| Town:
Falls Village, CT
Population: 1,101
Area: 33.3 square miles
Elementary School: Lee
H. Kellog
High School: Housatonic
Valley Regional
|
Housatonic
Valley Regional High School
Falls Village, Connecticut |
Falls
Village lies on the northern border
of Cornwall and across the Housatonic
River from Salisbury. It is named for
the Great Falls of the Housatonic where
the river plunges over limestone ledges
sixty feet to the gorge below. The main
falls are framed by smaller falls making
one of the most dramatic scenes in the
Northwest Corner. The potential energy
of the Great Falls was not lost on entrepreneurs
in the mid-19th century who, according
to the Town Historical Society’s
website, undertook to harness the force
of the water by means of a network of
stone-lined canals. When the gates were
finally opened, it was found that “everything
leaked”, the dream died and “Falls
Village lives on much as it was in 1851”.
Much of this story is recounted in Starling
Lawrence’s novel The Lightning
Keeper.
Eventually the
cascade was harnessed to produce hydro-electric
power and the village around the plant
has quietly prospered—a collection
of Victorian homes, the D.M. Hunt Library
built in 1891, the former rail station,
and the Falls Village Inn. Falls Village
is home to the Housatonic Valley Regional
High School—the first regional
high school in the state, serving, in
addition to Falls Village, the towns
of Canaan, Salisbury, Cornwall, Kent,
and Sharon. Built by the WPA during
the Great Depression, the original building
with its stone façade and large
pillars gives the campus a stately presence.
Music Mountain,
perhaps the oldest continuously running
chamber music festival, is just down
the road. Housed in a collection of
Sears and Roebuck cottages, the festival
offers weekend concerts throughout the
summer. Concert-goers can enjoy the
superb acoustics of the Gordon Hall
or lounge on the lawns to savor the
stars and sounds. Preserved lands in
Falls Village include Housatonic State
Forest, Robbins Swamp Wildlife Preserve,
and a portion of the federally protected
Appalachian Trail.
Today, Falls
Village is a somewhat sleepy enclave
of teachers, artists, writers and New
Yorkers who have found the seclusion
and low-key sanctuary they were looking
for in a second home.
Town
Links
--Official
Town Site
--Historical
Society
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