Sharon, Connecticut

Sharon is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the northwest corner of the state. It is bounded on the north by Salisbury, on the east by the Housatonic River, on the south by Kent, and on the west by Dutchess County, New York.

The Appalachian Trail passes through a few miles east of Sharon, near West Cornwall and U.S. Highway 7.

As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 2,968, roughly a third more than it had had 220 years earlier.

Contents

1 History 1.1 Sharon in 1919 2 Geography 3 Demographics 4 External links

History

The first inhabitants of the area they called Poconnuck were the Mattabesec Indians. There were part of what became known as the Wappinger confederacy which in turn belonged to the loose Algonquin confederacy.

• 1739: Sharon is incorporated. It is named after the Plain of Sharon.
• 1765: John Cotton Smith, son of Cotton Mather and a prominent Connecticut politician, is born in Sharon.
• 1782: The population of Sharon grows to over 2,230 people.
• 1960: Young Americans for Freedom was founded at the estate of William F. Buckley, Jr. in Sharon.

Sharon in 1919

The following is a description of Sharon and its surroundings from a 1919 guide book to New England travel [1] (http://www.oldandsold.com/articles16/new-england-roads-33.shtml):

This is a village of rural loveliness which attracts many summer boarders. The Street, 200 feet [actually 12 rods] wide and two miles long, is bordered by grand old elms forming a natural arbor. The Soldiers' Monument with a stone cannon, and a stone clock tower are the modern features of the village. The Governor John Cotton Smith House, a fine specimen of Georgian architecture, is still perfectly preserved. The fine old George King brick house (1800) is at the head of the street. The C. C. Tiffany house (1757) is perhaps the oldest in the town. The old Pardee brick house (1782) stands by the Stone Bridge. The Prindle house is a spacious gambrel roof dwelling on Gay St. near the charming lakelet which furnishes a natural reservoir for the village water supply. The picturesque old Gay House has the builder's initials "M. G. 1765" on a stone in the gable.

In the early days Sharon was a place of busy and varied industries. Iron was manufactured here as early as 1743, and continued an important industry up to fifty years ago. During the Civil War munitions were made here, and it was then in the shops of the Hotchkiss Company in this village that the Hotchkiss explosive shell for rifled guns was invented, which led to the expansion of the company and its removal to Bridgeport.

To the north of the village is Mudge Pond, or Crystal Lake, and beyond, Indian Mountain (1200 ft). At the western foot of the mountain, on the [New York] State line, lies Indian Pond, now called Wequagnock Lake. On the edge of this lake was an Indian village where the Moravians early established a mission that did great work among the Indians. To the Moravians it was known as " Gnadensee," the Lake of Grace.

From Sharon the route runs northward past Lake Wononpakook and Lake Wononskopomuc, the latter an Indian word meaning "sparkling water." Between the lakes, as the road forks right, is situated the widely known Hotchkiss School, for boys, an important feeder to Yale. On the right, half a mile from Lakeville, is the residence of Hon. Wm. Travers Jerome, formerly District Attorney of New York City.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 154.3 km² (59.6 mi²). 152.0 km² (58.7 mi²) of it is land and 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.44% water.

Sharon is part of the Northwest Highlands of Connecticut, a region in and around the watershed of the Housatonic River.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 2,968 people in the town, organized into 1,246 households and 775 families. The population density is 19.5/km² (50.6/mi²). There are 1,617 housing units at an average density of 10.6/km² (27.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 96.87% White, 0.94% African American, 0.57% Asian, 0.44% Native American, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. 1.95% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 1,246 households out of which 25.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% are married couples living together, 7.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% are non-families. 31.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.26 and the average family size is 2.87.

In the town the population is spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 29.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 45 years. For every 100 females there are 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $53,000, and the median income for a family is $71,458. Males have a median income of $42,841 versus $31,375 for females. The per capita income for the town is $45,418. 7.2% of the population and 3.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.4% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

• Sharon Historical Society (http://www.sharonhist.org/)
• Historic USGS map including Sharon (http://historical.maptech.com/quad.cfm?quadname=Sharon&state=CT&series=7.5), in the southwest corner of the quadrangle
• 1935 Description of Sharon (http://members.skyweb.net/~channy/CTGuideShar.html)
• Housatonic Meadows State Park (http://dep.state.ct.us/stateparks/parks/housatonic.htm) in Sharon, along the Housatonic River
• Mudge Pond (http://dep.state.ct.us/cgnhs/lakes/mudge/lake.htm), a 206 acre (834,000 m²) lake located in Sharon
• Sharon Audubon Center (http://www.audubon.org/local/sanctuary/sharon/)