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East Haven, Connecticut

East Haven is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 27,923. The town is located 3 mi east of New Haven, and is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. East Haven is 35 mi from Hartford, 82 mi from New York City, 99 mi from Providence, Rhode Island, and 140 mi from Boston.

History

The Connecticut Colony granted the town petition for Township in May 1707 and colonists changed the name from Iron Works Village to East Haven. Some outstanding land issues with New Haven and a minor feud with Governor Gurdon Saltonstall resulted in the rescinding of the township status; the area was made a parish of New Haven.

Once home to a large Italian population, New Haven and neighboring towns such as East Haven have been destinations for a new wave of immigrants since the late 20th century, the majority of whom in East Haven are Latinos from Ecuador. In the 2010 census, Hispanics and Latinos made up more than 10% of the town's population.

On August 9, 2013, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B crashed on approach, hitting two houses in an East Haven residential neighborhood near the airport. The impact and the resulting fires destroyed both houses. The private plane had taken off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The incident resulted in four deaths: the pilot of the plane; his passenger, the pilot's 17-year-old son; and two children in one of the houses. They were girls of 13 years and one year of age.

Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 34.8 km2， of which 31.8 km2 of it is land and 3.08 km2 of it (8.57%) is water. East Haven also contains Stony Island, approximately 660 yd from East Haven Town Beach in Long Island Sound.

The shape of East Haven on a map is taller than it is wide. It is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New Haven, on the north by North Haven, and on the east by Branford, Lake Saltonstall, and North Branford. East Haven shares with New Haven the land belonging to local Tweed New Haven Airport and Alling Memorial Golf Course.

Geology
During the Paleozoic Era, 450 to 250 million years ago, several tectonic plates collided to form the supercontinent called Pangaea. East Haven was located in the middle of this collision, and the results can be seen today with the schists, gneisses and granites which are exposed.

When Pangaea was broken up, during the Triassic and Jurassic periods, volcanic activity occurred, depositing basalt or trap rock. Earthquakes can still be felt in the area. In February 2001 the area was rocked by a 1.8 magnitude earthquake originating in Madison, Connecticut.

It is estimated that Connecticut was covered by glaciers at least two times. The last glacier is estimated to have been 1800 ft thick in the New Haven area. 22,000 years ago, the glacier moved south, eroding mountains and pushing through East Haven to deposit large amounts of glacial till to form Long Island. 14,000 years ago the glacier retreated and shaped the coastline, formed Long Island Sound and created Lake Saltonstall. It also deposited glacial till, soil, sand, rocks and boulders that the ice carried south from the north.

The coast is primarily covered by gneiss rock (including granite), schist and quartzite. The remaining sections are part of the Central Valley of Connecticut and are covered with clastic sedimentary rock (redbeds, conglomerate, sandstone, brownstone and shale). This soft surface has been resedimented by a number of floods, making the soil soft and fertile and ideal for farmland.

Brownstone, a sedimentary rock that erodes easily, was easily dug into by glaciers and carved out many lakes and valleys. The area surrounding Farms River and Lake Saltonstall on the East Haven and Branford border is an example of this. The brownstone that did not erode was used for building foundations and rock fences found throughout New England.

Deposits of basalt (lava flow) can be found in the north and northeast sections of East Haven. Several quarries can be found in this area. Traprock (basalt) is turned into crushed stone. It is primarily used in construction and in the bedding of roads. Sand and gravel from glacial till is the second most profitable quarried rock. They are used as fill, in concrete, leach fields or for road sand.

Animals and plants
When Pangaea was broken up, East Haven had forests. Dinosaurs, reptiles and mammals roamed the area. Dinosaur trackways like those found in Rocky Hill at Dinosaur State Park were recently found at a construction site near Lake Saltonstall. The tracks were made by Eubrontes. Fossils of Triassic period reptiles have been found in the area. Stegomus was covered with armor plates and looked similar to an armadillo.

Today, East Haven is mostly covered with broadleaf, hardwood trees. There are a few conifer (evergreen) forests, mostly around Lake Saltonstall. Salt marshes are located in areas around Long Island Sound.

Dinosaurs were long ago succeeded by deer, coyotes, squirrels, foxes, chipmunks and rabbits. Garter snakes can be found in the area. Pheasants, grouse, ducks and wild turkeys can be found in East Haven, as well as cardinals, blue jays, warblers, crows, sparrows, parrots, woodpeckers and sea gulls. Trout can be found in the fresh water lakes. Bluefish, bass, flounder, blackfish, sand sharks, eels, lobsters, crabs and clams can be found in Long Island Sound.

Communities
The residents of the town divide it into three large "sections" rather than smaller neighborhoods. These sections are:

Foxon
The area borders Branford and North Branford on the east, New Haven on the west to about Grannis Pond in the south, and surrounds State Route 80. This is the hilliest section of town. It counts among its landmarks the town high school, Foxon Park Beverage (a locally famous soda manufacturer), and Camp Murray, a Girl Scouts day camp. Grannis Pond used to host a YMCA camp until the land was sold and developed.

Momauguin
The area is located in the southern section of East Haven, from the Caroline Creek section of East Haven on the west to Branford on the east and starting at Short Beach Road in the north. This section includes the town beach, numerous condominiums, and summer cottages. The area near Tweed New Haven Airport has an industrial park that includes Town Fair Tire Centers Headquarters and Calabro Cheese Corporation.

"The Center"
The Center is not the geographical center of town but the hub of the administrative facilities. Landmarks include the Town Hall, Fire Department Headquarters, Hagaman Memorial Library, the "old" East Haven High School, and other administrative buildings. The old high school has been adapted for use by the East Haven Historical Society, and a teen center. The Police Department and Public Works Department reside on the "Center" – Foxon line.

The most recognizable landmark in East Haven is the Old Stone Church. Built in 1774, the steeple of the church stands out against the low horizon.

The Town Green is a 2.4 acre park located at the eastern end of the central business district (two blocks east of the town hall) and is mostly covered by trees. Monuments are dedicated to honor war veterans and firefighters. The focal point of the green is the gazebo or bandstand. The Green is the site of the annual East Haven Fall Festival and summer concerts.

Margaret Tucker Park is considered the second East Haven Green, with its location across the street from Town Hall and the Old Stone Church. They have developed additional land to the park, along with a water fountain.

Included in this section is the "West End", which borders New Haven. Since the late 20th century, conditions have declined in this area of older housing. Efforts are underway to revitalize the area that most residents think have been overlooked with all the focus of the re-development efforts in the center of town.

The Senior Center is located one block from Town Hall. The town has a weekly Farmers' Market held at the Town Hall on Sundays. This market features fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts. Some weeks feature fundraising for town institutions.

Climate
East Haven's climate is tempered by its location on Long Island Sound; it has a humid subtropical climate according to the Koppen climate system. Winters are usually mild, with less snow accumulation, than those found inland. In a normal winter East Haven averages 27 inches (68.58 cm) of snowfall. It is not unusual to have a dusting of snow by the coast and an inch of snowfall in the northern areas of East Haven. The town is vulnerable to Nor'easter weather systems that can drop heavy rain or snow in the region. The Blizzard of 1888 dropped about 40 inches of snow, while the Blizzard of 1978 dropped almost 2 ft.

Summers are warming with hotter days, though cooler than inland. Though rare, the region does experience high heat waves and some 100 °F days. Precipitation is evenly spread throughout the year.

