Before The Park
In the 1640s, several colonists who came to be known as the "Bankside Farmers" from the Town of Fairfield settled in the area that included Fox Island, which was later renamed Sherwood Island, administering the island in common.
Daniel Sherwood settled on Fox Island in 1787. During the 1800s, his large family farmed the uplands on the west side of the island and operated a gristmill on the Mill Pond. Many farmers shared the Machamux salt marsh. (See also Henry Burr Sherwood). By the 1860s, the place was known as "Sherwood's Island". Gallup Gap Creek at one time ran north and south on the east side of the park but not far from the center. Some have said that what was known previously as Sherwood's Island was only west of that creek, which was later dammed up to help water flow at the grist mill.
Read more about this topic: Sherwood Island State Park, History
Famous quotes containing the word park:
“Mrs. Mirvan says we are not to walk in [St. James’s] Park again next Sunday ... because there is better company in Kensington Gardens; but really, if you had seen how every body was dressed, you would not think that possible.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)