Cos Cob, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. It is located at 41.033 north, 73.6 west, on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
. It had a population of 6,770 at the 2010 census.
Cos Cob is located on the western side of the mouth of the Mianus River
Mianus River
The Mianus River is a river in Westchester County, New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. It begins in the town of North Castle, New York in a series of ponds at about altitude...
. The American Impressionist
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
Cos Cob Art Colony
Cos Cob Art Colony
The Cos Cob Art Colony was a group of artists, many of them American Impressionists, who gathered in and around Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut, from about 1890 to about 1920....
flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An offshoot of the group, the Art Society of Greenwich, continues to support local artists in town.
Origin of name
The community name is derived from the Coe family. In 1641 Robert Coe moved to the Stamford plantation and became one of its leading figures. At about the same time, he encouraged a cousin (John Coe) to sail from England and settle at the mouth of the Mianus River where he was granted 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) of land. John built a sea wall at the mouth of the river to protect low lying lands and to provide a safe moorage for small craft. A sea wall at that time was referred to as a "cob" -- and thus it became Coes' cob, and eventually shortened to Cos Cob.An alternative explanation is that it derives from the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
word for "high rock."
Community facilities
- The Cos Cob Library is a cultural center and community hub providing art gallery space, concert and lecture series, and free WiFiWIFIWIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
access. Although of recent construction, the building evokes Richardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
design and is set in a pocket park landscaped by local volunteers. - The neighborhood's zip code is 06807. It has one post office.
- There are two public schools in Cos Cob: Cos Cob Elementary School, 390 pupils, and Central Middle School, 710 pupils , though school boundaries cut across zip code boundaries and many students who live in Cos Cob attend other public schools in town.
- Cos Cob has a fire department staffed by both professional firefighters and volunteers.
- Cos Cob stationCos Cob (Metro-North station)The Cos Cob Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Cos Cob area of Greenwich, Connecticut, via the New Haven Line.Cos Cob is from Grand Central Terminal. The station has 567 parking spaces, 361 owned by the state....
is served by the New Haven Line of the Metro-North RailroadMetro-North RailroadThe Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
, a commuter rail service that runs between New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
and New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
History
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
. Cos Cob's role as a commercial shipping port, supplying potatoes and apples to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, disappeared with the appearance of the railroad and damming of the Mianus River. The river is now one source of the town's drinking water.
Cos Cob gets a train for Christmas
Cos Cob (Metro-North station)
The Cos Cob Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Cos Cob area of Greenwich, Connecticut, via the New Haven Line.Cos Cob is from Grand Central Terminal. The station has 567 parking spaces, 361 owned by the state....
and the Mianus River
Mianus River
The Mianus River is a river in Westchester County, New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. It begins in the town of North Castle, New York in a series of ponds at about altitude...
Railroad Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
- "On Christmas Day, 1848, the last rails were laid over the Cos Cob Bridge, thereby supplying the last link needed to complete the railroad from New Haven to New York," according to the Stamford Historical Society Web site. "The first trial run was made on that day."
Editors of two Stamford
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
newspapers reported on the event. William H. Holly, Esq., founder of the Stamford Sentinel and a guest on the first trial run, wrote: "The train had to remain at Cos Cob Bridge some three hours for the last rails to be laid over it and the delay gave ample opportunity to the people to come and witness the wonderful feat. The general impression among them seemed to be, that the first train that attempted to cross this pass would also be the last."
Edgar Hoyt, editor of the Stamford Advocate, wrote: "The citizens of the village as well as the horses, cattle, etc., were nearly frightened out of their propriety ... by such a horrible scream as was never heard to issue from any other than a metallic throat. Animals of every description went careening round the fields, snuffling the air in their terror."
Twentieth and twenty-first centuries
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
in 1907 was a Mission Style
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
structure. It was designated a National Historic Engineering Landmark
National Historic Engineering Landmark
National Historic Engineering Landmarks are engineering achievements of historic importance that have been identified by their relevant engineering society.* American Society of Civil Engineers designates National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks...
in 1982 by the ASME
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
and the IEEE. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and local and national debate, the plant was decommissioned in 1987 and demolished in 2001.
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...
lived in Cos Cob on an estate which is now a town park. Over 75 years ago what would eventually become the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
was in part founded by him here.
On June 28, 1983, a 100 feet (30.5 m) elevated portion of Interstate 95
Interstate 95 in Connecticut
Interstate 95, the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, runs in a general east–west compass direction for 111.57 miles in Connecticut from the Rhode Island state line to the New York State line. I-95 Southbound from East Lyme to the New York State...
