RIDGEFIELD CT

RIDGEFIELD CT

Ballard Park

Built - 1975

Ridgefield is called "The Little town that time Forgot" since its citizens still closely attempt to hold onto its colonial heritage since its establishment in 1709. As late as the 1960s, the town still felt as if you were taking a step back in time upon entering its limits traveling onto historic Main Street withits horse troughs, large elm and oak trees and well-kept colonial homes. The town still maintains most of its previous charm and is always proud to say that it was one of the sites of the Revolutionary War, especially during the "Battle of Ridgefield" in 1777. That is when American Generals Wooster and Arnold attempted to hold off the British during the only land battle on Connecticut soil.

Ridgefield's wood-framed "gazebo" was built in 1975 on the 5-acre Ballard Park that was designed by Ridgefield resident Frederick Law Olmstead, the famous landscape architect of Central Park in Manhattan. The structure is octagonal in shape and is 20 feet across with wooden benches surrounding the interior and a floor of old red brick. Many concerts and festivals are performed on the bandstand and in the surrounding park which was donated to the town by Elizabeth Biglow Ballard.