Historic Rowayton/The Seeley-Dibble-Pinkney House c. 1820 - stop in

177 Rowayton Avenue, Rowayton, parking on site

In 1737 Samuel Richards bought two acres and one “rood” of then common land on the Five Mile River. In 1753, he added three more “roods” of land and a marshy edge. That same year, Samuel and his brother James founded the Richards Brothers Store, today Rowayton Market. Presumably, a dwelling was built on the Richards' land, as land “with buildings” were allotted to two more generations of the Richards family. At least 13 members of the Richards clan fought in the Revolution, and Richards Avenue in Norwalk is named for them.

The Richards ran a shipyard there on the Five Mile River for three generations until the

"Pinkney Park" land and buildings were sold to William Whiting around 1814. In 1820, Alfred Seeley purchased the house, property, and the store.

Also on the Historic Rowayton campus is a Revolutionary War-era barn which was dismantled in Norfolk, Connecticut, transported, and rebuilt in Rowayton over a period of eight years of weekends by volunteers.