(the Mianus River Bridge
Mianus River Bridge
The Mianus River Bridge carries Interstate 95 over the Mianus River in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, Connecticut. The bridge suffered a 1983 collapse, killing several motorists. The replacement span is officially named the Michael L...
) collapsed, killing and injuring several motorists. Interstate 95 is the principal highway between Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and one of the most heavily traveled roads in the country. Because the road was not fully reopened for six months, it created a bottleneck which affected the New York to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
transportation corridor.
In 2006 NRG Energy Inc.
NRG Energy
NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, near Princeton.-Electrical Power Generation Operations:...
of La Jolla, California, proposed adding additional capacity of 40 megawatts to the current 60 megawatt plant to supplement Connecticut Light and Power during peak periods in southwestern Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
. Two additional jet turbines would be added to the existing plant in 2008.
Notable residents
- Edwin BoothEdwin BoothEdwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
, brother of John Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
and a famous actor of his day - Orestes H. CaldwellOrestes H. CaldwellOrestes Hampton Caldwell was one of the first five members of the Federal Radio Commission and may have been the first person to coin the term electronics. Born 1888 in Lexington, Kentucky, he graduated from Purdue University as an electrical engineer, specializing in telephone and communications...
, one of the first members of the Federal Radio CommissionFederal Radio CommissionThe Federal Radio Commission was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934... - Gary Dell'AbateGary Dell'AbateGary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate , also known as "Baba Booey", is an American radio producer, known for being the executive producer of The Howard Stern Show. His autobiography, They Call Me Baba Booey, was released on November 2, 2010.-Early life and career:Dell'Abate was born in Uniondale, New...
, producer for The Howard Stern Show. - Jim HimesJim HimesJames A. "Jim" Himes is an American businessman and U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, Democratic congressman - Barbara TuchmanBarbara TuchmanBarbara Wertheim Tuchman was an American historian and author. She became known for her best-selling book The Guns of August, a history of the prelude to and first month of World War I, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1963....
, historian
Places of interest
- Bush-Holley HouseBush-Holley HouseThe Bush-Holley House is a National Historic Landmark in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, Connecticut. It was constructed circa 1730 and in the late nineteenth century was a boarding house and the center of the Cos Cob Art Colony...
, the only National Historic Landmark in Greenwich; built: in about 1730; listed in 1988. - Ernest Thompson SetonErnest Thompson SetonErnest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...
House - Cos Cob Library http://www.greenwichlibrary.org/coscobfriends.htm
In addition to the Bush-Holley House, these sites in Cos Cob are listed by the National Registry of Historic Places:
- Mianus River Railroad BridgeMianus River Railroad BridgeThe Mianus River Railroad Bridge, also known as the Cos Cob Bridge, is a bascule bridge built in 1904 over the Mianus River, in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987...
, built: 1904; listed: 1987 - Cos Cob Railroad StationCos Cob (Metro-North station)The Cos Cob Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Cos Cob area of Greenwich, Connecticut, via the New Haven Line.Cos Cob is from Grand Central Terminal. The station has 567 parking spaces, 361 owned by the state....
, built: c. 1890; listed: 1989 - Strickland Road Historic DistrictStrickland Road Historic DistrictThe Strickland Road Historic District is a historic district that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It includes the Bush-Holley House which is separately NRHP-listed. There are 24 contributing buildings in the district....
, Strickland Road; built: c. 1730-1938; listed: 1990 - Cos Cob Power StationCos Cob Power StationCos Cob Power Station is a historic district roughly bounded by Metro North Railroad tracks, the Mianus River and Sound Shore Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut.The Spanish Revival style station was built in 1907....
, Sound Shore Drive; built: 1907; listed: 1990; demolished, 2000
See also
- The Cos Cob Art Colony: Impressionists on the Connecticut Shore by Susan G. Larkin, Yale, 2001
- The Cos Cob Power Plant, New York Times March 5, 1989 A12
- Nguyen, H. Cos Cob power plant scheduled for upgrade Greenwich Time Jun 22, 2006 A1
- http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/22/realestate/22LIVI.html?ei=5070&en=a810115d72a1f070&ex=1156996800&pagewanted=print&position=top "A Quiet Villagelike Section of Greenwich," by Eleanor Charles, The New York Times, Real Estate section September 22, 2002