Oyster Shell Park
Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut

From Norwalk State Heritage Park: Oyster Shell Park  http://www.norwalkct.org/HeritagePark/oyster.html

This new riverside park was formerly a landfill. It serves as an outstanding example of ecologically sensitive redevelopment and provides a focus for new riverfront landscaping. Caught between a bend in the river and the I-95's "Yankee Doodle" bridge, it dramatically changes an entire section of river that had been disregarded for decades.

Oyster Shell Park now rises high above the water, but once the area was a flat meadow and marsh inhabited by Native Americans. Documentation of South Norwalk's Native American inhabitants began in the 1600's with the Wappinger Confederacy, a small nomadic tribe that migrated from the Wappinger Falls area of the Hudson River. Approximately 200 members of that tribe eventually began settling in coastal area villages around the Norwauke (Norwalk) and Saogutuck (Saugatuck) rivers.

The Native Americans used oysters primarily for making monetary exchange called Wampum. Shells were filed down and polished until only the shiny purple center remained. These beads were strung together in sets of 240 and used for trade with the colonists and to appease hostile neighboring tribes. Early Colonial settlers named one area along the river Oyster Shell Point because of the thousands of oyster shells that had been discarded there by Native Americans making Wampum.

More recently, the 17-acre site was used as a city landfill, which now has been capped following Environmental Protection Agency guidelines to ensure safety for future recreational use. Today, beautiful winding trails and walkways beckon visitors through marsh grasses, reeds and wildflowers in Oyster Shell Park. The half-mile multi-purpose trail for bikers, pedestrians and roller bladers runs from the Maritime Aquarium to Mathews Park. It will eventually be linked to the Norwalk River Valley Linear Trail at Belden Avenue, which is in the planning stages.

Oyster Shell Park is teeming with migratory birds, fiddlercrabs and aquatic life. The City of Norwalk envisions future uses to include children's learning programs, birdwatching and research projects. Other attractions include an amphitheater, walking trails, fishing pier and overlook.

A riverfront esplanade links Mathews Park to Oyster Shell Park, the Maritime Aquarium and South Norwalk. The entire stretch of riverside will be open to public access, providing magnificent frontage to the Reed-Putnam area, which is now under construction.

In addition to these areas, the park is linked to the eastern side of the Norwalk River via Stroffolino Bridge. Here, the waterfront Veteran's Park soon will be joined to a river walk and will extend along a landscaped dike to the opposite bank of the river from Oyster Shell Park.

The Norwalk River Linear Park will also be linked to Heritage Park by following the river north and connect to the Connecticut Greenways system.

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