The New Canaan Museum and Historical Society presents Ponus: The Man & the Monument on Sunday, October 27 at 4 pm. Patricia Funt Oxman, who has given tours of local cemeteries in past years, focuses this year on the Ponus Monument, located on the corner of Davenport Ridge Road and Ponus Ridge. The monument is thought to be the tomb of Ponus, Sachem of the Toquam Tribe, and was unveiled in an elaborate ceremony in 1897. Ponus, a Chief, who lived in the 17th century, has been largely overlooked but shaped the history of this area. A display of local arrow and spear heads will also be on view, on loan from New Canaan Country School.
The Twelfth Annual Preservation Awards will be presented by the New Canaan Preservation Alliance at a Ceremonial Reception on Sunday June 9th at the New Canaan Historical Society. Selected by a jury of preservationists and board members of the Alliance, the winners will be presented certificates of honor. To be eligible for an Award, the property is viewed mainly from the street, as well-preserved buildings are considered a “Gift” to the community, appreciated by all who value New Canaan’s heritage. There are various categories of winners from rehabilitation, restoration, to preservation of antique structures. Beginning at 4:00 PM, the public will be welcomed to a reception in celebration of NCPA’s twelfth Annual Awards.
Drive slowly along the upper reaches of Ponus Ridge and you can glimpse the last vestiges of a once-thriving New Canaan community, most of which now exists deep beneath the Laurel Reservoir. Beyond the chain link fence surrounding the lake, myriad stone walls crisscross through the trees, some of which suddenly disappear into the water. This is all that remains of Dantown. For Bob Tilden of Montour Falls, N.Y., the search for Dantown began as a search for his ancestors. One of these ancestors, Francis Dan, arrived in what was then Stamford in the late 17th Century, eventually settling a community by the Rippowam River near the New York state border.