East Haven enjoys a fairly long growing season with the last frost occurring in mid April and the first frost occurring in mid October. On average, East Haven has 207 sunny days and 158 cloud or rainy days.

Severe weather does occur in East Haven. The area has been hit by several hurricanes, most recently in August 2011 when Hurricane Irene severely damaged numerous shore areas, destroying houses along Cosey Beach. In 1985, the eye of Hurricane Gloria came across state 22 west of East Haven. The area was without electricity, telephone and cable TV service for 7 days.

Tornadoes sometimes occur in Connecticut. Though the town was not directly affected, a tornado touched down in Hamden on July 10, 1989, 7 mi away. On August 11, 2016, a tornado touched down in North Haven, 5 mi away.

Demographics
As of the census of 2020, there were 27,923 people and 11,028 households residing in the town. The population density was 2,270.9 PD/sqmi.

The total gender makeup of the town is 13,599 (48.7%) male and 14,324 (51.3%) female. Age distribution of the estimated 2020 population of the town is as follows:
 * ages 0 to 4 years old – 1,088 (3.9%)
 * ages 5 to 17 years old – 4,803 (17.2%)
 * ages 18 to 64 years old – 16,573 (58.9%)
 * ages 65 and above – 5,459 (20.0%)

The racial makeup of the town is 78.6% White, followed by 13.4% Hispanic or Latino, 5.2% African American, 2.1% Asian, .7% from other races and 0.1% Native American.

The median age of a house is 40.0 years. The median house purchase price is $262,600.00 and median monthly rental is $1,342.00.

The town is primarily considered a Democratic town, though it has elected a Republican mayor in the last 6 of 7 elections. There are 19,038 registered voters in East Haven. 6,236 registered Democrats, 3,966 Republicans, 8,836 unaffiliated,.

The median income for a household in the town was $83,489. About 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

92.3% of the adult population (25 years and old) possess a high school diploma or higher,and 23.6% have bachelor's degree or higher.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.9 square miles (103.3 km$2$), of which 39.0 square miles (101.1 km$2$) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.2 km$2$), or 2.16%, is water.

The town of East Haven sits astride the Quinnipiac River in southeastern New Haven County. It is 5 mi south of Northford and about 1.3 mi north of New Haven. Towns bordering East Haven are Branford, North Branford New Haven, and North Haven. East Haven is traversed by U.S. Route 1, Interstate 95, and State Highways Route 100, Connecticut Route 142 and Route 80

East Haven has a labor force of 16,244. 15,591 are employed and 653 are not. East Haven has an unemployment rate of 4 .0%. There are 527 work units in East Haven, employing 6,260 staff members.

Town Government
Beginning in the late 1990s, Republican Joe Maturo, Jr. served as mayor for a decade, being repeatedly re-elected to the two-year terms, serving from 1997 to 2007. In 1998 he appointed Leonard Gallo as Police Chief, who served until January 2012.

Maturo was defeated on November 6, 2007, by Democratic challenger, April Capone Almon, by an apparent 21 votes. The slim margin of victory forced an automatic recount, and two were required. On November 14, 2007, Capone Almon was certified as the winner over Maturo by 25 votes. She was the first female mayor of East Haven and the youngest at age 32. She was re-elected in 2009, serving for two terms. After receiving a preliminary report in 2010 of a Department of Justice investigation of police department mistreatment of Latino residents, she put Police Chief Gallo on administrative leave pending completion of the investigation. That year a separate class action civil rights suit was filed on behalf of Latino residents against the city by Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, naming 20 defendants, most with the police department.

Former mayor Joe Maturo had defeated incumbent mayor Almon on November 8, 2011, by an apparent 31 votes. The slim margin of victory forced an automatic recount. On November 12, 2011, Maturo was certified as the winner over Almon by 34 votes. By winning a sixth term, Maturo became the longest-serving mayor in the town's history. He reinstated Gallo. DOJ submitted its final report to the city in December 2011, detailing a pattern of harassment against Latinos. Four officers were arrested on January 24, 2010, under the Department of Justice criminal investigation, charged with harassing Latinos. Police Chief Gallo was allowed to resign in late January 2012. Two of the officers pleaded guilty in 2012, and two were convicted at trial in 2013, being sentenced in 2014 to varying terms in prison. In 2013, Maturo easily defeated Jack Stacey to earn a seventh term.

Joe Maturo retired after his term ended in 2019. 2019 election saw Democratic Candidate Joseph Carfora defeat Republican candidate Steve Tracey and Independent candidate Bonifacio Sioson, 3865 votes to 3169 and 292 respectively. Joseph Carafora was elected to a second term when he defeated Republican challenger Salvatore Maltese 4208 votes to 1866 votes.

Based on the separate 2010 class action civil rights suit, the city reached a settlement in June 2014 to pay $450,000 to the Latino class members and change immigration enforcement to clearly separate it from regular policing. The city "will no longer detain undocumented people for immigration authorities unless they have a judge-signed criminal warrant." The city admitted no wrongdoing.

The 2006 Mill Rate was 31.20. Total revenue in 2022 was $117,049,457 with total expenditures of $123,548,617.00 for an overbudget total of $26,808,566. Total Indebtedness was $38,493,587. Moody's Bond rating (2019) for the town was A3 and Standards and Poor A.

Police Department
The East Haven Police Department employs over 50 uniformed officers. Since the late 20th century, the department has been the center of incidents related to racial harassment and profiling of minorities.

In 1997, an East Haven police officer, Sergeant Robert Flodquist, was accused of using excessive force in a police action which killed Malik Jones, an African-American suspect. Subsequently, state and federal prosecutors failed to find enough evidence for criminal charges against Flodquist. His shooting of Jones was ruled justified; Flodquist testified in the investigation that Jones tried to run him over. Police Chief Leonard Gallo, who had been hired in 1998 from New Haven by Mayor Joseph A. Maturo, Jr., appointed Flodquist as the department's public spokesman.

Neither the family nor civil rights activists were satisfied with the failure by the state and federal government to prosecute in the Jones case. Activists have used the case "to argue successfully for new state legislation aimed at limiting racial profiling" by local and state police departments.

The Jones family filed a civil suit in US District Court, saying that Malik Jones civil rights were violated and seeking damages. In July 2003 a federal jury ruled in their favor and awarded them $2.5 million in punitive damages. Because in such a case the city was not liable for punitive damages, another hearing was held to settle whether there should be compensatory damages; the award was reduced in October 2010 to $900,000. The East Haven city attorney said the town intended to appeal this decision.

Separately, in September 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began investigating the East Haven Police for racial profiling and harassment of Latinos following the "unwarranted arrest" of Father Paul Manship, a Catholic priest who was trying to study complaints by Latino parishioners that they were victims of police discrimination. That year the police arrested Mayor April Capone Almon and her assistant for allegedly interfering with a ticketing action at the beach. The DOJ investigation later reported having found that records related to Capone Almon's arrest and that of Manship had been altered numerous times.

With civil and criminal investigations underway, DOJ issued a preliminary report to the city in 2010, saying that the police appeared to have a pattern of discrimination and harassment against Latinos. Mayor April Capone Almon put Police Chief Leonard Gallo (in office since 1998) on administrative leave until the investigation was concluded.

