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AHistory
History · Greenwich

Greenwich dates to 1640, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #21 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it

33 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Bush-Holley House, a National Historic Landmark, and ten historic districts with 420 buildings between them. Below: 21 old photos and papers, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 1800.

1640founded
33on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
21old photos & papers
46famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greenwich’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greenwich began, and where its name came from

When was Greenwich founded?

1640

Greenwich dates its founding to 1640 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1800.

First census: 3,047 in 1800386 years

How did Greenwich get its name?

Greenwich was named after Greenwich, near London.

How historic is Greenwich?

A

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1802. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greenwich’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenwich is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #21 of 155 in Connecticut. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenwich’s overall grade.
Founding era1640, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194025.6% of homes (±2.0) · typical CT town 15.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register33 listings, 468 historic buildings, 73.3 per 10,000 residents · typical CT town 73.3 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%
NewerOlder
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 87%

Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Greenwich’s 73.3 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 468 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1640.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Greenwich’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark33 places on the National Register, including Bush-Holley House, a National Historic Landmark.A historic districtThe Fourth Ward Historic District takes in 159 historic buildings.Older than the countryEstablished in 1640, 136 years before the Declaration of Independence.Lost villages10 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Greenwich, and 16 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

33 listings protect 468 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
33
National Historic Landmark
1
Bush-Holley House
historic buildings protected
468
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
French Farm
French FarmThomas Lyon HouseRiverside Avenue BridgeKnapp TavernPutnam Hill Historic DistrictUS Post Office-Greenwich MainGreenwich Town HallMianus River Railroad Bridge, built 1903Methodist Episcopal ChurchCos Cob Railroad StationSound Beach Railroad StationSamuel Ferris HouseGreenwich Avenue Historic DistrictNew Mill and Depot Building, Hawthorne Woolen MillStrickland Road Historic DistrictByram SchoolCos Cob Power StationSelleck, Sylvanus, GristmillGreat Captain Island Lighthouse, built 1868Round Hill Historic DistrictGreenwich YMCARosemary Hall, built 1909Fourth Ward Historic DistrictGlenville SchoolGlenville Historic DistrictNathaniel Witherell Historic DistrictIndian Harbor Yacht Club, built 1889Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal ChurchRiver Road-Mead Avenue Historic DistrictGreenwich Municipal Center Historic DistrictGreenwich Point Historic DistrictBush-Holley House★
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival8
Italianate5
Gothic Revival5
Queen Anne5
Georgian Revival4
Postmedieval English3
★ Landmark
Bush-Holley HouseColonial
French FarmBuilding
Thomas Lyon HouseBuilding
Riverside Avenue BridgeStructure
Knapp TavernBuilding
Putnam Hill Historic DistrictFederal
US Post Office-Greenwich MainNeo-Classical
Greenwich Town HallBeaux Arts
All 32 listings
Mianus River Railroad BridgeStructure · listed 1987Methodist Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 1988Cos Cob Railroad StationBuilding · listed 1989Sound Beach Railroad StationBuilding · listed 1989Samuel Ferris HouseBuilding · listed 1989Greenwich Avenue Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1989New Mill and Depot Building, Hawthorne Woolen MillBuilding · listed 1990Strickland Road Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1990Byram SchoolBuilding · listed 1990Cos Cob Power StationDistrict · listed 1990Selleck, Sylvanus, GristmillBuilding · listed 1990Great Captain Island LighthouseBuilding · listed 1991Round Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996Greenwich YMCABuilding · listed 1996Rosemary HallBuilding · listed 1998Fourth Ward Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2000Glenville SchoolBuilding · listed 2003Glenville Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2007Nathaniel Witherell Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010Indian Harbor Yacht ClubBuilding · listed 2010Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 2010River Road-Mead Avenue Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2014Greenwich Municipal Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988Greenwich Point Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Greenwich, 1640 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1640
    FoundingGreenwich is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1802Post officeThe Greenwich post office opens
  5. 1830Post officeThe Round Hill post office opens
  6. 1830Post officeThe Stanwich post office opens
  7. 1865In the archiveNichols Bridge, above Greenwich
  8. 1868BuiltGreat Captain Island Lighthouse is built
  9. 1889BuiltIndian Harbor Yacht Club is built
  10. 1890In the archivePastures
  11. 20th century
  12. 1900In the archiveJohn Henry Twachtman - Deserted Wharf (The Old Mill at Cos Cob) - 1942.122 - Cleveland Mu…
  13. 1901Post officeThe Round Hill post office closes
  14. 1901Post officeThe Stanwich post office closes
  15. 1903BuiltMianus River Railroad Bridge is built
  16. 1909BuiltRosemary Hall is built
  17. 1910In the archiveLetter to Greenwich Equal Franchise League 03 Oct 1910
  18. 1940In the archiveDecor from Barn
  19. 1947Born hereGlenn Close is born here
  20. 1951Born hereTom Noonan is born here
  21. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Greenwich came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenwich.

