It sounds like a good news/bad news joke.
A realtor tells a client, “I found the perfect house for you.”
(Beat)
“It’s on Pan Handle Lane!”
Of course, despite its down-at-the-heels name, the little street off Red Coat Road is just as desirable as most other Westport addresses.
In fact, on the market right now: a Pan Handle Lane home for $4.975 million.
6 Pan Handle Lane: 5 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, 7,435 square feet, on 2.51 acres.
But the unfortunate address highlights an interesting aspect of Westport life: our street names.
Where did “Pan Handle Lane” come from? Did no one say, “That might not be the best idea?”
For that matter, what about Red Coat Road? Those guys are the reason we fought an entire war of independence. And we reward them with a street?!
(To be fair, Blue Coat Lane lies a couple of miles away.)
Nearly 250 years after the Revolutionary War, Westport remembers Red Coats and Blue Coats.
One man who thinks a lot about Westport names is Alex Drexler. A 5-year resident, he still finds new names to wonder about.
What he knows, he passes on to his 2 children.
As they drive around town, they talk about the Sherwoods. Passing Minute Man Hill, he tells them about, well, the redcoats and bluecoats.
But he wants to learn more, about Westport history, and its street names.
Of course, they’re often intertwined.
For example, families in what was then colonial Fairfield divided land into narrow strips, from just north of the “Boston Post Road” all the way to Redding.
Every so often, “highways” crossed them.
You see where this is going, right?
Today, we know 2 of those streets as “Long Lots Road” and “Cross Highway.”
The oldest home in Westport is on Long Lots Road, near Fairfield.
Alex is not the only one who wants to know more about the origins of Westport’s street names.
Many other “06880” readers do too.
Who hasn’t wondered about Fermily Lane, Fresenius Road or Smicap Lane? Rumpenmile Avenue? Wynfromere Lane?
We know a bit about families like Gault, Lehn, Meeker and Parsell, all of whom have roads named in their honor. But we can always learn more about why they’re located where they are.
Who was Wright, Sturges, Bulkley, Gonczy, Hyde and the man who had a circle named for him, Dr. Gillette?
How about all those first-name street names: Barbara, Donald, Elaine, Jackie, James, Jennie, Loretta, Marc, Mary Jane, Scot Alan, Sue and Victoria?
It makes sense, given the Native Americans who lived here first, to have Pequot Trail and Arrowhead Lane. But Apache Trail and Hiawatha Lane? That tribe, and that leader, lived nowhere near here.
Hiawatha was a chief of the Onondaga tribe. He helped establish the Iroquois (Five Nations) Confederacy. They were primarily in what is now New York State, Ontario and Quebec — not Fairfield County.
So here is today’s question: What do you know about the names of Westport’s roads, streets, lanes, avenues, drives, circles and terraces?
We want histories, and back stories. Click “Comments” below, and/or email 06880blog@gmail.com. We’ll compile your submissions into an upcoming piece.
Here’s one, to start things off: Roosevelt and Quentin Roads — which connect to each other, and are accessible at different points off Compo Beach Road — were both named after Theodore Roosevelt’s youngest son. Quentin Roosevelt was killed in his airplane over Normandy on Bastille Day, during World War I.
And — according to Woody Klein’s history of Westport — Teddy Roosevelt himself spent summers in Westport, as a boy.
Theodore Roosevelt and his son Quentin.
(Where else but “06880” can you learn such interesting, important and random stuff about our past — and our present? If you enjoy this hyper-local blog, please click here to support us. Thank you!)
Fermily lane is short for the “Ferrone Family from Brooklyn who bought 15 acres of land in the 1920s and subdivided into 12 properties of which 6 were located on Fermily lane and occupied by the brothers and sisters and their children one of which still lives there
Sniffen Road, Loren Lane, Calumet Road, Fillow Street all were related to the Sniffen Family that owned these areas off of Clinton Avenue and were the original owners of the Fillow Flower Company located on Clinton Avenue. My family lived on Clinton Avenue and Oak Street from 1961 to 2007.
would love to know more about grays farm road, gray lane and grays creek – all in Westport and a lot of times the UPS or the mailman has brought packages to the incorrect house – would love to know if they are part of the same family that divided land or what is the origin behind the former farm land where we live now.
Colonial farming family. They owned the land Longshore is on.
Silverbrook Road was named for Silverbrook Farm (which was on Easton Road). We had both pear trees and apple trees on our property so I guess that was part of Silverbrook’s business. And Easton Road’s name could have, in theory, been Upper Stepney Road.
I don’t know how Smicap Lane came into being, but a few years back when I developed a home on that street, I got together with the neighbors and we renamed the street “Winslow Lane”.