After Joseph A. Maturo, Jr. was elected as mayor in November 2011, he reinstated Gallo. On his first day, the police chief barred police commission members, who were investigating an officer about whom they had received complaints, from police headquarters and the parking lot without his permission. A few days later, the commission established a policy requiring its members be given free access to the police headquarters and any members of the department.

The Department of Justice submitted its "scathing" final report of the civil investigation to the city in December 2011, saying the police department had shown a pattern of discrimination against Latinos, and Gallo had "resisted efforts to root out problems." Its report concluded that "EHPD has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against Latinos, a violation of the Constitution and federal law."

On January 24, 2012, Sergeant John Miller and three officers were arrested by the FBI on a ten-count indictment, on charges of conspiracy, false arrest, and excessive force and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation. A local businessman had complained to the mayor's office that the officers stopped his employees to check their documentation as they entered and left his place of business. Numerous other charges were detailed in the indictment. Numerous other complaints had been collected. Press reports indicated a suspicion among the investigators that the chief of the department, Leonard Gallo, was involved in obstructing justice and had tried to hinder the investigation.

Several other East Haven officers attended the arraignment to show support. Mayor Joseph Maturo and the police union also stood by the officers pending results of prosecution. The government asked that Officer Dennis Spaulding be barred from entering the town for fear he would intimidate possible witnesses; officer Zullo was also barred from the town until the cases were resolved. Police Chief Leonard Gallo was allowed to resign in late January 2012.

In September 2012, Miller pleaded guilty to having struck a handcuffed person. In October 2012, Officer Jason Zullo pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice under a deal that will require him to serve one or two years in jail. David Cari continued to fight the charges.

Maturo replaced police chief Gallo with Brent Larrabee, formerly the police chief of Stamford. On October 23, 2012, the Associated Press reported that the city had reached a settlement with the DOJ on its "claims that officers engaged in a pattern of discrimination and abuse toward Latinos." The settlement will require actions in seven major areas to improve conditions, including policy and training related to search and seizure, management and supervision of officers, civilian control and resolution of complaints, racial sensitivity training, community outreach and development of trust with all residents.

Convicted at trial in October 2013, on January 23, 2014, Officer Dennis Spaulding was sentenced to five years in prison. At his sentencing, he insisted he had done nothing wrong. Cari was also convicted at trial; in January 2014 he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Crime
2019 is the last reported year. Statistics are published yearly by the FBI.

East Haven Fire Department
The East Haven Fire Department was established in 1900. It was started as an all volunteer fire department with one engine company. The town is covered by four fire stations:

 * Station 1 (Headquarters Center District)
 * Station 3 (Foxon)
 * Station 4 (Momauguin)
 * Station 6 (Short Beach Rd)

In total there are 3 active Engines, 1 Quint, 2 Squads, and 4 Rescues. There are both career and volunteer firefighters within the department.

Economy
Retail services dominate three stretches of roads in East Haven; Main Street and U.S. 1 in the center of town and State Route 80 in the Foxon Section. East Haven has two industrial parks on land adjacent to Tweed New Haven Airport which house many manufacturing and distribution companies.

There are approximately 527 companies that employ 6,260 employees in East Haven. The top five employers are Super Stop & Shop, Thermatool Corporation, Village at Mariners Point (healthcare), Laurel Woods (healthcare) and Talmadge Park Health Care.

East Haven Grand List (2008) was $2,968,044,077.00. Retail sales from 2007 was $296,138,827.00. East Haven Labor Force (those of working age) is 16,751 residents. 15,128 are employed while 1,623 of the employable residents are unemployed.

Schools
Education in the New Haven Colony was important. The colony had required that each parish provide a common school. Prior to 1700, the parish education was being provided by the Congregational Church. The town voted in 1706 to build the first public school. The school was located around what is now 260 Hemingway Avenue. In 1707 the town established a school board to oversee the education system. By 1728 East Haven had split their system into 4 school districts.

The first town high school was opened on September 28, 1936, in the "Center" of town. Prior to the building of the high school, students had to apply to local town high schools for acceptance into their school system. A new junior high school complex was built in 1957. In 1997, a new high school campus was built in the Foxon section of town.

Today the school system operates 9 schools. In 2014 there were 2,933 students enrolled in the East Haven Public School system, with 232 teachers for a student/teacher ratio of 13:1. The town's budget allocated for FY 2014 was $46,410,357.00. The cost per student was approximately $18,495.00 per student.

 * Adult Learning Center
 * Deer Run School enrolls 312 students and a student/teacher ratio of 14:1 in Grades K–2
 * Grove J Tuttle School enrolls 178 students and a student/teacher ratio of 12:1 in Grades 3–5
 * Momauguin School enrolls 147 students and a student/teacher ratio of 11:1 in Grades 3–5
 * Dominick H. Ferrara School enrolls 178 students and a student/teacher ratio of 13:1 in Grades 3–5
 * Overbrook School enrolls 183 students and a student/teacher ratio of 17:1 in Grades K–2
 * Joseph Melillo Middle School enrolls 582 students and a student/teacher ratio of 12:1 in Grades 6–8
 * East Haven Academy, located at Carbone School enrolls 265 students and a student/teacher ratio 13:1 in Grades 3–8
 * East Haven High School enrolls 880 students and a student/teacher ratio of 13:1 in Grades 9–12

St. Vincent de Paul School in East Haven closed in 2016. That year enrollment was 89.

Library

The East Haven Library was established in 1909. The library occupied several locations in the center of town before a gift from Isaac Hagaman allowed for a permanent building to be built. On September 22, 1928, the East Haven Library was opened. During the years of 1973 and 1974, the library added a two-story addition to the complex. Today the Hagaman Memorial Library, named to honor of Isaac Hagaman, holds approximately 65,290 books, 2,065 Audio Materials, 4,128 Video Materials and 90 serial subscriptions. The library has an extensive children's library, and facilities are available for community meetings.

Health and medicine
East Haven does not have its own hospital; the area has several facilities within 3 to 5 mi in New Haven: Yale-New Haven Hospital, a major teaching hospital affiliated with the Yale School of Medicine, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, and Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. A VA medical center is located in West Haven. An urgent care center is located in Foxon.

Transportation
East Haven is served by Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, which is located on the border between East Haven and New Haven.

Though East Haven does not have a train station, there are two stations within close driving distance. Union Station is located 3 mi from the center of town in New Haven, and a commuter station is located an equal distance away in Branford. Both offer commuter railroad service to New York and to coastal Connecticut towns, and New Haven's Union Station has Amtrak train service to Boston and many other cities.

Interstate 95 runs from east to west through the central portion of East Haven. Interstate 91, which is located west of the town, connects with State Route 80 which passes through the town in Foxon, running east to west. State Route 100 connects Foxon with the town center, running north to south. U.S. 1 crosses the town through the "Center", paralleling Interstate 95.

The Connecticut Transit Bus Company, a state-run mass transportation system, serves the town.

Utilities
Water supply is provided by the Regional Water Authority. Lake Saltonstall, located on the border between East Haven and Branford, provides drinking water to the south section of East Haven and is a recreational facility for hiking and fishing. The northern section of town is served by Lake Gaillard in North Branford. The New Haven Regional Water Pollution Control Authority is responsible for sewage-disposal services with facilities located in New Haven.

United Illuminating is the exclusive distributor of electric power to the town. Natural gas is distributed by the Southern Connecticut Gas Company with several sections being served by local propane distribution companies. AT&T is the primary wired telephone service provider for the area. Phone service is also available from various national wireless companies and the local cable television provider. Cable television is available from Comcast and AT&T. Satellite television is available from AT&T (Dish Network) and DirecTV.

