I’ve always wondered about Limekiln Road. What was the limekiln and where was it located?
Running between Farmingville and Haviland roads, Limekiln Road probably dates to the 18th Century, perhaps to the 1730s. A limekiln once stood at the northwest corner of Lee and Limekiln roads, and remains may still be there, under surface soil.
Before 1914, when the Farmingville Road straightaway through Great Swamp was built, Lee Road and southern Limekiln Road were part of Farmingville Road. Thus, the limekiln then stood at the old corner of Lee and Farmingville roads, an intersection called Limekiln Corner.
A kiln of this sort once stood in the vicinity of Limekiln Road.
The limekiln was a furnace for heating up and converting limestone (mostly calcium carbonate) to lime (calcium oxide) by driving out water. The kiln consisted of a large stone or brick structure with an egg-shaped chamber inside. Here pieces of broken-up limestone were layered with wood or coal to fill the chamber, or “pot.” A fire was lit at the bottom and burned its way upward, heating the limestone and changing it to lime.
Limestone was mined in town. In fact, the area around the intersection of Haviland, Danbury and Limestone roads was once called Limestone Hill because much limestone was extracted there.
Limestone was perhaps the most important substance mined locally in colonial times.
Essential in homebuilding, lime was the basic ingredient in the plaster that covered the walls of houses, and in the mortar used in making chimneys, fireplaces, and some foundations. It was the chief ingredient in whitewash, which was used as a paint on wood surfaces as well as on plaster walls. Farmers used lime to fertilize their fields.
Like sawmills, limekilns could be almost neighborhood businesses. Several were active in Ridgefield in the 1700s and 1800s. One was on the north side of Bennetts Farm Road near the Knollwood Drive intersection. Another was at the corner of Barry Avenue and Ramapoo Road, an area called Limekiln Hill; a kiln there was operating at least by 1742 and in the 1800s was burning 10 cords of wood a day to supply builders in the region. Another kiln was on Farmingville Road, east of New Road.
All were located in the central and northern areas of town, probably because that’s where the limestone was. As explained in a previous column, Cameron’s Line runs through Ridgefield, nearly along West Lane, Main Street, Danbury Road and through Farmingville. In simple terms, the line marks an ancient continental collision of North America with what is now western Africa. Limestone is common in the ground north of the line, but not south of it.—J.S.
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