New London - When the Fort Trumbull property owners lost their homes in a landmark eminent domain case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, they also won a small victory.

In a settlement agreement with the Cristofaro family, one of the last holdouts who refused to move out of its homes, the New London Development Corp. agreed to install a plaque in the Fort neighborhood to honor Margherita Cristofaro.

Mrs. Cristofaro, who lived in Fort Trumbull when she died in 2003, was one of the first residents to try and stop the NLDC and the city from taking her home by eminent domain and tearing it down. Eventually all the buildings were torn down to make way for new construction which was supposed to generate more tax revenue. But the Supreme Court case also generated a grass-roots movement to amend eminent domain laws in many states.

The bronze plaque embedded in granite honors Mrs. Cristofaro "wife, mother, citizen" and reads in part that her family "made significant contributions to the Italian-American community, sacrificing two family homes to the eminent domain process.''

The plaque is beside a sycamore tree on the banks of the Thames River.

It also reads: "This plaque stands in her honor and in recognition of the struggle she and her neighbors undertook to save the Fort Trumbull Neighborhood and change the laws around eminent domain.''

Michael Cristofaro said Friday that his mother first took on the fight to keep her property. He and his two brothers followed her lead.

"It was never about the money,'' Cristofaro said. "We are taking some kind of ownership here. We want to keep a little bit of our heritage in Fort Trumbull.''

A ceremony to formally dedicate the plaque will be held in October, the month of his mother's birthday, he said.

The Cristofaro family was one of the most outspoken opponents of the redevelopment project and the last to settle with the city. In 2006 they received $475,000, including relocation costs, for their house at 53 Goshen St. It was appraised at $150,000 in 2000. The city forgave $105,000 in use and occupancy fees.

The Cristofaros also had shrubs from the grounds transplanted to their residences at no cost, and were reimbursed for real estate taxes paid since the date of the taking in 2000.

Under the agreement, the NLDC installed the plaque in the finished development in memory of the family matriarch.

k.edgecomb@theday.com