Media and newspapers

 * Newspapers: The town is served by one daily newspaper and two weekly newspapers.  The New Haven Register is printed seven days a week.  The East Haven Courier is the weekly paper.
 * Media: The town is served by ETV, a local public-access television cable TV channel on the Comcast system.  A local ABC affiliate is in New Haven, WTNH TV Channel 8 and New Haven's IntrigueTV WTXX TV Channel 34.  East Haven can receive 16 on-air television channels, 13 AM radio stations, and 20 FM radio stations.

Museums

 * East Haven Historical Society
 * The Shore Line Trolley Museum was founded in 1945 as the Branford Electric Railway Association (BERA). The Branford Electric Railway Association was founded to preserve the heritage of the trolley car, as well as artifacts and documents from the trolley era. The museum holds nearly one hundred trolley vehicles.  The Shore Line Trolley Museum, just past the East Haven Green, operates the Branford Electric Railway, a National Historic Site. The railway is the oldest continuously operating suburban trolley line in the United States.

National Register of Historic Places
East Haven has three nationally registered historic sites:
 * East Haven Green Historic District (added April 11, 2002)
 * First Congregational Church of East Haven (added March 25, 1982)
 * The Shore Line Trolley Museum (added May 23, 2019)

Town events

 * Every fifth year the town hosts the Columbus Day Parade (which is shared between New Haven, West Haven, North Haven, and Hamden).
 * The town of East Haven sponsors a town-wide beach party to celebrate Independence Day.
 * The town also hosts the Fall Festival, which is patterned after a New England town fair.

Notable people

 * Cy Bentley (1850–1872), Major League Baseball player for one season with the Middletown Mansfields, born in East Haven
 * Kori Gardner and Jason Edward Hammel of the pop music duo Mates of State
 * Henry Winkler, actor and director who played "The Fonz" on the hit show Happy Days, resided in the Momaugin area of East Haven while he attended the Yale School of Drama.

title: East Haven, Connecticut


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Meriden, Connecticut

Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.

18th century
Meriden was originally a part of the neighboring town of Wallingford. It was granted a separate meetinghouse in 1727, became a town in 1806 with over 1,000 residents. Meriden was incorporated as a city in 1867, with just under 9,000 residents. It was once proposed as the Connecticut state capital. It was named for the village of Meriden, West Midlands, England, near Birmingham.

The oldest house in town still standing, built by Solomon Goffe in 1711, became a museum in 1986. The building is the Solomon Goffe House.

The grave of Winston Churchill's great-great-great maternal grandfather, Timothy Jerome, can be seen today at what is now called "Burying Ground 1720" (Google Maps: 41.52288°N, -72.78771°W) at the juncture of Dexter Avenue and Lydale Place. At the time the location was known as "Buckwheat Hill", and overlooked the salt-making estate for which Jerome had received a royal grant. Timothy Jerome's son, Samuel, is the great-great-grandfather of Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill's mother.

19th century to World War II

In the second half of the 1800s, Meriden became a manufacturing center of note, with several companies forming, or relocating to the city, involved in the production of mainly silver, lamps and metalware, glassware, guns, and musical instruments. A substantial number of design and technology patents were secured.

Silver and cutlery
For silver, the numerous companies included the Meriden Britannia Company (a predecessor of the International Silver Company with corporate HQ in Meriden), Meriden earned the nickname "Silver City", due to the large number of silver manufacturers, and the International Silver Co. continued production until the early 1980s. Along with the silver companies, other producers of cutlery included the Meriden Cutlery Co. and Miller Bros. Cutlery.

In 1876, the Meriden Britannia Company made significant efforts at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and won the First Place medal for plated wares. According to the Sotheby's auction house, "The publicity of the award and the impression the firm made on the fair's 8 million visitors was continued by the catalogues and other intensive marketing; by the end of the 1870s Meriden Britannia Co. was considered the largest silverware company in the world." A key design attributed to launching the company and the town's international name was the Buffalo Hunt with a smaller edition in the White House collection, Washington, DC. For some time the original Buffalo Hunt sculpture went missing, and in a shocking report by Bailey Wright in 2018, it was learned that it was recently 'missing' actually in Meriden.

Lamps and metalware
For lamps and metalware, the companies with national and international markets included the Edward Miller & Co / Miller Company (1844–stopped manufacturing lighting c. 1980), the Charles Parker Company, Handel Company, and the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company (1852–1940), which also was widely known for producing metal-based products like decorative tables and andirons.

Glassware
For glassware, the companies included the C.F. Monroe Company (1892–1916). and the Meriden Flint Glass Company (1876–1892),

Kitchen appliances and guns
Manning, Bowman & Co. (1849–1945) centered its production in Meriden, and into the early 20th century became a nationally known producer of small electrical appliances and chrome ware. Meriden was also the site of the production of Parker Brothers (guns), widely-known and traded by firearms enthusiasts. From 1905 to 1918, the Meriden Firearms Co. manufactured small arms from 1905 to 1918. The stock was owned by Sears, Roebuck & Company.

Musical instruments including player pianos
Internationally known companies Wilcox and White and the Aeolian Company were involved in the production of musical instruments north of the downtown area at Tremont and Cambridge Streets. The Aeolian Company grew quickly forming production sites in other places and developed a music hall in New York. (The largest holder today of instruments and music rolls by the two companies is the Pianola Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.)

Graphic arts innovation
Meriden also was an important site for graphic arts innovation. In 1888, the Meriden Gravure Company (in Meriden 1888–1989) was founded by Charles Parker and James F. Allen, and continued a previous printing operation by Parker. The company developed an expertise in high quality image reproduction, which initially was driven by the needs of the silver industry.

With the wealth of entrepreneurs during this time, several mansions and houses of note were built, particularly on Broad Street.

Of political and historical note, on March 7, 1860, Abraham Lincoln spoke in Meriden seeking the Republican presidential nomination.

For public places, Hubbard Park in the Hanging Hills was financed by Walter Hubbard (of the Bradley & Hubbard company). The design for the park was originally conceived by Hubbard in consultation with the Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, America's foremost landscape architect. In 1900, Castle Craig on a peak was dedicated in the park. In 1903, the Curtis Memorial Library, across from Meriden's city hall, was opened.

Hollywood connection (1937–1950)
From 1937 until 1947, the International Silver Company sponsored the Silver Theater, a national radio program broadcast via CBS in Hollywood. The radio program featured many Hollywood actors and actresses of the time like Jimmy Stewart and Rosalind Russell. Over 200 programs were produced. In c. 1937–1945, several Hollywood stars, including Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers and Barbara Stanwyck, endorsed the company's 1847 Rogers Bros. silverware in print advertisements in LIFE magazine.

After World War II, in 1949–1950, The Silver Theatre was brought to television and broadcast on CBS, also with the International Silver Company as the sponsor. Guest stars included Eva Gabor, Kim Hunter, and Burgess Meredith.

Legacy of Meriden's grand manufacturing era
A few thousand designs from this manufacturing era from Meriden are in museums and historical societies across the United States and into Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Design objects from this era from Meriden have also been included in over 200 national and international exhibitions and expositions since the 1850s. The 1930s tea urn by Eliel Saarinen for the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. / International Silver Company, Meriden, is the one design exhibited most and most published in design books as an international Modern design icon.

