

Scott Fitzgerald moved to Westport to be free from the commuting demands experienced by business people. During this period artists, musicians, and authors such as F. Starting around 1910 the town experienced a cultural expansion. By the 19th century, Westport had become a shipping center in part to transport onions to market. Īgriculture was Westport's first major industry. Blight caused the collapse of Westport's onion industry, leading to mills and factories replacing agriculture as the town's economic engine. For several decades after that, Westport was a prosperous agricultural community, distinguishing itself as the leading onion-growing center in the U.S.

The driving force behind the petition was to assist their seaport's economic viability that was being undermined by neighboring towns' seaports.

Daniel Nash led 130 people of Westport in the petitioning of the Town of Fairfield for Westport's incorporation. The Town of Westport was officially incorporated on May 28, 1835, with lands from Fairfield, Weston and Norwalk. A sign on Post Road East also commemorates this event. A statue on Compo Beach commemorates this plan of attack with a crouching Minuteman facing away from the beach, looking onto what would have been the rear of the troops. Minutemen from Westport and the surrounding areas crouched hiding while Tryon's troops passed and then launched an offensive from their rear. Historic map of Westport Statue of Minutemen on Compo Beachĭuring the Revolutionary War, on April 25, 1777, a British force of 1,850 under the command of the Royal Governor of the Province of New York, Major General William Tryon, landed on Compo Beach to destroy the Continental Army's military supplies in Danbury. As the settlement expanded its name changed: it was briefly known as "Bankside" in 1693, officially named Green's Farm in 1732 in honor of Bankside Farmer John Green and in 1835 incorporated as the Town of Westport. The community had its own ecclesiastical society, supported by independent civil and religious elements, enabling it to be independent from the Town of Fairfield. The settlers arrived in 1693, having followed cattle to the isolated area. Settlement by colonialists dates back to the five Bankside Farmers whose families grew and prospered into a community that continued expanding. Records from the first white settlers report the Pequot Indians living in the area which they called Machamux translated by the colonialists as beautiful land. The earliest known inhabitants of the Westport area as identified through archaeological finds date back 7,500 years. Westport's public school system is ranked as the top public school district in Connecticut and 17th best school district in the United States. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. It is 52 miles (84 km) northeast of New York City. Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast.
