Easton, Connecticut

Easton was first settled in 1757 by men and women from Fairfield. In 1762 a congregation called the North Fairfield Society was established, and it gradually evolved into Easton. In 1787 Weston, then including lands now defined as Easton, was incorporated out of Fairfield. The area was slow to develop because of the rough hills along the Aspetuck River, and so it was not until 1845 that what is now Easton separated from Weston. Today, half of the town's property is owned by the Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut, the major supplier of water in the area.

On June 1, 1968, the deaf and blind activist Helen Keller died at the age of 87 in her Easton home, where she chose to spend her final days. Her house is still intact today and has been owned by several families since her death. The local middle school bears her name.

The 2009 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was a 76-foot (23 m) Norway Spruce donated from a private residence in Easton.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.6 square miles (74 km²), of which, 27.4 square miles (71 km²) of it is land and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) of it (23.83%) is water.

As of the census[10] of 2010, there were 7,490 people, 2,465 households, and 2,077 families residing in the town. The population density was 265.2 people per square mile (102.4/km²). There were 2,511 housing units at an average density of 91.6 per square mile (35.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.74% White, 0.22% African American, 0.04% Native American, 2.02% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.76% of the population.[10]

Of the 2,465 households, 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.8% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.7% were non-families. 12.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.23 individuals.[11]

In the town, the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 37% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. The sex ratio is 94.3 males per 100 females.[11]

The median income for a household in the town was $132,000, and the median income for a family was $155,227. Males had a median income of $101,636 versus $83,333 for females. The per capita income for the town was $59,546. About 2.2% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.[11]

Historically, Easton has been a reliably Republican stronghold. However, in 2016, town residents voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton with a plurality.[12]

Easton Town Hall exterior, winter 2016.

The Route 59 bridge in Easton, which carries more than 10,000 cars and trucks every day over the Mill River, has a substructure rated in critical condition by state safety inspectors. As of early August 2007, the bridge was one of 12 in the southwestern part of the state (including New Haven) with safety inspection ratings so low they are considered to be in critical condition. The ratings for these bridges were worse than the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed during rush hour on August 1, 2007.[20]

• Anne Baxter, actress.[21]
• Phoebe Brand, blacklisted actress
• Elise Broach, children's book author
• Morris Carnovsky, blacklisted actor
• Hume Cronyn, actor[21]
• Debrah Farentino, actress and journalist
• Edna Ferber, playwright and novelist[21]
• Eileen Fulton, TV actress [21]
• Helen Keller, blind and deaf author, the town middle school is named in her honor.[21]
• James Prosek, painter and author
• Dan Rather, CBS News anchor[21][22]
• Igor Sikorsky, aircraft designer[21]
• Jessica Tandy, actress [21]
• Ida M. Tarbell, "muckraker" known for helping to break up the Standard Oil monopoly"[21]
• Johnny Winter, blues guitarist[21]

Easton has three schools: Samuel Staples Elementary school, for children in grades from kindergarten to 5th grade, Helen Keller Middle School, for children in grades 6 through 8, and the private school Easton Country Day for children K-12 (formerly Phoenix Academy). High school students attend Joel Barlow High School in Redding.

Additionally, Easton has a privately owned, non-profit community center named Easton Community Center. This community center has a preschool named Playtots Preschool and is for ages under 2 to 5 years old.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Easton, Connecticut.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Easton, Connecticut.

• Town of Easton official website
• Historical Society of Easton official website
• "Living in: Easton, Conn.: A Town of Homes and Country Roads," by Eleanor Charles, an article in the Real Estate section of The New York Times, July 8, 2001