Sandy Hook

History

Sandy Hook was founded in 1711 when several proprietors with land in the area relocated together to reduce isolation. Within a year of the settlement of Newtown, some of its proprietors began moving away from the central village to some of their larger parcels. Colonists found that the Pootatuck River at Sandy Hook allowed for saw and gristmills, leading to it becoming one of the first outlying areas to be settled. In 1839, the chemist and engineer Charles Goodyear accidentally invented the process of vulcanization while living on Glen Road, to the north of Sandy Hook center. This led to the creation and prosperity of the Goodyear Rubber Packing factory in the following 15 years, and hugely impacted the manufacturing industry in the following decades. The Sandy Hook neighborhood did not grow dramatically until the mid-19th century post-industrialization, due to innovation and economic growth caused by businesses such as the Goodyear Rubber Packing Factory. where he killed 20 children aged 6–7 along with six adults. He died by suicide when police arrived at the school. It was the mass shooting in U.S. history at the time, after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings. Following the shooting, both the Lanza family home and Sandy Hook Elementary School were demolished, in 2013 and 2016 respectively; a new school was built at the same site.

Geography

Located within Newtown, Sandy Hook borders the Newtown borough and the village of Botsford to the south, as well as the towns of Monroe, Southbury, and Oxford along the Housatonic River, to the east. The immediate area surrounding Sandy Hook village contains multiple amenities and green spaces including Rocky Glen State Park and Paugussett State Forest, as well as Timothy B. Treadwell Memorial Park and the Sandy Hook Memorial Park. Sandy Hook includes the communities of Berkshire, Riverside, Walnut Tree Hill, and Zoar. It also extends for a short distance into the town of Monroe along Old Zoar Road and Bagburn Hill/Jordan Hill Road. Sandy Hook has a few historic landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. * Nathan B. Lattin Farm * New York Belting and Packing Co. * Sanford–Curtis–Thurber House

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Newtown High School
  High · Sandy Hook · 1,325 students · 11.2:1 ratio
• Bethel High School
  High · Bethel · 1,063 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Brookfield High School
  High · Brookfield · 871 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Whisconier Middle School
  Middle · Brookfield · 782 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Joel Barlow High School
  High · Redding · 768 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Bethel Middle School
  Middle · Bethel · 764 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Ralph M. T. Johnson School
  Elementary · Bethel · 682 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Newtown Middle School
  Middle · Newtown · 607 students · 10.5:1 ratio