Some comparatively recent examples of Meriden designs in exhibitions include In pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1986–1987), and more recently, Modernism in American Silver: 20th century design (2005–2006) in Dallas, Miami Beach, and Washington, DC, which highlighted downtown Meriden and the area's role as an important center of Modernist silver production. In 19th century Modern (2011–2012) in Brooklyn, designs by the International Silver Company and the Napier Company, another Meriden manufacturer, were exhibited. In November 2016-November 2017, the city's iconic Napier penguin cocktail shaker was in an exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art; the Napier penguin was the lead image of the show.

In summer 2017 alone, historical Meriden area design was exhibited in museum shows in at least Dallas, Newark, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum in New York, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, The Netherlands, and the KunstHalle in Berlin, Germany.

With this level of attention, some special design objects from the era have become sought-after collectors items also at auction, sometimes due to their association with the commission or commissioner, or the status of the design, or being in the sought-after Modernism style. For example, a painted glass and metal table lamp by Bradley and Hubbard, (c. 1920) sold for US$14,950, doubling its estimate, at Christie's auction house in New York in 1999. Later, a 14-inch, International Silver Company cocktail shaker (c. 1927) sold for US$21,600 tripling its estimate, at Christie's in New York in 2005. A Parker gun made for a Russian czar before World War I, but never delivered, was reported to have been sold for US$287,500 in 2007. In 2008, a rare Handel lamp sold for US$85,000. On March 5–6, 2014 at Sotheby's in London, "Al Capone's cocktail shaker" made by the Meriden International Sterling Company (c. 1932) achieved over 33 times its estimate with a sale price of GBP50,000 (US$83,250 on the day). Lastly, in 2014, at Sotheby's New York, a rare Paul Lobel-designed coffee service (c. 1934–1935) produced by the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. / International Silver Company sold for US$377,000.

WWII–1970s
In 1939, Edwin Howard Armstrong, a network radio pioneer who invented FM radio, used West Peak in 1939 for the location of one of the first FM radio broadcasts. His original 70 ft radio mast still stands on the peak. Currently West Peak is home to six FM broadcast stations, including WNPR, WWYZ, WKSS, WDRC-FM, WMRQ-FM and WHCN.

During World War II, factories in Meriden worked three shifts (24 hours/day). On March 8, 1944, the War Manpower Commission gave Meriden the designation as "National Ideal War Community", and Jimmy Durante and Glenn Miller entertained those at the ceremony.

In addition to manufacturers that continued operations after World War II, starting in the later 1940s, the Miller Company, Burton Tremaine, Sr. and Emily Hall Tremaine firmly put Meriden on the international, 20th century art/design map. In December 1947, Meriden became known once again as a site of design innovation, now with Modern art, via the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art and the organization of a Painting toward architecture exhibition which opened at Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum and later travelled to venues in 27 venues across the United States (1947–52). Substantial national media coverage reported on the exhibition. Painting toward architecture is considered one of the important art-design-architecture crossover exhibitions of the 20th century, tabling European influences for usage in the Post-World War II United States. In the 1950s, the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art was privatized to "Mr & Mrs Burton Tremaine, Meriden, CT" and numerous artworks were lent to hundreds of exhibitions nationally and internationally into the 1970s with this designation.

In 1965, the Miller Company addition on Center Street was completed. The black-and-white Modernist facade was designed by influential American architect Philip Johnson.

On April 27, 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigned at city hall and the Latin American Society for the nomination of the Democratic Party for President of the United States.

1980s–present
In 1981, the Ku Klux Klan was present in Meriden, holding various rallies in the first half of the year. At these rallies, Connecticut State Police would protect the KKK from anti-KKK protestors. At a March 21, 1981, rally, where the KKK was showing support for a police officer who killed a Black person, protestors threw rocks at the KKK. Two protesters were injured.

In 1987, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation was founded by the noted art collector that partly worked in Meriden, before her death, with three focus areas: learning disabilities, the arts, and the environment. The offices were located in downtown Meriden. In c. 2010, the foundation offices were relocated to New Haven, near Yale University.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist have their mother house in Meriden, as do the Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist. The headquarters of Eastern Mountain Sports is located in Meriden.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62.5 km$2$), of which 23.8 square miles (61.5 km$2$) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km$2$), or 1.66%, is water.

Meriden is a showcase for a number of prominent peaks of the Metacomet Ridge, a mountainous trap rock ridgeline that stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. Notable peaks in Meriden include the Hanging Hills (West Peak, East Peak, South Mountain, and Cathole Mountain); Lamentation Mountain, Chauncey Peak, and Besek Mountain. Castle Craig, a city landmark for over a century, was constructed among the Hanging Hills in Hubbard Park.

The Quinnipiac River courses through the southwest quadrant of the city, known to area residents as "South Meriden", where it meanders through a gorge lined with several exposed sandstone and brownstone cliffs. Harbor Brook (originally named Pilgrim Harbor Brook) cuts through the town from the northeast to the southwest before emptying into Hanover Pond, an impoundment on the Quinnipiac River in South Meriden.

Principal communities

 * Meriden Center
 * South Meriden

Demographics
As of the 2010 census, there were 60,868 people in Meriden, with a population density of 2558 persons per square mile. There were 23,922 households (2009–2013). The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.10. Husband-wife households account for 41% of all households. The population under 5 years (2010) was 6.7%, under 18 years (2010) was 23.9%, and 65 years and over was 12.9%. The female population was 51.6% compared to the male population at 48.4% (2010).

The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 73.5% White, 9.7% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 10.7% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28.9% of the population. In 2009–2013, 9.7% of the population was foreign-born.

For 2009–2013, the median household income was $52,590. The per capita income for the city was $26,941. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $188,400. The home ownership rate was 61.8%. The high school graduation or higher rate was 83.6% (age 25+) and the bachelor's degree or higher rate was 19.1% (age 25+). 14.4% of people were below the poverty line.

Government
Until 1980, the city had a Mayor-Council ("strong mayor") structure. The last full-time strong mayor was Walter Evilia, a Republican and a former State Representative. Dana Miller was appointed the first city manager. The City Charter was last amended in 1994, giving the then largely ceremonial position of mayor more influence over city governance, including appointments to all boards and commissions and other positions within the appointing power of the City Council, as well as line-item veto over city budgets.

The current mayor, Kevin Scarpati, became the youngest popularly-elected mayor in the city's history, winning the 2015 election race by 78 votes against mayor Manny Santos, who had been the first Republican elected as mayor in nearly 30 years (the last being Walter Evilia). In 2018, Manny Santos ran an unsuccessful election for U.S. Congress in the 5th Congressional House District.

The city gained notoriety in government and political circles when in 2014, at the urging of newly elected mayor, Manny Santos, plaintiffs sued to remove appointees of boards and commissions and corporation counsel. Ultimately, the ruling by the state Supreme Court to vacate the appointments followed that of a lower court order. The appointments had been made by former mayor, Michael Rohde. In its ruling, the court noted, per the city charter, that the city council can appoint a corporation counsel, but only on the recommendation of the mayor, who at the time was Manny Santos.

