The Spotting Tower and Railroad Warehousing
Ridgefield, Connecticut
The Small, White Octagonal Building on the corner was originally built as a boathouse on the estate of F.E. Lewis. It was moved behind the high school on East Ridge during World War II, and used as a warming hut for volunteers looking for enemy planes on the tower next to it. Over 200 men, women and children counted and identified more than 2,000 planes. In 1944 the Army shut down the site, but it was reactivated during the Cold War in the early 1950s. The warming hut was moved and the spotting tower remained standing until 1971.
A Warehouse Was Built by Richard Osborn and William O. Gilbert on lower Bailey Avenue in 1880 shortly after the completion of the Branchville railroad spur in 1870. It sat on four and a half acres and was part of their lumberyard. It housed an elevator used to carry grain to the upper part of the building and also served as a warehouse for D.F. Bedient's Store.
Marker is at the intersection of Bailey Avenue and Main Street (Connecticut Route 35), on the right when traveling east on Bailey Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
