Shippan Point facts for kids
Shippan Point is a neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. It's located on a peninsula that sticks out into Long Island Sound. This means it's almost surrounded by water! You'll find street names like Ocean Drive West and Lighthouse Way, which show how close it is to the shore. Shippan Point is known for being one of the wealthiest areas in Stamford, with about 1,100 homes, including condos.
Many of the large houses here have amazing water views and even their own private beaches. To the northeast, you'll find the Shippan neighborhood, and further east is the East Side. To the west, a canal separates Shippan Point from the South End neighborhood.
Shippan Avenue runs right down the middle of the peninsula and is the main road. Some of the smaller streets off Shippan Avenue lead to private beaches that are shared by neighborhood groups.
Some local historians think the name "Shippan" means "the shore where the sea begins." Others say the original meaning from the Native American language is now lost.
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Marion Castle: A Historic Home
There's a beautiful old house right on the water called Marion Castle (at One Rogers Road). It's so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places! A movie industry pioneer named Frank Marion and his family lived here for many years.
The famous New York City architects, Richard Howland Hunt and Joseph Howland Hunt (who were sons of a very famous architect), designed the house. It looks like a French castle and was finished around 1914 or 1916. Frank Marion was a pioneer in early movies. He helped make silent one-reeler movies that were shown in nickelodeons (early movie theaters). Since 1998, a local real estate developer named Thomas L. Rich has owned Marion Castle. He often lets community groups use the home for non-profit events.
The Hotel Chesterfield: A Building's Journey
The building at 1404 Shippan Avenue was built around 1880. For over 100 years, it was a hotel or a place where people could rent rooms. It had different names like Chesterfield Inn and The Shippan Point Inn. In 2005-2007, a local resident named John Ruddy fixed it up a lot and opened it as The Hotel Chesterfield in 2007. It was a small, fancy hotel with 9 rooms. Later, Thomas L. Rich bought it, but he closed it in 2010. Now, it's a single-family home.
Fun Places and Groups on Shippan Point
Shippan Point has many cool places and groups for residents:
- Yacht Clubs: There are two yacht clubs, the Stamford Yacht Club and the Halloween Yacht Club.
- Marina: Brewer Yacht Haven East is a place where boats can dock.
- Sports: The Shippan Racquet Club used to be here, but now it's BETA, a rock-climbing gym! There's also the Woodway Beach Club.
- Community Groups: The Shippan Point Association helps the community. There's also a Shippan Gourmet Club that hosts dinners and a Shippan Point Garden Club.
- Church: Our Lady Star of the Sea Church (Roman Catholic) is on Shippan Avenue. It also has a school.
- Restaurants: You can find several restaurants like Brennan's, Cafe Silvium (an Italian restaurant), Tomato Tomato (another Italian restaurant), Maggie's Curbside (for breakfast and lunch), and the Italian American Gourmet Deli.
"Shippan Shuffle"
It's pretty common for people who live in Shippan Point to move from one house to another within the same neighborhood! This fun habit is sometimes called the "Shippan Shuffle." One long-time resident said, "It's not unusual for people to have lived in more than one house here. In fact, there are probably 100 people here now who have done that."
History of Shippan Point
Early Days to the American Revolution
Long ago, Stamford was called Rippowam. Native Americans sold the land to English settlers. One record from 1640 shows land being sold for things like coats, hoes, knives, and wampum (shell beads). The deed was signed by Native American leaders like Ponus Sagamore and Wascussue Sagamore of Shippan.
For the next 50 years, the English settlers farmed the land. By the late 1600s, the land was carefully divided up. Some of the early families included the Ambers, Hoyts, and Waterburys.
Belding's Bluff, at the very end of the peninsula, was once a large farm. In 1779, during the American Revolution, Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge led 130 soldiers from Shippan Point to attack British soldiers on Long Island. They surprised the British, who then gave up. Shippan Point was also chosen for another mission later, but bad winter weather stopped it.
The 1800s: Big Farms and New Beginnings
After the Revolutionary War, several large farms grew on Shippan Point. In 1799, a rich merchant named Moses Rogers started buying land. By 1806, he owned over 400 acres, which was almost the entire southern part of the point!
Moses Rogers was a very important person. He was a director of the First Bank of the United States and supported groups that worked to free enslaved people. In 1812, he built a beautiful European-style mansion on Shippan Avenue. Timothy Dwight, the president of Yale College, described Rogers' estate as "one of the pleasantest retreats in the United States." He mentioned the long avenue, fruit trees, and beautiful gardens.
After Moses Rogers died in 1825, his family leased the mansion. It even became a boarding school for a while. Later, it was a popular picnic spot, with over 500 people visiting on one day in 1845!
After 1866, the land was sold off in many public auctions. Hundreds of people came to these sales. In the 1870s, the estate was divided into 400 smaller lots, and new streets were built. Some streets were named after Rogers' grandchildren, like Van Rensselaer and Verplanck.
In 1885, Colonel Woolsey Rogers Hopkins, a grandson of Moses Rogers, bought land and built a large mansion at 192 Ocean Drive East. He was the first president of the Stamford Historical Society and often hosted meetings at his home.
To attract more visitors, a large hotel called The Ocean House was built in 1870. A steamer ship, also named Shippan, was built in 1866 to bring people from New York City.
Shippan as a Resort Town
The late 1800s and early 1900s were a golden age for Shippan Point as a summer resort. People from Stamford and other places would rent summer cottages or stay at The Ocean House Hotel. When Michael McDevitt bought the hotel, he renamed it "Shippan House" and added fun things like a pavilion, bath houses, a casino, and even a carousel!
In 1887, John Ennis bought land and built a special bathing pavilion over the water. People could swim there under a roof, which was great for avoiding sunburn. He also added ball fields and a shed for horses.
With Stamford Harbor on one side and Westcott Cove on the other, boats were everywhere in the summer. New steamer ships like The Shippan brought passengers to the resorts. A racetrack also brought more visitors, so in 1892, trolley service started to Shippan.
The Stamford Yacht Club was formed in 1890. It offered yachting, swimming, tennis, and concerts. A fire destroyed their first clubhouse in 1913, but a new one was built within a year.
Early 1900s: Parks and Schools
In 1887, John Ennis built his bathing pavilion. He also cleared land for playing fields. In 1906, a large piece of land (95 acres) became a public park called Halloween Park. Later, a nine-hole golf course was built there, and it was renamed Cummings Park.
In 1899, the Moses Rogers house was bought by a company that opened the Manor School there. It later became the Stamford Military Academy and then the Massee School. A new building was built nearby, and in 1911, it became the school of Miss Low and Miss Heywood.
Real estate continued to boom. The Shippan Land Company developed over 100 acres, adding new roads like Saddle Rock and Rogers in 1913. In 1914, another company even offered three-minute airplane rides to attract people to buy land!
Shippan residents sometimes complained about city services, like unpaved roads. They even tried to separate from Stamford and become their own town, but it didn't happen.
Off-shore Shipwreck
On September 28, 1915, a wooden passenger steamship called the Isabel ran aground (got stuck) off Shippan Point. Luckily, no one was hurt. Small pieces of the ship, like windows, are still believed to be buried under the sand near the Stamford Yacht Club beach.
Images for kids
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Land auction, 1869
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Visitors inspecting land before an 1869 auction
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Part of illustration "View of Shippan Point", 1869