Points of interest

 * Civil War monument (1873) in front of the Meriden City Hall. 158 men from Meriden who died in the war are listed.
 * Curtis Memorial Library (1903), which is an example of Neo-Classical architecture and on the National Register of Historic Places The building now houses the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center
 * Giuffrida Park offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation, with a variety of hiking trails and a lake.
 * Historical cemeteries: Meetinghouse Hill Burying Ground (end of Ann Street), Meriden's first burial ground used 1727–1771; and Broad Street Cemetery (402 Broad Street), the second burial ground first used in 1771, includes a Revolutionary War commemoration plaque
 * The Home National Bank building on Colony Street designed by the prominent, historical American architecture firm McKim, Mead & White
 * Hubbard Park, about 1800 acres, part of the Hanging Hills, including Castle Craig on the National Register of Historic Places
 * Meriden Main Post Office (1907), designed by James Knox Taylor on the National Register of Historic Places
 * The Miller Company addition on Center Street, with black-and-white Modernist facade designed by influential American architect Philip Johnson in 1965
 * Moses Andrews House (c. 1760), on the National Register of Historic Places
 * Old Traffic Tower
 * Red Bridge (c. 1890) on the National Register of Historic Places
 * Site of the former Jedediah Wilcox mansion (built 1870), 816 Broad Street. Demolished in the late 1960s, a parlor room from the mansion was saved and is exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
 * Solomon Goffe House (1711), on the National Register of Historic Places
 * Ted's Restaurant, known for its steamed cheeseburger, a modified version of the cheeseburger, invented in the early 1900s
 * Portions of the Mattabesett Trail and the Metacomet Trail, both part of the New England National Scenic Trail, pass through Meriden. Local trails are being developed as the Meriden Linear Trails. Two sections are complete – the 2006-opened Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail and the 2013-completed Hanover Pond Trail – both of which use the railbed of the abandoned Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad.
 * Meriden Mall
 * Gallery 53, 53 Colony Street, home of the Arts & Crafts Association of Meriden

Education

The Meriden Board of Education operates several public schools:

Public elementary schools (K–5)

 * John Barry
 * Benjamin Franklin
 * Nathan Hale
 * Hanover
 * Thomas Hooker
 * Casimir Pulaski
 * Israel Putnam
 * Roger Sherman

Middle schools (6–8)

 * Lincoln (public)
 * Washington (public)
 * Edison (public)

High schools

 * Francis T. Maloney (public)
 * Orville H. Platt (public)
 * H. C. Wilcox (CT technical high school system)

Other schools in the area include the Catholic high schools Xavier High School (boys) and Mercy High School (girls) in neighboring Middletown. The private schools Cheshire Academy and Choate Rosemary Hall are in adjacent Cheshire and Wallingford respectively.

The former St. Stanislaus Catholic K–8 School, established in 1897 by people who immigrated from Poland, closed in 2015.

Media
At one time The Meriden Daily Journal served as the community newspaper. Currently the Meriden Record Journal serves the communities of Meriden, Wallingford, Cheshire, and Southington and is located on South Broad Street by the Wallingford town line.

Highway
The city of Meriden is located on Interstate 91, which provides access to Hartford, Springfield, and New Haven. Interstate 691 provides access to Interstate 84 and connects to points west like Waterbury. The Wilbur Cross Parkway (Connecticut Route 15) travels in a southwestern direction connecting to towns and cities like Wallingford, New Haven, and towards New York City. The parkway becomes the Berlin Turnpike (also Connecticut Route 15) on the northern end of Meriden. U.S. Route 5 passes through the city as North and South Broad Street.

Railroad
Meriden Transit Center is located in downtown Meriden on the New Haven–Springfield Line, which runs between cities of New Haven and Springfield via Hartford. It is served by CT Rail Hartford Line commuter rail service, as well as Amtrak Hartford Line, Northeast Regional, Valley Flyer and Vermonter intercity rail service.

The Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad opened between Cromwell and Waterbury via Meriden in 1888–89. Passenger service west of Meriden to Waterbury ended in 1917, while Connecticut Company streetcars used the line between Meriden and Middletown until 1931. A portion of the line in Meriden remained in use for freight until 1976.

Bus
Beginning in 1784, Meriden had a stop on the New Haven-Hartford Stage Coach on Route 5 near the intersection of East Main Street. Years later, the same stop served as the bus stop for Greyhound and Peter Pan buses. Meriden had four daily departures to/from Hartford/Boston, and four daily departures to/from New Haven/New York daily from the 1970s through 2007, when intercity bus service ceased serving Meriden.

Meriden is linked to the Connecticut Transit System, Connecticut's extensive public transit bus network. Three bus lines loop throughout the city of Meriden once per hour. The "B" bus route departs the Meriden railroad station for the southern terminus of Kohls Plaza, connecting for New Haven; the "A" bus route departs the rail station for the northern terminus of Meriden Square with connections to New Britain and Hartford; and the east/west "C" bus travels along East Main and West Main Streets, with a handful of departures to Middletown and Waterbury.

Airports
Meriden Markham Municipal Airport is the city-owned airport, located 3 mi south of the city center on the border of South Meriden and Yalesville, and serves private and charter planes. Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks and Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) in East Haven are the closest commercial airports to Meriden.

Notable people
Since 1975, the Meriden Hall of Fame organization has issued recognitions. In the Meriden City Hall, plaques pay tribute to the inductees.

Arts and humanities

 * Beau Billingslea (born 1944), actor
 * Gary Burr (born 1952), American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre
 * Miguel Cardona (born 1975), educator, United States Secretary of Education
 * Tomie dePaola (1934–2020), author and illustrator of over 200 children's books
 * Jennifer DiNoia (born 1982), singer and stage actress
 * Isabella Doerfler (1883–1954), artist who worked for the Federal Arts Project
 * Philip Dunning (1889–1968), playwright and theatrical producer
 * Addie C. Strong Engle (1845–1926), author, publisher
 * Ben Homer songwriter, composer and arranger who composed the tune to the hit song Sentimental Journey
 * Rob Hyman (born 1950), rock musician and founding member of The Hooters
 * Joe Marinelli (1957) Actor
 * Conrad Henry Moehlman, professor of church history and author
 * Rosa Ponselle (1897–1981), acclaimed opera singer
 * Charlotte J. Sternberg (1920–2003), painter

Science and technology

 * Vincent Lamberti (1927–2014), lab researcher whose work resulted in 118 patents, most notably the development of Dove soap. He grew up in Meriden, later moving to Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Military

 * Kevin Lacz (born 1981), Former United States Navy SEAL who served two tours in the Iraq War. Also an actor, author, public speaker and physician assistant
 * Muriel Phillips (1921–2022), US Army nurse in World War II who served in Europe (Battle of the Bulge)
 * Joseph Pierce (1842-1916), Union Army corporal who was born in China and fought in the Civil War
 * David Pekoske (born 1955) Recipient of Homeland Security Distinguished Service medal

Business

 * William Yale, tin ware merchant, largest manufacturer in Meriden in the early 19th century

Politics

 * Levi Yale, abolitionist, postmaster, and justice of the peace

Sports

 * John Jenkins (born 1989), National Football League defensive tackle (Miami Dolphins; college football: University of Georgia; Maloney High School, Meriden)
 * Kid Kaplan (1901–1970), world champion featherweight boxer
 * Al Niemiec (1911–1995), Major League Baseball player
 * Gary Waslewski (born 1941), Major League Baseball player (1967–1972)

In popular culture

 * A season 5 episode of the Discovery Channel series A Haunting, called The Uninvited, takes place in Meriden in 2007.
 * The 1989 Robert De Niro starring film Jacknife, which was shot in Meriden. Several town sites are seen throughout the film, including Castle Craig at Hubbard Park, a historic house on Linsley Avenue, as well as film locations in the greater region.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Meriden, Connecticut


text:
Naugatuck, Connecticut

Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, had a population of 31,519 as of the 2020 Census.