Read it all →

The town of Greenwich was settled in 1640 by the agents Robert Feake and Captain Daniel Patrick, from Watertown, Massachusetts, who purchased, on behalf of New Haven Colony, the land from the Siwanoy Indians in exchange of 25 English coats. One of the founders was Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake, daughter-in-law of John Winthrop, founder and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named after Greenwich, near London. What is now called Greenwich Point was known for much of the area's early history as "Elizabeth's Neck" in recognition of Elizabeth Fones and the 1640 purchase of the Point and much of the area now known as Old Greenwich. Greenwich was declared a township by the Connecticut General Assembly in Hartford on May 11, 1665.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Greenwich, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s12 items
Nichols Bridge, above Greenwichc. 1865Nichols Bridge, above GreenwichPasturesc. 1890PasturesThe Brookc. 1890The BrookHighland Light (closeup), Greenwich, Conn1898Highland Light (closeup), Greenwich, ConnPostcardJohn Henry Twachtman - Deserted Wharf (The Old Mill at Cos Cob) - 1942.122 - Cleveland Museum of Art1900John Henry Twachtman - Deserted Wharf (The Old Mill a…The Harbor1902The HarborCrest View Sanatorium1905Crest View SanatoriumPostcardGreenwichCTLafayettePlace19061906PostcardGreenwichCTLafayettePlace1906PostcardCrest View Sanatorium ("American medical directory", 1906 advert)1906Crest View Sanatorium ("American medical directory", …PostcardIndianHarborGreenwichCTcirca1907to19151907PostcardIndianHarborGreenwichCTcirca1907to1915PostcardPostcardGreenwichCTTheCastleSoundBeachCirca1908c. 1908PostcardGreenwichCTTheCastleSoundBeachCirca1908PostcardEdmund C Converse home 19081908Edmund C Converse home 1908
1910s6 items
Letter to Greenwich Equal Franchise League 03 Oct 19101910Letter to Greenwich Equal Franchise League 03 Oct 1910DocumentPostcardCosCobStricklandsPond1911postmark1911PostcardCosCobStricklandsPond1911postmarkPostcard"Chelmsford," Elon Huntington Hooker house1914"Chelmsford," Elon Huntington Hooker houseGraham Nichols house1917Graham Nichols houseGraham Nichols house1917Graham Nichols houseRosemary Hall students go to work on Community War Garden potato fields, 19181918Rosemary Hall students go to work on Community War Ga…
1940s3 items
Decor from Barn1940Decor from BarnFireplace from original barn1940Fireplace from original barnUS airmail-Fr 1942 RTS Service Suspended1942US airmail-Fr 1942 RTS Service Suspended
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Greenwich on the map, 1960 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenwich. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Greenwich on the 1960 USGS mapGreenwich on the 1986 USGS map1960Glenville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Greenwich.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Nichols Bridge, above Greenwich
Retake this viewNichols Bridge, above Greenwich, c. 1865

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Greenwich’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Greenwich, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,0001800185019001950200063,518

Grew from 3,047 people in 1800 to 63,518 in 2020, more than tenfold.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenwich’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

46 famous people were born in Greenwich

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
G
Glenn CloseAmerican actress · b. 1947
Chris CoonsAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1963
Tom NoonanAmerican actor, director, and screenwriter · b. 1951
C
Christopher AbbottAmerican actor · b. 1986
Hope HicksAmerican public relations executive and politic… · b. 1988
Bijou PhillipsAmerican actress · b. 1980
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Greenwich’s post office has been open since 1802. 10 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greenwich
1802–today
Round Hill
1830–1901
Stanwich
1830–1901
North Greenwich
1849–1861
Glenville
1850–1959
Mianus
1851–1901
Riverside Station
1872–1875
Riverside
1875–today
Cos Cob
1880–today
Sound Beach
1880–1931
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Belle HavenByramCos CobEast Port ChesterGlenvilleIndian FieldMianusNorth GreenwichNorth MianusOld GreenwichPemberwickPine HillRiversideRiversvilleRock RidgeStanwich
Gone or out of use
Cheiftan EstatebuildingHavenmeyer SchoolschoolHawkes NestbuildingNumber 9 StablebuildingRound Hill Community HousebuildingRound Hill StablesbuildingSargents Estatebuilding
19cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greenwich
AdamsBrownCloseGreenHebrewHitchcock FamilyHoweKing Street BaptistKnappMerrittPecksPutnamPutnamQuaker RidgeSaint MarysSound Beach AvenueStrickland Road Park IndianTomacUnion
See all 19

Adams Cemetery · Brown Cemetery · Close Cemetery · Green Cemetery · Hebrew Cemetery · Hitchcock Family Burying Ground · Howe Cemetery · King Street Baptist Cemetery · Knapp Cemetery · Merritt Cemetery · Pecks Cemetery · Putnam Cemetery · Putnam Cemetery · Quaker Ridge Cemetery · Saint Marys Cemetery · Sound Beach Avenue Cemetery · Strickland Road Park Indian Cemetery · Tomac Cemetery · Union Cemetery

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Greenwich’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNichols Bridge, above Greenwich: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Stamford33 historic placesAOld Greenwich2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townByramIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGlenville4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPemberwick1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Greenwich’s history

What year was Greenwich founded?

In 1640, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Greenwich’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1800 counted 3,047 people here.

How does Greenwich rank for history?

Greenwich is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #21 of 155 in Connecticut. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Greenwich?

33 listings: 19 buildings, among them the Bush-Holley House (a National Historic Landmark since 1991) and the French Farm (listed 1975, the first), 11 historic districts with 420 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 468 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Greenwich?

26% of Greenwich’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1963.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (32), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.