Miry Brook is an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in the City of

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

Fairfield County, Connecticut Fairfield County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the List of counties in Connecticut, most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. A ...

. It is located in the western part of the city, bordering Mill Plain to the north and west at Lake Kenosia and the town of

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York ...

, to the southwest. The Danbury Airport is located in Miry Brook.

History

The name Miry Brook is derived from the presence of swampland or “mire,” which makes up the landscape of the area, as well as the aptly named stream or “brook” that runs through it. According to local tradition however, it was named after an incident that occurred during the 1777 British retreat from Danbury (see

Battle of Ridgefield The Battle of Ridgefield was a battle and a series of skirmishes between American and British forces during the American Revolutionary War. The main battle was fought in the village of Ridgefield, Connecticut, on April 27, 1777. More skirmishin ...

), in which the Americans destroyed the bridge at Wolf Pond Run to impede the British, causing them a delay and mired artillery. Although this story may be true, it is not what gave rise to the name of the waterway and area, as there are recorded mentions of Miry Brook from as early as 1712. Miry-Brook-Cemetery-1777

Miry Brook School

Although almost unrecognizable today, the Miry Brook Schoolhouse is one of four original district schools remaining in Danbury. In the early 1900s it was considered a "model rural school," and was part of a training program, where Danbury Normal School (now WestConn) students completed their student teaching labs. It would later become the auxiliary police headquarters & Civil Defense Building, and has since undergone major modifications. File:Miry-brook-school-1912.jpg, Miry Brook Dist. School in 1912 File:Miry-Brook-School-Repurposed.jpg, Former schoolhouse in 2021

Watershed

As its name suggests, Miry Brook consists of a primary waterway surrounded by swampy wetlands. The Miry Brook itself begins in Ridgefield and runs throughout Danbury until it reaches the Still River and feeds into it as one of its major tributaries. This connects Miry Brook to the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

and

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

Parks and recreation

*Danbury Dog Park

References

Neighborhoods in Connecticut Populated places in Fairfield County, Connecticut Danbury, Connecticut Geography of Danbury, Connecticut {{Connecticut-geo-stub