Old Greenwich

OLD GREENWICH

Sound Beach

Old Greenwich is a neighborhood in the Town of Greenwich.  It was founded in 1641. Old Greenwich has become extremely popular for home buyers and currently ranks 7th place among the nation’s wealthiest communities in an annual Bloomberg report published March 5, 2018, “America’s 100 Richest Places.”

One of the founding settlers of Old Greenwich was Elizabeth Fones,  niece and daughter-in-law of John Winthrop, founder and Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  What is now called Greenwich Point was known for much of its early history as “Elizabeth Neck” in recognition of Elizabeth (Fones) Feake Hallet and their 1640 purchase of the Point and much of the area now known as Old Greenwich.

The Old Greenwich railroad station which serves commuters in the neighborhood was originally called the “Sound Beach” railroad station.  It was built in 1894 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.  The town’s largest beach is on a long, thin peninsula at the southwest end of the neighborhood. The town’s local beach is called Tod’s Point after a former resident. The beach is now public property, which belongs to the town of Greenwich. Residents can purchase a seasonal beach pass. Non-residents can purchase a one-day pass for $20 per vehicle. During “off season”, Innis Arden, a local golf club, is a popular sledding destination for kids in Old Greenwich and neighboring Stamford.

Old Greenwich was known as “Sound Beach” in the 19th century, and the main road through the small downtown business section is Sound Beach Avenue.

Old Greenwich had an industrial presence back in the 1950s/60s when Electrolux had a vacuum manufacturing facility on Forest Avenue, opposite “ECCman Center” (now Greenwich Civic Center). The Civic Center also hosted a very fine swamp where local kids would pick cattails and search for frogs and turtles.

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