Sandy Hook, Connecticut

Sandy Hook, Connecticut
Village
Sandy Hook post office and dam, from a postcard sent in 1914
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
City	Newtown

Sandy Hook is a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut. Sandy Hook was founded in 1711.

It borders the Botsford section of town, Newtown borough, and also the towns of Monroe, Southbury and Oxford along the Housatonic River. The village of Sandy Hook includes the communities of Berkshire, Riverside, Walnut Tree Hill, and Zoar, which also extends for a short distance into the Town of Monroe along Old Zoar Road and Bagburn Hill/Jordan Hill Road.

History

Within a year of the settlement of Newtown, some of its proprietors began moving away from the central village to some of their larger parcels. Several proprietors with land in the same area relocated to these areas together to reduce isolation. Sandy Hook was one of the first of the outlying areas settled. Colonists found the Pootatuck River at Sandy Hook allowed for the setting up of saw and grist mills. The neighborhood would not grow dramatically until the industrialization of the mid 19th century.

2012 school shooting

Main article: Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot his mother at home, then killed 26 people (20 children and 6 female staff members) and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It was the second-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

Points of interest

Sandy Hook in 2007

• Eichler's Cove Marina is located off Route 34 at the end of Old Bridge Road. It offers a small beach on Lake Zoar with a marina, town boat launch, and picnic area for residents of Newtown. Eichler's Cove is the only public access to Lake Zoar for Newtown residents.

• Fire Department Sandy Hook is home to Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company, Inc. It is the only fire station in Newtown with two locations: the main one at 18–20 Riverside Road and a substation at 249 Berkshire Road. This fire department is led by Chief William Halstead, who is also the Fire Marshal for the Town of Newtown. It has over 60 members, and 10 pieces of apparatus. The company has won numerous awards for its service to the community. Every June they host their annual LobsterFest, a major fundraiser for the company that runs on Friday and Saturday following the first Monday of the month.

• McLaughlin Vineyards is a family-owned vineyard and winery located at 14 Albert's Hill Road, 160 acres (0.65 km²) bordering the Housatonic River, with a tasting room in a converted 19th Century bar and access to hiking trails and picnic spots. McLaughlin Vineyards is committed to producing wines that reflect the terroir of the Northeast, and thus use only grapes from this region.

• Timothy B. Treadwell Memorial Park, located on Philo Curtis Road, is an outdoor recreational area that features a baseball/softball field, basketball courts, four tennis courts, multi-purpose sports fields (including two artificial surface fields), Newtown's community swimming pool (an eight-lane 25-yard (23 m) pool with a diving L and wading pool), a pavilion, and two playground areas. In season, the park is open from 8 am until 8 pm, The park was named for the late Timothy Treadwell, who served as First Selectman of Newtown before his death in February 1972. Mr Treadwell also served, from 1959 until 1962, on the town’s Parks & Recreation Commission.

Landmarks

• Nathan B. Lattin Farm — 22 Walker Hill Road, National Register of Historic Places
• New York Belting and Packing Co. — 45–71 and 79–89 Glen Road, National Register of Historic Places

Notable people

• Luther Meade Blackman, Major during the Civil War, accused of forging the Bat Creek inscription, born in Sandy Hook, Newtown, in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
• James Brunot, promoter of the game Scrabble, resident of Newtown, Connecticut in the 1940s.
• Suzanne Collins, American television writer and author of The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games trilogy, resident of Sandy Hook.
• William Hamilton Gibson, 19th Century American illustrator, author, and naturalist, born in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
• Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce), 1976 Summer Olympics decathlon gold medalist, attended Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut.
• Adam Lanza, perpetrator of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
• Molly Pearson, 20th century stage actress, lived in Sandy Hook, Connecticut at the time of her death in 1959.
• Albert Berger Rossdale, U.S. Representative from New York, lived in Sandy Hook, Connecticut in the early 1930s.
• Marcus Tracy, professional soccer player, grew up in Newtown, and attended Newtown High School.
• Mead Treadwell, 13th Lieutenant Governor of Alaska and former Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, grew up in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown, Connecticut.
• Jenna von Oÿ, actress and singer, attended Newtown High School.
• Thelma Wood, American sculptor, lived in Sandy Hook in the 1930s.