Town file
Redding, Connecticut
Redding, Connecticut (Fairfield County, Connecticut) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 78, "A Blaze Of Glory" (25 July 2018). Redding, Connecticut, is a wealthy town of about 9,300 people in Fairfield County, an hour and fifty minutes by road from New York City.
- Town
- Redding
- County
- Fairfield County
- State
- Connecticut
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 78
- Approximate location
- 41.305, -73.393
Episode 78 / 25 July 2018 / 157 min / full
A Blaze Of Glory
"We're going to Redding, Connecticut, in Fairfield County, in the southwestern part of the state." about 0:05:41
The case: The 1995 Redding arson murders (April 18, 1995). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2018
- Population
- 9,293
- Median age
- 48.8
- Median household income
- $121,667
- Median home value
- $534,200
- Two-bedroom rent
- $2,560
- Religious
- 64%
- Property crime
- ▼ less than half
- Violent crime
- ▼ about one third
History, in brief
- Colonists began receiving grants for land within the boundaries of what is now Redding in 1639. about 0:10:19
- Roger Ludlow purchased land from local Native Americans in 1639 to establish the town of Fairfield. about 0:10:30
- In 1668 Fairfield purchased more land called Northfield, part of which is now Redding. about 0:10:40
- The first settlers lived near a Native American village run by Chickens Warrups, also known as Sam Mohawk, who signed many of the land deeds. about 0:11:01
- The town was originally named Reading; in 1767 the spelling was changed to Redding to better reflect its pronunciation. about 0:14:35
- Redding was granted its first post office in 1809, and the spelling of the town's name was made official in 1844. about 0:14:48
- Construction on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad began in 1850. about 0:15:52
- Mica was extracted in the Branchville section; the mine later produced quartz, feldspar, mica and other minerals. about 0:16:04
- In 1834 Gilbert and Bennett Company bought the site of a farmer's comb mill and began producing wire mesh cloth. about 0:17:59
- Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain, moved to Redding in 1908; it was his final home and he died there in 1910. about 0:20:08
- Twain donated his books to what became the Mark Twain Library, which retains about 200 of the original 3,000 volumes. about 0:20:23
- The Gilbert and Bennett industrial complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. about 0:21:08
- In 1999 the Environmental Protection Agency designated the factory pond and surrounding land a federal Superfund site. about 0:22:12
- Redding was named the second-best small town by Connecticut Magazine in 2012 and the fourth-best town to live in nationwide by CNN Money in 2009. about 0:22:26
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Newtown, Connecticut8.5 miles
- Westport, Connecticut13 miles
- Chappaqua, New York22 miles
- Northport, New York28 miles
- Belle Terre, New York29 miles
- Bantam, Connecticut30 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.