New historical sign placed on Abbot Hill

A new historical sign placed on Abbot Hill in Wilton details the history of the Abbot family and the area. COURTESY PHOTO
Published: 08-15-2024 11:01 AM |
The Wilton Heritage Commission placed a historical sign on Abbot Hill last week as part of a series of replacements of town history signs.
The sign details the history of Abbot Hill, named for the family of George Abbot, originally from Yorkshire, England. George Abbot settled in Andover, Mass., circa 1643, and several of his descendants settled in Wilton by the late 1770s.
Among the Wilton settlers was Ezra Abbot, who in 1812 developed a process to extract starch from potatoes.
Ezra’s grandson, Dr. Charles Greeley Abbot, grew up on Abbot Hill and served as secretary at the Smithsonian Institution.
Abbot Hill served as the summer home of artist Chauncey Ryder for 25 years, and the area is surrounded by towns bearing familiar family names. Two of the town’s original one-room schoolhouses, District 5 and District 6, still stand on the hill, now converted to private homes.
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