Cos Cob, Connecticut

Country House in Winter, Cos Cob by John Henry Twachtman, ca. 1901

Cos Cob (population 6,321) is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. It is located at 41.033 north, 73.6 west, on Long Island Sound in southern Fairfield County.

Cos Cob is on the Mianus River. The American Impressionist Cos Cob Art Colony flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An offshoot of the group, the Art Society of Greenwich continues to support local artists in town.

Origin of Name

The community name is derived from the Coe family. In 1641 Robert Coe moved to the Stamford plantation and became one of its leading figures. At about the same time, he encouraged a cousin (John Coe) to sail from England and settle at the mouth of the Mianus River where he was granted 5 acres (20,000 m²) of land. John built a sea wall at the mouth of the river to protect low lying lands and to provide a safe moorage for small craft. A sea wall at that time was referred to as a "cob" -- and thus it became Coes' cob, and eventually shortened to Cos Cob.

An alternative explanation is that it derives from the Algonquian word for "high rock."

Community facilities

Cos Cob Library in Strickland Brook Park

• The Cos Cob Library is a cultural center and community hub providing art gallery space, concert and lecture series, and free WiFi access. Although of recent construction, the building evokes Richardsonian Romanesque design and is set in a pocket park landscaped by local volunteers.
• The neighborhood's zip code is 06807. It has one post office.
• There are two public schools in Cos Cob: Cos Cob Elementary School, 390 pupils, and Central Middle School, 710 pupils , though school boundaries cut across zip code boundaries and many students who live in Cos Cob attend other public schools in town.
• Cos Cob has a fire department staffed by both professional firefighters and volunteers.
• Cos Cob station is served by the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad, a commuter rail service that runs between New Haven, Connecticut and New York City.

History

The Anchorage, Cos Cob by Theodore Robinson, ca. 1894

The community is situated on Cos Cob Harbor, a sheltered area on the north side of Long Island Sound. Cos Cob's role as a commercial shipping port, supplying potatoes and apples to New York City, disappeared with the appearance of the railroad and damming of the Mianus River. The river is now one source of the town's drinking water.

Cos Cob gets a train for Christmas

View from the Holley House, ca. 1901 by John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902), private collection

The Cos Cob train station and the Mianus River Railroad Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"On Christmas Day, 1848, the last rails were laid over the Cos Cob Bridge, thereby supplying the last link needed to complete the railroad from New Haven to New York," according to the Stamford Historical Society Web site. "The first trial run was made on that day."

Editors of two Stamford newspapers reported on the event. William H. Holly, Esq., founder of the Stamford Sentinel and a guest on the first trial run, wrote: "The train had to remain at Cos Cob Bridge some three hours for the last rails to be laid over it and the delay gave ample opportunity to the people to come and witness the wonderful feat. The general impression among them seemed to be, that the first train that attempted to cross this pass would also be the last."

Edgar Hoyt, editor of the Stamford Advocate: "The citizens of the village as well as the horses, cattle, etc., were nearly frightened out of their propriety ... by such a horrible scream as was never heard to issue from any other than a metallic throat. Animals of every description went careening round the fields, snuffling the air in their terror."

Twentieth and Twenty-first centuries

Cos Cob Power Plant on Long Island Sound

The coal-fired steam turbine Cos Cob Power Plant built by Westinghouse in 1907 was a Mission Style structure. It was designated a National Historic Engineering Landmark in 1982 by the ASME and the IEEE. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places and local and national debate, the plant was decommissioned in 1987 and demolished in 2001.

Ernest Thompson Seton lived in Cos Cob on an estate which is now a town park. Over 75 years ago what would eventually become the Boy Scouts of America was in part founded by him here.

On June 28, 1983, a 100 foot (30.5 m) elevated portion of Interstate 95 (the Mianus River Bridge) collapsed, killing and injuring several motorists. Interstate 95 is the principal highway between Maine and Florida, and one of the most heavily traveled roads in the country. Because the road was not fully reopened for six months, it created a bottleneck which affected the New York to Boston transportation corridor.

In 2006 NRG Energy Inc. of La Jolla, California proposed adding additional capacity of 40 megawatts to the current 60 megawatt plant to supplement Connecticut Light and Power during peak periods in south-western Fairfield County, Connecticut. Two additional jet turbines would be added to the existing plant in 2008.

Notable residents

• Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth and a famous actor of his day
• Orestes H. Caldwell, one of the first members of the Federal Radio Commission
• Barbara Tuchman, historian
• Jim Himes, Democratic Congressman
• Gary Dell'Abate, producer for The Howard Stern Show.

Places of interest

• Bush-Holley House, the only National Historic Landmark in Greenwich; built: in about 1730; listed in 1988.
• Ernest Thompson Seton House
• Cos Cob Library [3]

In addition to the Bush-Holley House, these sites in Cos Cob are listed by the National Registry of Historic Places:

• Mianus River Railroad Bridge, built: 1904; listed: 1987
• Cos Cob Railroad Station, built: c. 1890; listed: 1989
• Strickland Road Historic District, Strickland Road; built: c. 1730-1938; listed: 1990
• Cos Cob Power Station, Sound Shore Drive; built: 1907; listed: 1990; demolished, 2000

Pictures

• 
  Stricklands Pond, ca. 1911
• 
  Strickland's Pond, ca. 1910

See also

• The Cos Cob Art Colony: Impressionists on the Connecticut Shore by Susan G. Larkin, Yale, 2001
• The Cos Cob Power Plant, New York Times March 5, 1989 A12
• Nguyen, H. Cos Cob power plant scheduled for upgrade Greenwich Time Jun 22, 2006 A1
• [4] "A Quiet Villagelike Section of Greenwich," by Eleanor Charles, The New York Times, Real Estate section September 22, 2002

External links

• Historical Society
• US Census
• Art Society of Greenwich