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Westport (CT)

Westport, Connecticut
Town of Westport
Town
Westport Town Hall
Westport Town Hall
Flag of Westport, Connecticut
Flag
Official seal of Westport, Connecticut
Seal
Location in Fairfield County and the state of Connecticut.
Location in Fairfield County and the state of Connecticut.
Coordinates: 41°07′24″N 73°20′49″W / 41.12333°N 73.34694°W / 41.12333; -73.34694Coordinates: 41°07′24″N 73°20′49″W / 41.12333°N 73.34694°W / 41.12333; -73.34694
Country  United States
U.S. state  Connecticut
County Fairfield
NECTA Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk
Region Western CT
Established 1835
Incorporated May 28, 1835
Founded by Bankside Farmers
Government
 • Type RTM
 • 1st Selectman Jim Marpe (R)
 • 2ndSelectman Avi Kaner (R)
 • 3rdSelectwoman Helen Garten (D)
Area
 • Total 33.45 sq mi (86.6 km2)
 • Land 19.96 sq mi (51.7 km2)
 • Water 13.49 sq mi (34.9 km2)
Elevation 26 ft (8 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 26,391
 • Density 1,322.2/sq mi (510.5/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP Code 06880
PO Boxes 06881
Area code(s) 203, 475
FIPS code 09-83500
GNIS feature ID 0213532
Website Westport, Connecticut

Westport is an affluent town located in Connecticut, along Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It is 29 miles (47 km) northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 26,391 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, and is ranked 22nd among America’s 100 Richest Places as well as second in Connecticut, with populations between 20,000 and 65,000.

The earliest known inhabitants of the Westport area as identified through archaeological finds date back 7,500 years. 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. Settlement by colonialists dates back to the five Bankside Farmers; whose families grew and prospered into a community that continued expanding. 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 known to the Pequot as the "beautiful land". 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.

During the revolutionary war—on April 25, 1777, a 1,850 strong British force 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.Minutemen from Westport and the surrounding areas crouched hiding whilst Tryon's troops passed and then launched an offensive from their rear. 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.


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