The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, Straitsville on the southeast (along Route 63), and Millville on the west (along Rubber Avenue).

History
The town of Naugatuck was occupied by settlers as early as 1702. Samuel Hickox (1669–1713) is credited with being Naugatuck's first settler. He established a fulling mill on Fulling Mill Brook in Naugatuck in 1709. The locality was called Judds Meadow until 1752, when it was renamed Salem Bridge.

In 1844, parts of Waterbury, Bethany, and Oxford incorporated to form the town of Naugatuck.

The industrial borough of Naugatuck established in 1893 and became coextensive with the town in 1895.

As the Industrial Revolution commenced, Naugatuck was transformed into a mill town like its neighbors in the Naugatuck River Valley.

Rubber was the chief manufactured product. Charles Goodyear worked at his brother's rubber company, the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company & Downtown Naugatuck, until the company was consolidated into the United States Rubber Company. The United States Rubber Company (renamed Uniroyal Inc. in 1961) was founded in Naugatuck in 1892 as a consolidation of nine rubber companies, and maintained their corporate headquarters there until the 1980s. Their footwear division manufactured Keds sneakers in Naugatuck from 1917 until the 1980s. U.S. Rubber also produced Naugahyde in a Naugatuck factory, but it is no longer produced there.

The United States Rubber Co. formed the Naugatuck Chemical Company on June 1, 1904, due to an increase in the price of sulfuric acid, which was needed for the process then used for reclaiming old rubber. The company was soon in the forefront of the chemical industry in the United States. Naugatuck Chemical remained a subsidiary of the U.S. Rubber Co. until it gained independence as Uniroyal Chemical Co. They moved their operations to Middlebury, Connecticut in the 1970s.

The Risdon Manufacturing Company was established in Naugatuck around 1910 producing safety pins. Risdon became the manufacturer of packaging for cosmetics and sewing items such as pins, needles, snaps, and other accessories. It is now the Crown Risdon Co., headquartered in Watertown, Connecticut.

In the 1960s, Harold Barber founded H. Barber and Sons in the community. The company builds beach rakes for picking up debris and grooming beaches and claims to be the largest such business in the world.

Naugatuck was the home to Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company, the Hershey Foods division that produces Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars, until the Hershey Co. closed it in November 2007.

The normally peaceful Naugatuck River that flows through Naugatuck overflowed its banks on August 19, 1955, fed by over 10 in of rain from Hurricane Diane. The river cut a path of destruction that forever changed the face of Naugatuck.

Naugatuck High School has a storied football rivalry with the high school in Ansonia that is one of the longest in America. The two teams meet the morning of Thanksgiving Day, and the first meeting was in 1900. Ansonia is the long-term winner in the series. Naugatuck High School's mascot is the greyhound, and its colors are garnet and grey.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 16.5 square miles (42.6 km$2$), of which 16.4 square miles (42.4 km$2$) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km$2$), or 0.36%, is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,989 people, 11,829 households, and 8,292 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,890.9 PD/sqmi. There were 12,341 housing units at an average density of 753.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the borough was 91.76% White, 2.85% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.68% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.58% from other races, and 1.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.47% of the population.

Of the 11,829 households, 36.3% of them had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the borough, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $51,247, and the median income for a family was $59,286. Males had a median income of $42,103 versus $29,971 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $22,757. About 0.9% of families and 1.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.4% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Naugatuck is unique in Connecticut government for being the only consolidated town and borough. Every other borough in Connecticut is a special services district located within another town, the unit of Connecticut local government. Naugatuck has both a town clerk and a borough clerk managing official records, the same as Connecticut cities having two clerks: a town clerk and a city clerk.

As with most other Connecticut towns and cities, Naugatuck elect its officials in November of odd-numbered years.

Education
Naugatuck has a total of 5 public elementary schools (which include grades K–4), 2 public intermediate schools (grades 5–6), 1 public middle school (grades 7–8), and Naugatuck High School (grades 9–12). The high school has an overall enrollment of 1,267 students.

In 2013, an $81 million renovation for the high school took place and was completed by the fall of 2015 that brought the school up to date.

Transportation
The town has a Metro-North Railroad station (Naugatuck) along the Waterbury Branch of the New Haven Line. The principal highways through the town are Connecticut Route 63 (connecting to New Haven), Route 68 (leading to Durham), and the Route 8 expressway (for Waterbury, Derby, Torrington, and Bridgeport).

National Register of Historic Places

 * Bronson B. Tuttle House: 380 Church St., now headquarters of the Naugatuck Historical Society
 * Naugatuck Center Historic District: Roughly bounded by Fairview Avenue, Hillside Avenue, Terrace Avenue, Water Street and Pleasant View Street (added August 30, 1999)
 * Salem School: 124 Meadow St. (added December 3, 1983). Before construction of the first Naugatuck High School (now Hillside Intermediate School), high-school classes were held on the top floor of this building.
 * United States Post Office–Naugatuck Main: Church and Cedar streets (added February 21, 1986)

Notable people

 * Adrian, costume designer for Hollywood films such as The Wizard of Oz and the Broadway musical Camelot, for which he won a posthumous Tony Award
 * Michael Bergin, former Calvin Klein model and Baywatch actor; attended Naugatuck High School where he played baseball and basketball
 * Seth Bingham, organist and prolific composer
 * Emily Sophie Brown, one of the first women to serve in the Connecticut House of Representatives; resident of Naugatuck from 1910 to 1985
 * Billy Burke, professional golfer, winner of the 1931 U.S. Open
 * Ray Foley, baseball player who appeared in two games for the 1928 New York Giants
 * Charles Goodyear, first American to vulcanize rubber, lived in Naugatuck as a young man; his brother, Henry Goodyear, founded the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company in Naugatuck that became part of the United States Rubber Company in 1892
 * Shirley Grey, stage and movie actress during the 1920s and 1930s
 * Robert Harper, computer scientist
 * Mohamed Hrezi, runner who competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in the marathon
 * Frank "Spec" Shea, professional baseball player who pitched in 1947 World Series, nicknamed "The Naugatuck Nugget"

title: Naugatuck, Connecticut


text:
Orange, Connecticut

Orange is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 14,280 at the 2020 census. The town is governed by a Board of Selectmen.

History
The Paugusset and Algonquian people previously inhabited the region that is now Orange. In 1639, Rev. Peter Prudden purchased the land from the Native Americans for six coats, ten blankets, one kettle, twelve hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen knives and a dozen small mirrors. When originally settled by English colonists, Orange was the northern and eastern district of the now neighboring city of Milford; however, by 1822, the population of the area had grown to the point where residents desired to form their own separate community, thus forming the town of Orange.

The town is named after William III of England, who was Prince of Orange from birth. William is remembered for succeeding James II, deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James II had been considered a despot in Connecticut; he had famously and unsuccessfully commissioned Edmund Andros to seize Connecticut's Charter.

