Springdale is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

. Located in the eastern portion of Stamford, close to the border of Darien and New Canaan, Springdale is noted for its "small town feel". Hope Street serves as Springdale's center, and is lined with various shops, restaurants, and apartments. Much of the neighborhood also runs parallel to the

New Canaan Branch The New Canaan Branch is an 8.2-mile (13 km) long branch line of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line that begins from a junction east of downtown Stamford, Connecticut, north to New Canaan, Connecticut, New Canaan. On weekdays, many bra ...

, and the area is served by Springdale station.

Toponymy

The neighborhood has been called "Springdale" since 1868, according to a 1982 publication by Rosemary Hickey Burns of the Stamford Historical Society. Springdale was chosen as a name to invoke the local waters along which the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

settled (the Noroton River). The area was also known by various older archaic European names, such as "Shittim Plains", "Greedy Ridge", "Black Swamp", "Ye Second Run", and "Broad Brook". The area also had a name of unknown etymology, "Shino". The area also had a Native American name, recorded as "Hequetch", "Hecquitts", "Hecwitts", "Hacketts", and other similar variations. This Native American name would continue to be used in official town records through 1870, and local newspapers used the name into the early 1900s. The name's origin language and meaning remains disputed.

History

According to local historian Rosemary Hickey Burns, the area was first purchased by

in 1640, in a deal which encompassed all of present-day Stamford, as well as some surrounding areas. The area of present-day Springdale was settled in 1641. Following boundary disputes, local European settlers and Native Americans revised their land treaty in 1655, but without exact details and descriptors. On January 7, 1667, the Europeans and Native Americans signed another treaty, which this time included distinct place names. The treaty specifically ceded "Hequetch", a

Anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

version of a Native American name for the area of present-day Springdale, to the European settlers. Following the codification of the area's land rights, Europeans settled the area en masse during the first few years of the 18th century. Hequetch was a largely agrarian area, with many

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s and

cider mill A cider mill, also known as a cidery, is the location and equipment used to crush apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, hard cider, applejack, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. More specifically, it ...

s. Major crops in the area include

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...

s, and

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

;

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

timber were the area's main lumber products. During the Revolutionary War, most Springdale residents were

loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

. The area's first shop, a blacksmith located on the north side of Woodway Road and Hope Street, opened in 1792. The first store recorded in the area known as Shittim Plains was in existence by 1811. Springdale station postcard

The area saw a number of important constructions in the mid-19th century, coinciding with the opening of the New Canaan Railroad. A school was built in 1854 at the site of the present Springdale Elementary School, in the area then known as "Shino". The Methodist Church was dedicated in 1876 and the Episcopal Church in 1868. The train made its first trip from Stamford to New Canaan on July 4, 1868. Around this time, a local post office was established, and the name "Springdale" became officially recognized for the area. The city of Stamford had sought to consolidate many of the smaller municipalities in the area beginning in the early 20th century. Springdale, however, resisted this effort until 1949. The early and mid-20th century saw a large boom in housing construction, including many Cape Cod style houses. Beginning in the 1980s, the area along Hope Street saw the construction of many small

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

complexes. During the early 21st century, parts of the neighborhood along Hope Street, a major commercial center, were rezoned to discourage more obtrusive parking, and to enable the development of mixed-use buildings.

Geography

Being a neighborhood with no distinct administrative status, Springdale does not have clearly defined boundaries. Springdale is located within the eastern portion of Stamford, with the center of Springdale is located along a section of Hope Street, which is home to much of the neighborhood's shops, restaurants, and an increasing number of multi-family apartments. Much of the neighborhood also runs parallel to the

of the Metro-North

New Haven Line The New Haven Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Connecticut. Running from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York City, the New Haven Line joins the Harlem Line ...

. The City of Stamford's "Neighborhood Statistical Area" for Springdale places it north of Glenbrook and Belltown, south and east of Turn of River and Newfield, and east of Ridgeway and Bulls' Head. To its east is northern Darien. Some consider Springdale to be to the east of Belltown. The area of Springdale is largely hilly.

Demographics

Due to the neighborhood's lack of fixed boundaries, demographic data regarding Springdale can be varied. A 2013 piece by ''The'' ''New York Times'' suggested the area had a population of "about 12,000", whereas the City of Stamford's "Neighborhood Statistical Area" for Springdale estimated a population of 8,021 during 2015 to 2019. The city's "Neighborhood Statistical Area" reports that 62.3% of Springdale's population is non-Hispanic

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.9% is non-Hispanic Asian, 6.9% is non-Hispanic

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 2.8% is non-Hispanic of another race, and 19.1% is

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

Economy

Nearly all of Springdale's commercial and industrial activity lies along the eastern border of the neighborhood, along Hope Street and the

. The city's 2019 "Neighborhood Statistical Area" publication for Springdale reports a

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

of $47,223, lower than the Stamford average, but still higher than Connecticut's average. The publication reported an

unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...

of 9.2%, the second highest in Stamford, and well above the city and state averages. The publication also found that 48.4% of the neighborhood's residents 25 and older have a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

or higher, in line with the city average and slightly higher than the state average. Both

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Roman Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1963 by Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholi ...

of Fairfield and the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...

have conducted classes at "campuses" (rented space for classrooms) in Springdale near the railroad station. The Riverbend Office Park and Omega Engineering Inc. are also near the railroad station.

Government institutions

The neighborhood is served by Springdale Elementary School and Dolan Middle School. Local students attend the nearby Stamford High School. The Stamford Fire Rescue Department's Fire Station # 7, as well as the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department, serve the neighborhood. The Weed Memorial & Hollander Branch of the city library system is located in Springdale, along Hope Street.

Parks and recreation

Springdale is home to a park with a playground and Little League field, which has lights for nighttime games. It has become one of the premier Little League fields in all of Connecticut, playing host to many summertime "All-Star" Little League games from all over the region.

Local landmarks

*''Scofield-Hoyt farmhouse,'' Eden Road, built in 1868 by John Scofield and Catherine Hoyt Scofield (on land inherited from Catherine's father) as part of a farm that also covered across the street (land from the estate of Peter Scofield). Original wood in the home was taken from that land. The couple's three children, James, Frances and Ann Augusta, never married and all lived in the house till 1902. Some of the remaining original features of the house are the pegged post-and-beam frame, the front six-over-six windows, the hardware on the doors, rough-hewn ceiling beams and dry-laid stone walls.
"A part of Stamford history is for sale," by Susan Nova, special correspondent, ''The Advocate,'' Real Estate section, August 4, 2006, accessed August 5, 2006. ''The Advocate'' tends to take its articles off the Web site after a week, the article appeared on page R1 *State Cinema, a

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

*Twin Rinks ice rinks, which has two regulation-size (200 feet by 85 feet) rinks at 1063 Hope St.

Transportation

The neighborhood is served by the Springdale station, along the

of the Metro-North

References

External links

In Springdale

Springdale Neighborhood Association
* at 990 Hope Street, run by Garden Homes Cinemas
Springdale Elementary School
a public school at 1127 Hope St., with 700 students in grades K-5 enrolled. The school mascot is the jaguar.
Springdale Figure Skating Club
skates at the Twin Rinks.
The New Canaan Branch Line
Details of the railroad that has been integral to the development of Fairfield County, Connecticut, with interactive maps, photographs, and information about the rail line's history.

In Stamford

City of StamfordStamford Historical Society
{{authority control Geography of Stamford, Connecticut Neighborhoods in Connecticut