Calf Pasture Beach is a historically significant park and

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

. The area of the park lands (including adjacent Shady Beach Park and Taylor Farm Park) is approximately .45 square miles. The beach is accessible by road or by public transit; Norwalk Transit District provides direct bus service to the park and the East Norwalk Metro-North station is about one mile to the north along Calf Pasture Beach Road, Gregory Boulevard, and East Avenue. East Avenue also provides access to

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

at exit 16.

History

The area now known as Calf Pasture was used by

Connecticut colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

settlers in the 17th century as grazing land for cows. Deborah Wing Ray, Gloria P. Stewart (1979) (3rd printing 2004). ''Norwalk: being an historical account of that Connecticut town''. Norwalk, CT: Norwalk Historical Society. The beach was used for disembarkation and encampment during the Tryon raid of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

in 1779. After having conducted retribution raids at

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

and Fairfield,

William Tryon Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...

led 2,600 British troops by boat to Norwalk at approximately 5:00 p.m. on July 10, 1779. They landed near the Round Beach island at the Calf Pasture peninsula where they spent the night. The next day they set off on the burning of Norwalk that left only 6 houses standing after the raid.

History of Norwalk, Connecticut The history of Norwalk, Connecticut ranges from pre-contact cultures and Native Americans to the 21st century. Population Pre-Contact During an era when Europeans had discovered the New World, Native Americans in the United States, Nati ...

In 1917 the Norwalk City legislature authorized the city to acquire and create a park at Calf Pasture Beach. Property condemnation to acquire the land was started in 1919. In 1922 the descendants of the Betts, Marvin, and Taylor families, who owned much of the adjoining property, donated their lands to the city. The park formally opened in 1924 while work on buildings and nearby roads was still underway.Deborah Wing Ray, Gloria P. Stewart (1979) pp. 187-189 Additional buildings and sidewalks were constructed at Calf Pasture in 1935 with funding provided by the

Federal Emergency Relief Administration The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was a program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, building on the Hoover administration's Emergency Relief and Construction Act. It was replaced in 1935 by the Works Progre ...

.Deborah Wing Ray, Gloria P. Stewart (1979) p. 192 Many of the buildings and sidewalks were washed away during the hurricane of September 1938. They were then replaced by

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

workers.Deborah Wing Ray, Gloria P. Stewart (1979) p. 197 Shady Beach was acquired in the 1960s.Deborah Wing Ray, Gloria P. Stewart (1979) p. 213 From 2000 to 2006 the Kayak for a Cause charitable fundraising event was held at Calf Pasture Beach. In 2007 that event was held at Veterans Park (also in East Norwalk) on the Connecticut shore. In 2008 it returned to Calf Pasture Beach. All of the park facilities (Calf Pasture Beach, Shady Beach, and Taylor Farm) are still owned and maintained by the City of Norwalk.

Facilities

The Calf Pasture Beach area has a large guarded

, a fishing

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

, a tree shaded

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

, a small unpaved boat ramp (suited to cartop boat launches, not trailers), sand volleyball courts, bocce courts, a

skateboard park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipes, ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

diamonds (with lighting for nighttime games), accessible restrooms, and a restaurant maintained by Ripka Beach Cafe. During the spring and autumn seasons the parking lot at Calf Pasture Beach is used for

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

. Adjacent Shady Beach Park offers an unmonitored beach, shaded picnic tables, grills, and additional restroom facilities. Adjacent to Shady Beach is Taylor Farm Park, with a tidal pool and grassy and wooded areas for dogwalking. Taylor Farm Park is the site of an annual Greenwich Kennel club dog show.

Sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s and

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

s can be rented within the park at th
Norwalk Sailing School
which also offers a small craft safety training program.Norwalk Sailing School
/ref> Calf Pasture Beach is a major landmark along the Norwalk Islands Canoe/Kayak Trail. Boater safety courses are offered at the Dominic Lametta training center a
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 72
at Calf Pasture. The annual Independence Day (United States), 4th of July fireworks show in Norwalk is held at Calf Pasture Beach.

References

External links

{{commons category
CT DEP: Calf Pasture Beach
* http://www.norwalkkartingassociation.net/ * http://norwalksailingschool.org/ * http://a0140702.uscgaux.info/ * http://www.greenwichkc.org/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20080309214241/http://www.westportoutfitters.com/ Geography of Norwalk, Connecticut Long Island Sound Parks in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Beaches of Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound ...

Peninsulas of Connecticut Landforms of Fairfield County, Connecticut Works Progress Administration in Connecticut Tourist attractions in Norwalk, Connecticut