North St & S Stanwich Rd
Greenwich , CT 06831
Phone: (203) 622-7814

BINNEY PARK
As a gateway to the past, this thirty-two acre park heralds springtime beauty along its arching footbridges and ponderous paths. The park borders Old Greenwich, contains a gorgeous duck pond, and has served as a paragon of recreation and relaxation since its dedication nearly eighty years ago. Binney Park also features playgrounds, athletic fields, walking paths, and beautiful garden beds filled with blossoming perennials.
Sound Beach Ave, Old Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 622-7814 

BRUCE PARK
Nestled amongst historic Tudors and other beautiful homes, this gorgeous public park consists of sprawling lawns dotted by serene fish ponds and blooming rose gardens. Originally utilized in the early 20th Century by Elisha Davis as a sawmill, the park has served as a relaxation spot for more than eighty years and features a marked and measured walking trail, gorgeous perennials, diverse bird populations, gazebos, and historic markers.
Bruce Park Drive
Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 622-7814

GRASS ISLAND
This twenty-six acre shorefront marina and parkland was a true island until expansion in 1909, and today contains meadows, conservation areas, and picnic pavilions. Greenwich Yacht Club oversees a plethora of marine activities and amenities on location, and the conservation area includes a diverse collection of marshes, forests, meadows, as well as a wide variety of woodland creatures. 

MIANUS RIVER NATURE PARK
This relatively new public parkland features an expansive one-hundred acres of rocky hills including wide areas of unfettered natural land. Visitors to the park enjoy fishing, hiking, and bird watching compliments of the park’s one-hundred twenty five bird species, winding network of trails, and numerous fresh water ponds. The public park also borders a separate seven acre nature preserve by the same name that will soon be developed for canoeing, picnicking, hiking, and more!
Stanwich Road, Farmers Road
Greenwich, CT 06831

Attractions and Activities

More than a historic destination, Greenwich is a buzzing hub of modern activity offering access to incredible beaches, outstanding museums, scenic golf-courses, and sensational orchestral and theatrical productions. Proximity to the “Big Apple” affords the residents of Greenwich endless opportunities to revel in and enjoy fine art, wonderful music, and mind-blowing cuisine.

The town offers access to four nearby beaches along the Long Island Sound; Greenwich Point, Byram Beach, Island Beach, and Great Captain Island. Many of these peninsular hotspots include picnic areas, marinas, and breathtaking views of Manhattan, urban bridges, and rapidly elevating high rise developments.

Community members enjoy sailing, golfing, canoeing, bicycling, and rollerblading along the winding coastline under the gentle embrace of the temperate Connecticut sun.

Greenwich Township also owns the Griffith E. Harris golf course, an 18-hole club named for a well known 1950’s local selectman complimenting the other eight country clubs in the area.

Residents enjoy recreation and relaxation year round, embracing the snowy winter months by skiing, skating, and playing hockey. The Dorothy Hamill ice skating arena is located in town, as well as the myriad of frozen ponds, lakes, and rivers used for cross country or recreational ice-skating. Nature lovers value the area for its numerous public parks, as well as the five-hundred acre Audubon Center teeming with ornithological specimens.

In 1958, the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra began as a ninety-member outfit by the name of the Greenwich Phillharmonia. Since then, it has converted to an entirely professional and highly acclaimed outfit of worldwide renown and prestige

Greenwich is home to some of the most expansive and impressive museums in the nation, including the town owned Bruce Museum, the incredible American Museum of Natural History, as well as historic sites and collections including Putnam College, Old Greenwich, and much more.

American Museum of Natural History
The enormous collection housed within this sensational five-story institution includes more than thirty-million specimens and artifacts documenting the history and research of ornithology, marine biology, anthropology, art, geology, and much more! The museum features a planetarium, robotic dinosaur exhibit, photographic galleries, and an IMAX theater!
200 Central Park West, New York
Phone: (212) 769-5000
www.amnh.org/

The Museum of Modern Art
This expansive collection of modern and impressionistic works seeks to fuel creativity through display of eclectic sculptures, deviations, and canvas works. The site includes a sculpture garden, film screening theater, and an on-site café.
11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, NY
Phone: (212) 708-9400
www.moma.org/  

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Also known as the Met, this expansive and grandiose collection of fine art and pieces of world culture features over two-million pieces spanning five thousand years of rich human history. Originally founded in 1870, the Met has today become synonymous with refinement for its veritably endless halls of drawings, sculptures, paintings, photographs, masks, pottery, and other unique travelling exhibits.
99 Margaret Corbin Drive, New York, NY
Phone: (212) 923-3700
www.metmuseum.org/  

Bruce Museum
1 Museum Drive, Greenwich
Phone: (203) 869-0376
www.brucemuseum.org/

Putnam Cottage
243 Boston Post Road, Greenwich, CT 06830
243 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich
Phone: (203) 869-9697
www.putnamcottage.org/

Neuberger Museum of Art
735 Anderson Hill Rd, Purchase, NY
Phone: (914) 251-6100

Recreation and Fun

Hamill Skating Rink  
14 Sherman Avenue, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 531-8560

Allegra Dance Studio 
37 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 629-9162
www.allegradancestudio.com

 The Arthur Murray Grande Ballroom of Greenwich 
6 Lewis St, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 769-1800
www.arthurmurraygreenwich.com

Signature Cycles 
28 Bruce Park Avenue, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 485-0500
www.signaturecycles.com

Aquatics

Residents in Connecticut love life on the water, and with good reason, as their quaint residential home rests just a few miles from awesome public beaches and public islands.

Calf Island is one such island resting just three-thousand feet from the Byram shoreline open to visitors and offering twenty-nine acres of camping, bird watching, and hiking as well as fishing, swimming, and boating.

Great Captain Island is also off the shore of Greenwich and boasts a historic lighthouse, bird sanctuaries, and fantastic public beaches.

Island Beach is also known as “Little Captain Island” and has served as the venue for local celebrations and festivals. The site features bathhouses, public beaches, pavilions, picnic spots, and much more!

Events

www.greenwichchamber.org/events.asp