Chimney Builder in Glenbrook, CT

In 1856, English pharmacist Charles Henry Phillips, best known for his invention of milk of magnesia, built a wax and camphor factory in present-day Glenbrook, along the banks of the Noroton River. The factory, located at 666 Glenbrook Road, would be sold to Sterling Drug, remain operational until 1975 or 1976.

The initial ascent of modern-day Glenbrook began in 1866, when the construction of a railroad from Stamford’s town center to nearby New Canaan fueled minor land speculation. In October 1866, J.M.B. Whitton, a Philadelphia resident, purchased a 19-acre (7.7 ha) tract of land in the area, which was then known as New Hope, to divide into plots to resell to prospective residents. This land included the old Dixon Homestead. The New Canaan railroad was built five years later, passing through the center of Whitton’s land. Whitton laid out streets, including Cottage Avenue, Union Street, and Railroad Avenue. In the years following Whitton’s original 1866 purchase, a number of other businessmen purchase large tracts of land in the area to divide into individual residential plots.

In the 1870s, New Hope residents began increasingly referring to the area as “Glen-Brook” or “Glenbrook”. By 1874, the area began being officially referred to as “Glenbrook” in official land deeds.