Glenbrook, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
Glenbrook is a section of the city of Stamford
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...

, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. It is located on the eastern side of the city, east of Downtown
Downtown Stamford, Connecticut
Downtown Stamford is the central business district of the city of Stamford, Connecticut, USA. It is an economically thriving area of the city, with major retail establishments, a shopping mall, a university campus, the headquarters of major corporations and fortune 500 companies, as well as other...

, north of the East Side
East Side of Stamford, Connecticut
The East Side of Stamford, Connecticut is a neighborhood of mostly modest homes in southern part of the city.The East Side is southeast of Downtown, north of Shippan, and northwest of The Cove and south of Glenbrook. It is mostly to the south of Interstate 95 but covers both sides of East Main Street...

 and the Cove sections and south of the Springdale
Springdale, Connecticut
Springdale is a section or neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut. It is known around Stamford to have a small-town feel in the middle of a mid-sized city...

 section. To the west is Downtown Stamford
Downtown Stamford, Connecticut
Downtown Stamford is the central business district of the city of Stamford, Connecticut, USA. It is an economically thriving area of the city, with major retail establishments, a shopping mall, a university campus, the headquarters of major corporations and fortune 500 companies, as well as other...

 and to the northwest is Belltown. To the east is Darien
Darien, Connecticut
Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut's "Gold Coast", the population was 20,732 at the 2010 census. Darien was listed at #9 at CNN Money's list of "top-earning towns" in the United States as of 2011...

.

An estimated 15,400 people live in the neighborhood of about 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²). "Many residents see themselves as living not in a bustling city, but in a separate small town," according to a New York Times article about the community.

Glenbrook is a middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

 section of town, with single-family homes making up 65 percent of housing and about 25 percent condominiums or co-ops. Residential architecture ranges from Queen Anne style homes to Colonial style, Cape Cod
Cape Cod (house)
A Cape Cod cottage is a style of house originating in New England in the 17th century. It is traditionally characterized by a low, broad frame building, generally a story and a half high, with a steep, pitched roof with end gables, a large central chimney and very little ornamentation...

 and ranches. Some public housing developments are in the southern end of the neighborhood, and two large residential developments have been built on East Main Street at the southern edge of Glenbrook: Eastside Commons, with 108 condominiums, and the 141-unit Glenview House, with 141 units.

In August 2007, scenes for College Road Trip
College Road Trip
College Road Trip is a 2008 American family/comedy directed by Roger Kumble and starring Martin Lawrence, Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, Margo Harshman, and Donny Osmond. The film centers on college-bound teen Melanie Porter , who goes on a road trip to different colleges with her father...

, a Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

 film released in 2008, were shot on location in one of the Queen Anne style homes of Glenbrook.

There are several retail sections, including the Glenbrook Center shopping plaza, as well as an industrial park. The neighborhood also has several churches. The Julia A. Stark School and Dolan Middle School, both part of Stamford Public Schools
Education in Stamford, Connecticut
Education in Stamford, Connecticut takes place in both public and private schools and college and university campuses.-Higher education:Stamford, Connecticut has branches of the University of Connecticut, University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University...

 are in Glenbrook.

Local institutions

The community has its own volunteer Glenbrook Fire Department, a U.S. Post Office and it is served by the Glenbrook train station
Glenbrook (Metro-North station)
The Glenbrook Metro-North Railroad station is located in Glenbrook section of Stamford, Connecticut, USA, along the New Canaan Branch of the New Haven Line.-Description:...

. Exit 9 of Interstate 95
Connecticut Turnpike
The Connecticut Turnpike, known now as the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, is a freeway in Connecticut that runs from Greenwich to Killingly. It is signed as Interstate 95 from the New York state line at Greenwich to East Lyme, and then as Interstate 395 from East Lyme to Plainfield...

 is on the southern edge of the neighborhood, and Stamford High School is on the western edge.

Since 2000, the Glenbrook Neighborhood Association has held an annual block party popular in the neighborhood. The free event features food, games, a raffle and music. The association raised money in 2006 for a small park on Hope Street.

St Vladimir's Cathedral on Wenzel Terrace is the headquarters for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford
The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford is a diocese of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, covering parishes in New York State and New England....

, a diocese of Ukrainian Rite Roman Catholics that extends across New England and New York state.