Rob, I recall that Smicap was a reference to the two men who originally developed that lane. I can’t remember the first man’s name but the second was definitely Ed Capasse. I’m sure Wendy Crowther will remember the name of the other gentleman.
Rob, too bad that you didn’t get together with me – I’m also a neighbor. I live next door to the former Smicap Lane.
Smicap was an amalgam of the names of the first two families who owned the original two homes located on what was once the the formerly unnamed lane.
The SMI in Smicap stood for John Smith (a mason) who lived on the property for 29 years. The CAP in Smicap stood for Ed Capasse. Ed was the son of Westport Police Captain Ed Capasse who descended from the Saugatuck Capasses. The Capasse family owned a market on Franklin Street for decades.
In renaming the road from Smicap to Winslow, you at least referenced the historical owner of the property that is located down the block (Winslow Park). However, I suspect that the real intent was to give a sexier address to your newly-built spec house after tearing down the former Capasse house. The two neighbors with whom you spoke hadn’t owned their homes for long and are now long gone. They had no historical context from which to draw.
History was erased, but at least Dan Woog and Alex Drexler have provided an opportunity to breathe a little life back into a place that once meant something more than a marketing strategy.
I grew up on Clapboard Hill and always understood that church services for the Greens Farms Church were announced by clapping boards together on the top of the hill. My BFF in Jr. High lived on Edgemarth Hill. She told me that the man who built the first houses there was named Edgar. His wife and daughter were Gertrude and Martha. He took the first letters of the their names to come up with Edgemarth.
I know that Covelee was a very picturesque and meaningful name for that little haven on the salt marsh and surrounded by – in the lee – of the cove that leads through that marsh to the coolest little private beach in town, and that it was changed to the apparently typograpically erroneous “Covlee”, which means … absolutely nothing as far as I can determine.
I’ve always assumed Hillandale is so called because of its several hills and dales. A dale is an old word for a valley. You’ve got Turkey Hill and the hill Greens Farms Church is on, and the dale by Muddy Brook. Before the bridge over Sherwood island was built that would have been another dale leading to another hill at Hllspoint. So that’s quite a few hills and dales, and much more topography than the post road that runs parallel a short distance away. This was also a somewhat common phrase back in the day to describe traveling a long way over rolling countryside, ie “I traveled over hill and dale to get here”
Saint John Place (or Saint Johns and even St. John’s…it’s sometimes spelled differently) was named for a farmer from England with that name who grew onions in that area. Apparently, English pronounce it as Singin.
Teragram is the little street off St. John which is Margaret backwards. But who was Margaret?
And that makes me wonder. Who can name a street and what is the process?
In 1955 my in-laws, Mary and P D Eastman, purchased land on Heathwood Lane from Howard Heath that Heath had subdivided. I remember that Heath was a Christian Scientist. Heath was an accomplished artist and documented the building of the Merritt Parkway – https://ctstatelibrary.org/heath-howard/
And PD Eastman was himself a noted children’s book author and illustrator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._D._Eastman
Since you mention his books – his son, my husband, Tony (Staples 1960), also wrote some books. Here are our websites..
Pdeastmanbooks.com, petereastmanbooks.com.
I’ll try again
http://Www.pdeastmanbooks.com
http://Www.petereastmanbooks.com
Joann Circle and Berndale Drive are named for Joann and Bernie Nevas. Leo Nevas and Nat Greenberg owned and subdivided what was then called Hockanum Woods and they put in the streets. My father, Don Siegelaub and his partners Adolf and Norman Bialek bought Hockanum Woods from them and built the houses – 1960’s I believe.
Many, many years later my brother bought one of the houses on Joann Circle. When he needed to replace the shower mixer in the bathroom we still had matching tiles in our attic on Punch Bowl Drive!
Newtown Turnpike was built by the British to get to their armory in Danbury. Where it turns unpaved is the toll house that once paid for your use of the road.
This is so much fun! I’ve always wondered about the street names. What about Madeline Ave?
Wrong. An advertising executive with a speech impediment (too many martoonies on the bar car.
My son and daughter in law live on Wynfromere Lane in Greens Farms. They were told by the previous owners that there used to be a race track there, which is why the road is half a circle and probably connected to Gilbert Lane to complete the track. Wynfromere was one of the horse’s names, a take on Win From Here, I assume.
Wynfromere Farm was owned by ET Bedford and the area encompassing Wynfromere Lane is where his race track was located.
Vani, Wassell, Hales, Ruta, Courts are named after families who lost children in WWII.
