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Silvermine is a neighborhood in Fairfield County, Connecticut extending into three southwestern Connecticut municipalities -- Norwalk, New Canaan and Wilton. The name "Silvermine" comes from old legends of a silver mine in the area, although no silver has ever been found. Silvermine was long an art colony and remains the home of the Silvermine Guild Arts Center. The Silvermine Tavern, an inn occupying several historic buildings, also remains in the neighborhood. Silver Hill Hospital is just beyond the northern end of the neighborhood, in New Canaan near the Wilton border. There are two community groups specific to Silvermine: The Silvermine Community Association and the Norwalk Association of Silvermine Homeowners (NASH). ==History== The area has been settled since at least the late seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, the Silvermine River was used for 12 or 13 mills in the neighborhood because it fell steeply enough for the water power to be profitably harnessed. The mills included a leather tanning works, sawmill, and spool works.〔("A Short Walking Tour" ) on the Silvermine Tavern website. accessed September 14, 2006〕 Solon Borglum, a sculptor, moved to the New Canaan part of Silvermine in 1906〔 and built a hillside studio. He was one of the leading figures in an emerging community of artists in the neighborhood and helped found the "Knockers Club" – so named because when they would meet in Borglum's studio and discuss their art, a lot of frank criticism came out, knocking one another's work〔 – that later became the Silvermine Guild, one of the largest and oldest art centers in New England. Other artists in the neighborhood included George Avison, D. Putnam Brinley, John Cassell, Richard Daggy, Leo Dorn, R. B. Gruelle, Bernhard Gutmann, Hamilton Hamilton, Howard Hildebrandt, Cornelia Ellis Hildebrandt, Frank Townsend Hutchens, Adele Klaer, E. Murray MacKay, Clifton Meek, Addison T. Millar, Sam Otis and Carl Schmitt.〔("Silvermine Tavern History" ) on the Silvermine Tavern website. accessed September 14, 2006〕 In 1899, the present Perry Avenue Bridge was constructed. The one-lane stone bridge carries the road over Silvermine River near the Silvermine Tavern grist mill. In the flood of 1955, water flowed over the bridge. The span was put on the National Register of Historic Places in October 2006. That year one of the bridge's curbstones fell into the water, and for the six months before Memorial Day weekend in 2008 the span was closed as repairs were made. The bridge is so narrow that when at times when cars try to pass another, curbstones can be hit. The Norwalk city government spent $350,000 in repairs, which included masonry restoration, new railings, repaving and further narrowing so that drivers would not be tempted to try to pass. A parade with antique cars was held to celebrate the reopening of the bridge.〔Fenwick, Alexandra, "Ain't no river wide enough: Mended bridge makes Silvermine whole again", article, ''The Advocate'' of Stamford, Connecticut, May 29, 2008, Norwalk edition, pp A1, A13〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Silvermine, Connecticut」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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