Silvermine, Connecticut
| Silvermine, Connecticut | |
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Mill pond and grist mill at Silvermine Tavern
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| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 Connecticut
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| County | Fairfield |
| City |
Norwalk, New Canaan, Wilton |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5:00) |
| • Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4:00) |
| Area code(s) | 203 |
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Silvermine Center Historic District
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Silvermine Tavern in 2007
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| Location | Norwalk, Connecticut |
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| NRHP Reference # | 07001441 |
| Added to NRHP | June 23, 2009 |
Coordinates: 41°09′05″N 73°26′42″W / 41.15139°N 73.44500°W
Silvermine is a neighborhood in Fairfield County, Connecticut extending into three southwestern Connecticut municipalities: Norwalk, New Canaan and Wilton.
The name "Silvermine" comes from old legends of a silver mine in the area, although no silver has ever been found. Silvermine was long an art colony and remains the home of the Silvermine Guild Arts Center. The Silvermine Tavern, an inn occupying several historic buildings, also remains in the neighborhood. Silver Hill Hospital is just beyond the northern end of the neighborhood, in New Canaan near the Wilton border. There are two community groups specific to Silvermine: The Silvermine Community Association and the Norwalk Association of Silvermine Homeowners (NASH).
The area has been settled since at least the late seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, the Silvermine River was used for 12 or 13 mills in the neighborhood because it fell steeply enough for the water power to be profitably harnessed. The mills included a leather tanning works, sawmill, and spool works.
Solon Borglum, a sculptor, moved to the New Canaan part of Silvermine in 1906 and built a hillside studio. He was one of the leading figures in an emerging community of artists in the neighborhood and helped found the "Knockers Club" – so named because when they would meet in Borglum's studio and discuss their art, a lot of frank criticism came out, knocking one another's work – that later became the Silvermine Guild, one of the largest and oldest art centers in New England. Other artists in the neighborhood included George Avison, D. Putnam Brinley, John Cassell, Richard Daggy, Leo Dorn, R. B. Gruelle, Bernhard Gutmann, Hamilton Hamilton, Howard Hildebrandt, Cornelia Ellis Hildebrandt, Frank Townsend Hutchens, Adele Klaer, E. Murray MacKay, Clifton Meek, Addison T. Millar, Sam Otis and Carl Schmitt. The Guild operated the Silvermine College of Art, an accredited two-year educational institution, for ten years starting in 1962.
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Wikipedia