Old Well The area of present-day South Norwalk developed out of a local
well referred to as the "Old Well", where sailing ships would refill their water
casks. although the exact location is unknown, though presumed to be near the site of Donovan's Tavern, since sailors are said to have frequented the tavern. “Old Well was scarcely a village in those days, but rather a group of farms, and the well which gave the place its name was on Water Street, near the corner of Haviland street, on the property of Eliakim Raymond, a patriarch of several Norwalk lines. His house stood at the corner of Washington and Water streets before the Revolution and was burned with rest of the town."
City of South Norwalk "
Norwalk was made a borough in 1836, and the village of Old Well, named from an ancient well where vessels were supplied with water, was incorporated into a city in 1868, and named South Norwalk two years afterward." "South Norwalk, formerly called "Old Well" was organized a city August 18, 1870, under a charter granted by the
Legislature of Connecticut, July 5 of the same year". "The 1870 charter was revised by the Legislature April 19, 1882, and the city continued its existence under this revised charter until May 27, 1897, when the Legislature approved a revised and amended charter, under which the city has since continued and worked." Around this time, Norwalk had refused to share its
water system with South Norwalk, contributing to a sense of ill will between the two cities, which would compete for economic development throughout subsequent decades.
Horse-drawn trolleys began serving South Norwalk in the 1860s, until being upgraded to
electric trolleys in 1894. As a compromise, Norwalk allowed for South Norwalk, East Norwalk, and
Rowayton to join Norwalk as taxing districts, allowing them to largely maintain their own municipal services while within Norwalk.
Within Norwalk created in 1977 In 1935, South Norwalk's trolley system was discontinued, and replaced by a bus service. South Norwalk began suffering from a period of
deindustrialization in the 1950s, as many industries, including Norwalk's sizable
hat industry, either went into decline or relocated out of
New England. This industrial decay led to the enactment of various
urban renewal projects beginning in the 1960s, namely, the demolition of older buildings and factories along western Washington Street to build new offices, a shopping center, and low-cost housing. The Norwalk Redevelopment Agency planned to continue this effort in the 1970s, with plans to replace the older buildings along eastern Washington Street, but were thwarted by local residents, who successfully got the buildings added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1988, the
Maritime Aquarium was opened in a disused factory building. During the 21st century, South Norwalk has seen a period of redevelopment centered around the construction of new apartments, many of which are located near South Norwalk Station. == Geography ==