Tar Rock, because tar was applied too the huge stone at the top left corner to send signals to Hussars Camp and allies in Danbury of the British marching.
Saviano lane named after the Saviano family who developed the road and single family homes.
This is fascinating, even for me, born in the 50’s with a fairly decent handle on town history. The home that I grew up in was on Keyser Rd. and built by Frank Kaiser. We never could figure out the different spelling(s)..
Dave, Simple: Kaiser flunked spelling at GFS 2nd grade. Westport Schools “Excellence in Education. Go sit in the corner until you can spell.”
Just a guess, Dave: Perhaps Frank Kaiser did not want to be associated with the word “kaiser,” which was what German emperors were called.
I have always been curious as to what WARNOCK means?!?
Senator Raphael Warnock gave his name to Westport. Cultural appropriation.
Yes, so very interesting Dan … Here’s the tidbit that I have. Our first house here in Westport was 15 Reichert Circle 1996 … Mary Reichert was the original owner on our deed.
We actually purchased the house from one of the first creators and animators for Sesame Street . I found out that she Mary was the wife of the builder of quite a few houses on that block. I guess even back in the day when women were not deed holders the builder was smart to put his wife as the owner, To protect their home, and it was really well-built While we were living there, one of the children born in the house came back I found it Strange that a 1700 square-foot house would have three bathrooms one off the kitchen. The son told me that his mom wanted to bath the children while she cooked dinner, so it was her design i.e. I guess… her house 🏡 as she was on the deed.
James Lane, listed by Dan in the fifth paragraph of his article, is named after James Masiello. Both James Lane and Vineyard Lane were formed when the Masiello Farm was developed into “Bayberry Estates” in the early 1960s. And, of course, Christie’s Country Store, now the site of The Porch, was run by Christie Masiello.
Wrong. It was Letitia James. Westport stole her good name, paved paradise and named it after her. Then they put up a parking lot on Jesup Green. Down the street from Ed (Joni) Mitchell’s.
Take your medication.
Okey donkey (AI)
Tom, you’re always ‘hard’ on your medications. Wink! Wink!
Ah, if you grew up in the Wonder Years here, you never knew the names of streets for it was “where Brian lives, that street.” I grew up on Hitchcock Road, off Cross Highway (and before the extension off Roseville ((which ended our skating pond in between) and named after a distinguished women who had a park at the corner of Cross & Weston. Used to play some fierce football games there until they narrowed it to allow for more traffic flow. The Wonder Years were about the kids having fun now it is about money.
CAS: America. 65% obesity. “The Wonder Years” have been replaced by “The Wonder Bread Years.” It’s OK. There’s a drug for that: OZEMPIC!!!! Except the FDA can’t figure out if it’s good for you or bad for you (depending on which drug company is contributing to the campaign).
Try 32% obesity in adults and 17% in children. No America you can not have your cake and eat it too. But don’t tell that to the hundreds of runners who get up at 4:00 a.m. to log their miles each day.
I might add that my older brother told me that our street our named after Alfred Hitchcock “who lived in the mansion up on Cross Highway.” Now that I live on Pleasant Valley Lane, I am sure Marty Greenberg named it after the Monkees’ song despite his construction in 1962.
I grew up on Sylvan Road and that name is fairly obvious to suggest “tree-lined.” But when I was a kid there weren’t that many trees on the first half mile. I used to say “you can get a suntan walking down Sylvan Road.” Of course, there are more trees in Westport today than there ever were.
An earlier comment referred Hitchcock Road. Nevada Hitchcock was a well known journalist and editor – and, owing to her passion for horticulture, was the animating spirit behind the formation of the Westport Garden Club. Her summer house was on Cross Highway and in the fall she would walk to her winter house on Myrtle Avenue.
Violet Lane is named for Alfred G. Violet, a local builder of what he advertised as “old time homes” in the early 20th century – including the iconic little red house at the end of Belden Place perched the edge of the river. He lived over on North Compo initially and built the houses on Hickory Hill. He had a storage building over there where he kept assorted house parts salvaged from antique structures. He would draw from this collection as needed when building a new house. He died in 1962 over at his house at Belden Place.
I wonder about this street “Scot Alan Lane”. Sometimes it’s written as “Scot-Alan”. It’s off Compo Road South.
Red Coat Road is the route the British soldiers took when returning from the raid on Danbury to their ships at Compo. The bridge over the Saugatuck at Kings Highway North was blocked by Benedict Arnold (a good guy then), so some loyalist lead the troops over to a ford further up the river (Ford Road), from whence they made their way to Compo and escape.
