THEN: Richards Brothers Boatyard (c. 1777 - 1814)

 

NOW: Home of Historic Rowayton (1959 - present)

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Among the earliest residents of this area was Samuel Richards, who purchased two acres of land along the Five Mile River in 1737. The property included what is known today as Pinkney Park. The Richards family operated a shipyard there—Rowayton’s first business—for three generations. The land and buildings were sold to William Whiting around 1814. Whiting built the house that stands on the property today (it has been added on to considerably in the years since), purchased and operated a store (today’s Rowayton Market), and bought Tavern Island.

Dorothy Pinkney, widow of William Pinkney, Jr., sold the house and land we now know as Pinkney Park to the Sixth Taxing District of Norwalk in 1966, and the house became the headquarters of Historic Rowayton.

 

FUN FACT: Historic Rowayton is the new name for the Rowayton Historical Society, home of the Seeley-Dibble-Pinkney House museum, the Antique Tool Barn, and the recently opened Raymond Boathouse Maritime Museum.