Coleytown Neighborhood - Westport, CT

Westport, Connecticut is a coastal town with origins tracing back to colonial times. Westport contains numerous neighborhoods with a rich history, and the Coleytown area is definitely not an exception to that fact!

Coleytown sits at the most northernmost edge of town, bordering the Weston town line and is home to many colonial houses that still exhibit their original architecture and style to this day. Additionally, the Coleytown fire station, Coleytown Middle School, and Coleytown Elementary School can all be found nearby in this neighborhood.

The area is called “Coleytown” entirely because of the Coley family. This influential family farmed this land for over 200 years, and actually managed quite the sophisticated operation in doing so! They used water from the Aspectuck River to help grow their crops of flax, corn, onions, as well as other crops, and produced grain that was processed at the Coley Mill and then subsequently transported to New York and Boston on a regular basis.

On Coleytown Road stands a converted barn as well as a mill, and this actually used to be the village center! During this time, it would have included a schoolhouse with a small green, a shoemaker, blacksmith, yarn manufacturer, several homesteads, and possibly some other little local shops.

In 1919, famous sculptor Lila Wheelock Howard and her illustrator husband Oscar bought the old mill and barn located on Coleytown Road.

Today, the Coley homestead has been preserved magnificently by restoring the chestnut beams, floors, and gorgeous woodwork that would have been a great display of the artistry for this time period.