The town continued to grow throughout the 19th century. As early as 1848, a separation of Orange and West Haven was considered. It was not until 1921 that the two were officially separated by act of the Connecticut General Assembly and the new city of West Haven was formed out of the southeastern portion of Orange. This left Orange a largely rural town, as the bulk of the urbanized population was ceded to West Haven. In the post-war years, however, Orange began suburbanizing at a rapid pace.

Early roads through the area included the Boston Post Road (now U.S. Route 1) and the Derby Turnpike (now Connecticut Route 34). The turnpike was originally an Indian path. A toll road through Orange, from New Haven to Derby, was built starting in 1800. The toll house was located in Orange; tolls ended in 1887. The New Haven and Derby Railroad ran through Orange starting in 1871, with a station in Orange. At its peak, there were eleven trains per day in each direction along with one freight train. The advent of a trolley from New Haven to Derby (starting in 1904 and running until 1937) hastened the end to rail service (in 1925). Later, the construction of the Wilbur Cross Parkway and Interstate 95 brought highways through the area.

Orange station is a planned stop on Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line. Construction has been on hold since late 2017.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 17.4 square miles (45.1 km$2$), of which 17.2 square miles (44.5 km$2$) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km$2$), or 1.38%, is water. It is bordered on the south by Milford, on the east by West Haven, on the north by New Haven, Woodbridge and Derby and on the west by the Housatonic River and Shelton. The town limits include Wooster Island in the Housatonic River. The Wepawaug, Indian and Oyster rivers flow through the town.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,233 people, 4,739 households, and 3,895 families residing in the town. The population density was 770.0 PD/sqmi. There were 4,870 housing units at an average density of 283.4 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 94.08% White, 0.79% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 3.84% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population.

There were 4,739 households, out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.1% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.8% were non-families. 15.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $79,365, and the median income for a family was $88,583. Males had a median income of $58,946 versus $41,563 for females. The per capita income for the town was $36,471. About 2.1% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.4% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
Orange is the home of the North American headquarters of Pez candies. It is also the home of the headquarters of Avangrid and its subsidiaries Southern Connecticut Gas and The United Illuminating Company.

Tangoe, Inc., a provider of telecommunications management software, was formerly headquartered in Orange. Orange was the home of the US headquarters of Saab-Scania from 1972 until 1992 when the company relocated to Norcross, Georgia. From 1973–2010, Hubbell, a manufacturer of electrical products, was headquartered in Orange. In 2013, the University of New Haven purchased the former Hubbell headquarters buildings to redevelop as a graduate school campus. Yale's West Campus is located on the Orange-West Haven town line, on a 136-acre property that was formerly occupied by Bayer. In 2013, the Yale School of Nursing relocated to a building on the Yale West Campus that is mostly on the Orange side of the town border.

About three percent of the 17 square miles in the town is farmed. Field View Farm, one of the oldest businesses in the United States, has been operated by the Hine family since 1639. Orange was also formerly home to the Everett B. Clark Seed Company which eventually joined forces with other local seed growers to form Asgrow, now a division of Bayer.

The town has extensive retail development along the Boston Post Road corridor.

During the Cold War, Orange was a location for the permanent deployment of Nike missiles for the defense of Greater New Haven. The former site of the Nike missiles has since (from the late 1950s onward) been the home of the 103rd Air Control and Warning Squadron, later to become the 103rd Tactical Control Squadron and as it remains today the 103rd Air Control Squadron, a part of the Connecticut Air National Guard.

Events
Orange exhibits its rural roots at the annual Orange Country Fair. This event originally ran from 1898 to 1912 and was revived in 1975. It has continued since then featuring horse, oxen and tractor pulls as well as exhibits of animals, flowers, fruits, vegetables and baked goods. In early August, the town also promotes the Orange Volunteer Fireman's Carnival, which raises funds to support the volunteer fire department. Both events are held at the fairgrounds at High Plains Community Center near the center of town.

Orange was the site of one of the earliest computer camps, held at the local Amity Jr. High School in 1977.

In the early nineteenth century, settlers from Orange founded Orange, Ohio, then part of Connecticut's Western Reserve.

On March 15–17, 2009, Orange hosted the 2009 ConnJam, a Boy Scout event in which over 3,000 Boy Scouts from the Connecticut Yankee Council attended events and camped over the weekend.

On the National Register of Historic Places

 * Col. Asa Platt House – 2 Tyler City Road (added 2002). Federal style. Built in 1810, it is thought to have been built by David Hoadley, who built the Orange Congregational Church.  The nomination to the register, by Jan Cunningham, refers to "the elegant refinement of the interior", repeated elliptical forms in "the sunbursts of the mantelpieces; in the recessed panels below the parlor windows; in the capitals of the arches; and, in a wholly unexpected manner, in the high relief of the egg form that embellishes the simple mantel frieze in a second-floor chamber."
 * Henry F. Miller House – 30 Derby Ave. (added May 25, 2001). This international style house was completed in 1949 and featured at the time in the New Haven Register as "The House of Tomorrow".
 * Orange Center Historic District – Roughly Orange Center Road from Orange Cemetery to Nan Drive (added August 10, 1989). The district was originally established by the town January 13, 1978.  The Orange Congregational Church, designed by David Hoadley and built in 1810 on the town green, is a centerpiece of the district.  This Federal style church features a Palladian window, domed belfry and a painted black oval "window" on the front tower.  The district also includes the Stone-Otis House (Federal with Greek revival portico), built circa 1830 (now a museum) and The Academy, a schoolhouse built in 1878 with Stick style elements, including an elaborate gable screen, also now a museum.
 * William Andrew House (also known as Bryan-Andrew House) – 131 Old Tavern Road (added 2002). Built about 1750 for the Bryan family, early settlers in North Milford.  This area was known as "Bryan's Farms". The house includes a finely detailed front cornice, feather-edged sheathing and hand-split lath laboriously installed without nails. The house later served as housing for dairy farm employees and was ultimately bought by the Town of Orange in 2000 to be restored for use as a museum.

Library

 * Case Memorial Library

Sports
On August 18, 2005, the Orange Little League Girls softball team lost the championship game of the Little League Softball World Series to a team from McLean, Virginia.

Education
Orange is served by the regional Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge. Schools include:
 * Mary L. Tracy, for kindergarten and pre-school
 * Peck Place, first to sixth grades
 * Turkey Hill, first to sixth grades
 * Racebrook, first to sixth grades
 * Amity Middle School, seven to eighth grades (Orange campus)

Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy (formerly New Haven Hebrew Day School) is located here.

Notable people

 * Anni Albers (1899–1994), artist
 * Josef Albers (1888–1976), artist
 * William Atherton (born 1947), character actor, born and raised in Orange
 * Art Ceccarelli (1930–2012), baseball player
 * Christopher Collier (1930–2020), historian, professor and winner of the Newbery Medal
 * John J. DeGioia (born 1957), president of Georgetown University, raised in Orange
 * Kristen Griest (born 1989), Army Captain and one of the first two female graduates of the United States Army Ranger School
 * Henry Lee (born 1938), former resident, forensic scientist notable for his investigations of famous crimes
 * Lev Nussberg (born 1937), is a Russian avant garde painter. Nussberg is the founder of Russian Kinetic Art
 * Patrick B. O'Sullivan (1887–1978), U.S. Congressman and judge
 * Tage Thompson (born 1997), NHL Hockey player for the Buffalo Sabres.
 * Stephen Valiquette (born 1977), ice hockey goaltender

title: Orange, Connecticut