AmeriCares, an international charity, has its headquarters in the neighborhood. United House Wrecking is a popular, distinctive store in Glenbrook In 1989 a New York Times article described the store as "a bizarre emporium of kitsch containing acres of architectural remnants, brick, used plumbing fixtures, antiques, garden statuary and some outrageous items of decor".

History

In 1866, Joseph Whitton purchased a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) tract, including the old Dixon Homestead in New Hope, as the area was originally called. The New Canaan railroad was built five years later, passing through the center of Whitton's land. Whitton laid out streets, including Cottage Avenue, Union Street, and Railroad Avenue.

In the 1870s, New Hope residents decided they wanted a name more pleasing to the ear and came up with "Glen-Brook."

Former U.S. President and Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 sometimes visited Glenbrook after he left the White House in 1877. He played poker with Ferdinand Ward, who owned a home at Strawberry Hill Avenue near Holbrook Drive and was a partner in a business with Grant. When Grant found out that Ward was cheating clients, he stopped visiting. The firm failed in 1884 and Grant went bankrupt. The gatehouse of Ward's estate remains, but the other buildings are gone.

Charles Henry Phillips
Charles Henry Phillips
Charles Henry Phillips was an English pharmacist who is universally known for his invention Phillips Milk of Magnesia.-Early days:He moved to an estate at 666 Hope St...

, a British pharmacist who invented and patented hydrate of magnesia ("Phillips Milk of Magnesia") had an estate at 666 Glenbrook Road. His heirs sold the Charles H. Phillips Company to Sterling Drug
Sterling Drug
Sterling Drug was a global pharmaceutical company based in the United States, known as Sterling-Winthrop, Inc. after the merger with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. and then as Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, whose primary product lines included diagnostic imaging...

 in 1923, which maintained a plant in Glenbrook until 1976.

Until the 1960s Stamford's now large neighborhoods, like Glenbrook, were often looked on as individual, unofficial towns, and residents would write their mailing addresses using the name "Glenbrook, Conn." instead of "Stamford, Conn."

In the 1950s, the train station was moved from a spot near the Courtland Avenue overpass (on the New Haven line) to its present location a bit to the northwest on the New Canaan line. As of 2007, city officials were considering the idea of building a second train station in the area, possibly at the original Glenbrook station site.

Boundaries of the neighborhood

An article about Glenbrook in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

Real Estate section in 2007 provided a map showing these boundaries of the community: the eastern boundary runs along the Noroton River (the boundary with Darien), south to Interstate 95
Connecticut Turnpike
The Connecticut Turnpike, known now as the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, is a freeway in Connecticut that runs from Greenwich to Killingly. It is signed as Interstate 95 from the New York state line at Greenwich to East Lyme, and then as Interstate 395 from East Lyme to Plainfield...

, then west to East Main Street and continues west on East Main Street to Glenbrook Road; then north on Glenbrook Road, west on Arlington Road, north on Underhill Street, west on Hillside Road, north on Strawberry Hill Avenue, east on Pine Hill Avenue; north on Elmbrook Drive (perhaps on both sides of that street), then north on both sides of Deleo Drive, southeast on Toms Road, north on Hope Street and then on Viaduct Road to the Darien border. The authority for these borders is unknown since Glenbrook is not an official government entity (although a volunteer fire department covers the neighborhood and Glenbrook has a post office); the Times article gave no source, official or unofficial for its rendering; and the map showed but did not name all the streets that it showed making up the boundaries.

Closer to the highway, some residents consider themselves in the East Side
East Side of Stamford, Connecticut
The East Side of Stamford, Connecticut is a neighborhood of mostly modest homes in southern part of the city.The East Side is southeast of Downtown, north of Shippan, and northwest of The Cove and south of Glenbrook. It is mostly to the south of Interstate 95 but covers both sides of East Main Street...

 neighborhood.

Fire Department

The Stamford Fire Rescue
Stamford Fire Rescue
The Stamford Fire and Rescue Department provides fire suppression and rescue, as well as first-responder emergency medical services alongside five volunteer fire departments to the City of Stamford, Connecticut.-Personnel profile:...

Department's Fire Station # 6, as well as the Glenbrook-New Hope Volunteer Fire Department, serve the neighborhood.

External links

In Glenbrook


In Stamford

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK