Ellington, CT

 

Ellington, Connecticut
Seal
Location in Connecticut
Coordinates: 41°55′00″N 72°27′28″W / 41.916667, -72.45778
NECTA	Hartford
Region	Capitol Region
Incorporated	1786
Government
- Type	Selectman-town meeting
- First Selectman	Michael P. Stupinski
Area
- Town	km²  ( sq mi)
- Land	km² ( sq mi)
- Water	km² ( sq mi)
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (2005)
- Town
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	06029
Area code(s)	860
FIPS code	09-25360
GNIS feature ID	0212330
Website: http://www.ellington-ct.gov/

Ellington is a rural town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. Ellington was incorporated in May, 1786, from East Windsor. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 12,921. Ellington is a rapidly growing community, and is going through the process of Suburbanization.^[1][2], which is related to the phenomenon of Urban sprawl.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 89.6 km² (34.6 mi²). 88.2 km² (34.0 mi²) of it is land and 1.4 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (1.59%) is water.

Ellington is bordered by the towns of East Windsor, South Windsor, Vernon, Tolland, Willington, Stafford, Somers, and Enfield.

The town has a panhandle extending to the east that extends to the Willimantic River and encompasses Crystal Lake. A large portion of the town's eastern portion is occupied by the Shenipsit State Forest which is bounded on the south by Shenipsit Lake and on the north by Soapstone Mountain.^[3]

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 12,921 people, 5,195 households, and 3,470 families residing in the town. The population density was 146.5/km² (379.4/mi²). There were 5,417 housing units at an average density of 61.4/km² (159.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.23% White, 0.99% African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.29% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.40% of the population.

There were 5,195 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 35.0% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $62,405, and the median income for a family was $77,813. Males had a median income of $47,334 versus $32,460 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,766. About 2.7% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[4]
Party		Active Voters	Inactive Voters	Total Voters	Percentage
	Republican	1,926	67	1,993	22.61%
	Democratic	1,905	55	1,960	22.23%
	Unaffiliated	4,679	177	4,856	55.09%
	Minor Parties	5	1	6	0.07%
Total		8,515	300	8,815	100%

Public Schools

Ellington has five public schools:

Elementary Schools

• Center School (K-4)
• Crystal Lake School (K-4)
• Windermere School (K-6)

Middle School

• Ellington Middle School, also called Longview (7-8)

High School

• Ellington High School

Transportation

Roads

Though no Interstate Highways run through it, Ellington is approximately equidistant to both Interstate 84 and Interstate 91, each being about a ten to fifteen minute drive from most parts of town.

Several Connecticut State Roads run through town:

• Connecticut Route 30- (Stafford Rd.) The North/South arterial in the Crystal Lake section of town.
• Connecticut Route 83- (West Rd. & Somers Rd.) The main North/South arterial running through the middle of the town.
• Connecticut Route 74- (Wapping Wood Rd. & Windsorville Rd.) On the Southern edge of town, a major road in Ellington's Five corners.
• Connecticut Route 140- (Sadds Mill Rd., Maple St., Crystal Lake Rd., & Sandy Beach Rd.) The town's main East/West arterial, running the complete width of town.
• Connecticut Route 286- (Pinney St. & Main St.) An arterial running North from Five Corners to the center of town where it turns East and becomes Ellington's Main St.

Rail

Ellington was formerly served by a seven mile long rail line built in 1876 running from Vernon to Melrose, that roughly paralleled Pinney St. and Sadds Mill Rd. The rail line became defunct in the middle part of the 20th Century. ^[5]

Airports

• Ellington Airport- A General aviation airport located adjacent to the town's Industrial park on Route 83. In addition to private aviation, a Flight training school and a helicopter school operate there. Parachuting is a common weekend activity from the airport.^[6]
• Skylark Airpark- A General aviation airport located in the neighboring town of East Windsor.
• Bradley International Airport- Connecticut's main commercial airport, is located approximately ten miles West of town in Windsor Locks.

Water

Crystal Lake, in the Eastern section of town, is used by many for Recreational boating.

History

Originally part of the town of Windsor, Ellington was part of the town of East Windsor from that town's incorporation in 1768 until Ellington split off 20 years later and incorporated itself in May 1786. Mostly known as an agricultural community, the Crystal Lake section of town was for a while a popular summer resort location. ^[7]

During the late 19th Century & early 20th Century, Ellington became the center of a community of Jewish immigrant farmers who were settled there by the philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch's Jewish Colonization Association. They built a synagogue, Congregation Knesseth Israel,^[8] that is still standing and in use by an active Modern Orthodox congregation today and is on the National Register of Historic Places.^[9]

In 1991, Ellington was proposed as a potential site for a low level nuclear waste dump. Strong dissent from area residents forced the state to abandon the plan.^[10]

As it enters the 21st Century, Ellington has had the 6th fastest growth rate of all the towns in Connecticut,^[2] and has been experiencing the growing pains of changing from a rural farming town to a bedroom community.

People of note from Ellington

• Faisal Alam, born 1977 in Pakistan, moved to Ellington at age ten. Founder of the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization for LGBT Muslims.
• John H. Brockway (January 311801 – July 291870), a U.S. Representative.
• Orlow W. Chapman, born in 1832 in Ellington. A New York Politician, he served as the Solicitor General of the United States from May 29, 1889 until his death by pneumonia on January 19, 1890.
• Echo Chernik, born Heather McKinney (Chernik) August 30, 1973 in Ellington. An Art Nouveau artist working as a mainstream advertising and publishing illustrator, currently working on high profile advertisements and poster design.
• Reverend Henry Weston Smith, born January 10, 1827 in Ellington. A Methodist preacher, he was the first of any denomination to preach in the Black Hills of South Dakota, arriving in Deadwood in 1876. Smith was murdered within months of his arrival and is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, along with Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.

Ellington Supermarket

In the mid-2000s the issue of development in Ellington came to a head when the first major "big box" company, regional supermarket chain Big Y, began building in town after years of controversy and debate amongst the populace. The largest source of discontentment was due to the fact that the chain was building on the location of a dairy farm only several hundred yards down the road from Ellington's long-time fixture, the independently-owned Ellington Supermarket, which permanently closed its doors at the end of its lease only weeks before the Big Y opened.

Many of the store's young employees and their friends from town turned the store into the rallying banner in a highly-publicized campaign against overdevelopment in the rural town, and spent the months leading up to the Ellington Supermarket's closing shooting a feature-length film cast in the mold of the Frank Capra movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Set in the Ellington Supermarket and about the store's immature young employees growing into adulthood and gaining a common cause in fighting for their town, the announcement of the "The Supermarket" sent ripples through Ellington and has kept the debate over further development raging.

The Ellington Supermarket exterior, May 2006.	The Ellington Supermarket after closing, August 2007.	The Ellington Supermarket after closing, August 2007 (alternate angle).	A vandalized sign put up shortly after the Big Y's construction was announced.
Ellington townspeople line up for a fund-raiser screening of a rough cut of "The Supermarket."	Ellington townspeople at a fund-raiser screening of a rough cut of "The Supermarket" at the Ellington High School.	A publicity photograph of some of the primary cast and crew of the film "The Supermarket," all town residents and Ellington Supermarket employees.

See also

• Congregation Knesseth Israel
• Crystal Lake, Connecticut

References

External links

• Town of Ellington Website
• Ellington Public Schools
• Central Regional Tourism District

Municipalities and communities of Tolland County, Connecticut
Towns	Andover | Bolton | Columbia | Coventry | Ellington | Hebron | Mansfield | Somers | Stafford | Tolland | Union | Vernon | Willington
Communities	Bolton Notch | Crystal Lake | Eagleville | Mansfield Depot | Mansfield Four Corners | North Somers | Rockville | Stafford Springs | Storrs | West Stafford | West Willington

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