Dan – You mentioned Bluecoat Lane in your original story. Way back, four patrolmen on Westport PD, Ande Chapo, Skip Stanton, Chet Cornell and Ray Skinner purchased the large plot of land there and named the road Bluecoat Lane. Ultimately, the only Officer to build there was Ande Chapo and he lived there until his retirement and move to Virginia. The others sold their plots and settled in other spots. Sadly, all have passed on, but that is how Bluecoat Lane got its name. Note that at the time, all WPD members were required to reside in Westport to hold their jobs. The first officer to get “permission” to move out of Town was Don Bennette who purchased his first home in Fairfield. -Dick Alley, Ret> INSPECTOR – WPD
Did “Red Coat Lane” get is name from the fireman? Thank you for your explanation. My cute husband has been telling me for years that the Army personnel all live on Blue Coat while being stationed at the Nike Ballistic Base and gave it, its name.
Morley, Alfred Violet developed and built the homes on Nutmeg Lane and built them to look old from beams to doors to doorknobs or handles.
So interesting to learn that, Luisa! I’ve heard that Violet even occasionally put a sag in the roofs of his houses – to make them seem much older than they actually were.
In the mid 1960’s, April Drive (off Wilton Road) was subdivided and named after a daughter of the developer/ builder Al Restivo. He built three colonial homes on April Drive and several on Rices Lane.
The original April Drive property in the 1920’s extended from Wilton Road through to River Lane and included a large impressive European style stone mansion on the River Lane side (originally built by the movie mogul Loew in the late 1920’s that included a carriage house).
Interestingly- In the 1930’s the entire property was owned by Dr Vito Caselnova (a physician, who some reported also provided medical services to NYC gangsters and their lady friends) and at one time Babe Ruth was a guest of the Caselnova’s and played golf at the private club at Long Shore (this tidbit was previously reported in a column on 06880DanWoog.com).
DELETTA LANE was built out by Frederick Reichert ( Reichert Circle) and Leon Hunt (Hunt & Downs building) Fred’s wife was Della and Leon’s wife was Etta. Deletta Lane.
Ed Capasse told me the origin of Smicap Lane. He was filing papers at Town Hall for the project and he came up with that name on the fly.
JACKIE LANE was named after John “Jackie”
Kulkowski—his mother’s family was an owner of the land
DONALD DRIVE off of North Turkey Hill Road was named for the builder/developer Donald Petrucci. Access from Turkey Hill into the development was secured when Rodney Ferris’ house was demolished to access the lots behind Carriage Hill Offices
GONCZY LANE was created when Jim and Ann Gonczy’s chicken & egg farm was displaced by I-95. Their house was relocated to the end of a new Gonczy Lane off the rebuilt Green Farms Road Ann Gonczy (née Vannart,sometimes spelt Wanat) was my brother’s Godmother. Ann Gonczy still has family in the area.
Dick Alley’s BLUECOAT ROAD story is the Grand Prize winner by my reckoning. Knew each of those patrolmen but never knew that story
My family moved to Westport when I was 12 to Coleytown Road. I know the name Coley had historical value but don’t know anything about the man/family….
David Dennis Coley founded the Coley homestead in 1834 and after 6 generations of farming sold it to the Frazers who were very educational minded.
I grew up on Cob Drive which were the initials of Carol Broadman, I believe she was the first to build a house on the street. She was also a second grade teacher at Coleytown for many years. I’ve always wondered about the adjoining Punch Bowl Drive? Maybe the shape?
While we’re at it, anyone know why we have an Imperial Ave? Does it also date back to the British (or the first Star Wars)?
Evergreen Avenue used to be called Cemetery Street back when it dead ended (no pun intended) at the cemetery. But when the street was extended up to North Compo in the early 20th century, its name was quietly changed. Weird.
In 1948 or 1949, Mrs. Pritchard bought nine acres of land on Maple Avenue South. She divided the land into nine lots and built a house for herself at 52 Maple Avenue South where she lived for about five years. She then turned the rest of the land into a street named Pritchard Lane, had a house built for herself and sold the house at 52 Maple Avenue South.
I bought the house at 52 Maple Avenue South in 1983 and lived there until 1996, when I was married and moved to Sturges Highway.
Because I was interested in the history of the house, I researched it thoroughly in Town Hall, although I’m a little fuzzy on some of the details. For example, I believe Mrs. Pritchard paid $5 for each acre, which is very little, but it was all vacant land then, so it might be possible. But I researched it 40 years ago, so I hope you’ll forgive my fuzziness.
Bobbie I sold your home when you moved to Sturges Highway. I can not believe its been 40 years!! Prior to that, in 1987, I bought my home from your soon-to-be husband. Small world.