The Gate to Mianus Village is Open…
Click Below for a Brief Video History of Mianus Village
Mianus Village in Riverside, Connecticut is a real place. After WWII, it became one of hundreds of low-rent enclaves for veterans and their families.
Today, Mianus Village is a lively, thriving neighborhood. While a few of the original houses remain, most have undergone major renovations. Even so, It remains a tight knit community with a rich historic past.
In Mianus Village, we lived a life not unlike that of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in Mark Twain’s classic coming-of-age novels. What the Mississippi River was to Twain’s characters, the Mianus River was to us.
In the summer, everyone lived outdoors enjoying cool breezes off the river—as well as swimming, boating, fishing, and floating on inner tubes. Boys played wiffle ball and touch football in the street. Girls were always playing hopscotch and twirling hula hoops. At dusk, we played “Hide and Seek.” A nearby hillside woods was a perfect place for climbing trees, making huts, and playing “cowboys and Indians.” In the winter, adults and kids alike skated from late December until March.
Below are some old photos from the early days in the Village.
Outdoor barbecues and sharing life stories were always popular in Mianus Village. Two vets in this photo: Foreground, Hook Scully; background, Joe Fuscaldo.
Aerial view of Mianus Village’s 40 houses on the banks of the Mianus River, Riverside, Connecticut. The fresh water river flows over a stone dam into Cos Cob harbor and Long Island Sound.
Birthday party for Mary Ann Datolla and 15 friends.
Eleanor Antes with Scully boys, winter 1953.
The author at age three in front of the 9-inch black and white screen of his family’s RCA Victor television set.
Left to right, Jackie Scully, Teddy Roberts, Dennis Scully in cast for broken leg, and Patsy Fuscaldo. About 1958.
When not dressed up, everyone wore dungarees and hightop Ked sneakers.
GREENWICH GAS-sponsored Little League ballplayers, 1958.
The author’s parents. Mary and John, aka Hook, Scully in 1942, just before he shipped out to the European theater for the “duration” of WW II.
The photo that inspired the lyrical tale "Halloween” in MIANUS VILLAGE.
Best friends, Marybeth MacNamee and Eleanor Antes in the village, about 1954.
Dennis Scully and Skip Antes with two primary modes of transportation on Cary Road in Mianus Village, circa 1953.
Fisherboys snagging and scooping bony herring below the Mianus Dam, about 1960. This photo inspired the harrowing story “Bony Herring” in MIANUS VILLAGE.
The author’s boyhood home (750 square feet) in Mianus Village.
The photo of Mickey Kalinski in his St Mary’s High School hockey team uniform inspired the tale “An Unwanted Christmas Present,” in MIANUS VILLAGE.
Mianus Village produced many great athletes, two of whom (Artie Fronio, center, and Pat Fuscaldo, right) were inducted into the Greenwich high School Athletic Hall of Fame.