Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 12,498, it is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies 1/3 of the town. Windsor Locks is the site of the New England Air Museum. Located beside the Connecticut River and equidistant from the densely populated cities of Springfield and Hartford, Windsor Locks is named for a set of canal locks that opened in 1829. Windsor Locks is situated just south of the first large falls in the Connecticut River, the Enfield Falls, the northernmost point that seagoing vessels can reach on the Connecticut River before transferring to smaller ships; the Enfield Falls Canal circumvents its nearby shallows. Part of Windsor, Windsor Locks broke off into its own settlement in 1854 after the thriving Enfield Locks going around Enfield Falls which opened in 1829; the Bradley International Airport opened as a military base in 1940, opened to civilian use in 1947.
In 1967 the town boundary was somewhat altered due to the opening of the Bradley Connector. The town boundary between Windsor Locks and Windsor changed several times and was altered with Windsor Locks being on the westbound side and the Windsor side on the eastbound side with the border on the median; the 1965 Little League World Series winning team is from Windsor Locks. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.4 square miles, of which 9.0 square miles is land and 0.35 square miles, or 3.65%, is water. Windsor Locks has a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summer days to cold sometimes frigid winter nights. Average January temperature high is 36 °F and a low of 18 °F temps can reach zero degrees or below 4 nights a year. Summer in Windsor Locks can be hot with the average July temperature of 87 °F at daytime and 63 °F at nighttime. Temperatures at or above 90 can occur 15 to 25 days per year; the hottest temperature at Windsor Locks was 103 °F on July 22, 2011, the coldest recorded temperature was -26 °F on January 22, 1961.
Average rainfall in Windsor Locks is 46.27 inches. As of the census of 2000, there are 12,043 people, 4,935 households, 3,306 families residing in the town; the population density is 1,333.8 inhabitants per square mile. There are 5,101 housing units at an average density of 218.1 persons/km². The racial makeup of the town is 92.47% White, 2.67% African American, 0.12% Native American, 2.57% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, 1.42% from two or more races. 2.22% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 4,935 households out of which 29.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% are married couples living together, 11.7% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, 33.0% are non-families. 27.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.3% have someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.43 and the average family size is 2.97. In the town, the population is spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, 16.5% who are 65 years of age or older.
The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females, there are 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.1 males. The median income for a household in the town is $48,837, the median income for a family is $59,054. Males have a median income of $41,179 versus $33,641 for females; the per capita income for the town is $23,079. 4.4% of the population and 3.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 4.5% are under the age of 18 and 4.7% are 65 or older. Until 2000, Windsor Locks was home to the oldest corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dexter Corporation. Established in 1767 as C. H. Dexter and Sons, the company grew from a family-owned saw and grist mill and evolved into a multi-national producer of long fiber papers and chemical laminates. In its 233 years of operation, the company grew from manufacturing tissues, toilet paper, tea bags to marketing more specialized products like medical garments and industrial finishes.
Faced with a proposed buyout by International Specialty Products Incorporated in 2000, the Dexter Corporation separated its three divisions and sold them off to avoid a hostile takeover. The Life Sciences division merged with Invitrogen Corporation; the Specialty Polymers division was sold in part to AkzoNobel, the remaining businesses merged with Loctite Corporation. The third division, Dexter Nonwoven Materials, located on the company's original site in Windsor Locks, was sold to the Finnish Ahlstrom Paper Group; the physical plant continues to operate, with offices located nearby at 2 Elm Street. In 2011, the Home and Personal Nonwovens division of Ahlstrom Windsor Locks was sold to Suominen Corporation headquartered in Finland. In 1952 Hamilton Standard opened its aircraft propeller plant in Windsor Locks. In 1999, Hamilton Standard merged with Sundstrand Corporation to become Hamilton Sundstrand, headquartered in Windsor Locks. Hamilton Sundstrand is now UTC Aerospace. On 19 September 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston ceased operations at Windsor Locks and moved them to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Primary and secondary education falls under the oversight of "Windsor Locks Public Schools". The following places are in the National Register of Historic Places: Dave Pinney House and Barn — 58 West St. Enfield Falls Canal — along Connecticut River from Windsor Locks north to Suffiel
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171, it is the 10th largest municipality in Connecticut, the largest that functions as a town. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other financial service firms. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut as well as in the six-state region of New England, it is 40 to 50 minutes by train from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Greenwich 12th on its list of the "100 Best Places to Live in the United States" in 2005; the town is named after a Royal borough of London in the United Kingdom. The town of Greenwich was settled in 1640. One of the founders was Elizabeth Fones Winthrop, daughter-in-law of John Winthrop and Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. What is now called Greenwich Point was known for much of the area's early history as "Elizabeth's Neck" in recognition of Elizabeth Fones and their 1640 purchase of the Point and much of the area now known as Old Greenwich.
Greenwich was declared a township by the General Assembly in Hartford on May 11, 1665. During the American Revolution, General Israel Putnam made a daring escape from the British on February 26, 1779. Although British forces pillaged the town, Putnam was able to warn Stamford. In 1974, Gulliver's Restaurant and Bar, on the border of Greenwich and Port Chester, killing 24 young people. In 1983, the Mianus River Bridge, which carries traffic on Interstate 95 over an estuary, resulting in the death of three people. For many years, Greenwich Point, was open only to their guests. However, a lawyer sued, saying his rights to freedom of assembly were threatened because he was not allowed to go there; the lower courts disagreed, but the Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed, Greenwich was forced to amend its beach access policy to all four beaches in 2001. These beaches include Greenwich Point Park, Island Beach, Great Captain Island, Byram Park. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.2 square miles, of which 47.8 square miles is land and 19.4 square miles, or 28.88%, is water.
In terms of area, Greenwich is twice the size of Manhattan. The town is bordered to the west and north by Westchester County, New York, to the east by the city of Stamford, faces the Village of Bayville to the south across the Long Island Sound. If you travel far enough east from Greenwich, you hit Long Island at its extremity. Therefore, Greenwich is in a geographically exceptional position, being in a sense surrounded by New York; the Census Bureau recognizes seven CDPs within the town: Byram, Cos Cob, Old Greenwich, Riverside, a "Greenwich" CDP covering a portion of town. The USPS lists separate zip codes for Greenwich, Cos Cob, Old Greenwich, Riverside. Additionally, Greenwich is further divided into several smaller, unofficial neighborhoods. Longtime residents have a fierce loyalty and superior opinion of their particular neighborhood; the Hispanic population is concentrated in the southwestern corner of the town. In 2011, numerous neighborhoods were voted by the Business Insider as being the richest neighborhoods in America.
Byram, Cos Cob, Old Greenwich, Riverside each have their own ZIP Codes and with the exception of Byram, each has a Metro North station. American Lane is separated by Interstate 684 from the entire rest of Connecticut and can be reached only from New York State. Round Hill, with an elevation of more than 550 feet, was a lookout point for the Continental Army during the American Revolution; the Manhattan skyline is visible from the top of the hill. Bush-Holley House Putnam Cottage Calf Island, a 29-acre island about 3,000 feet from the Byram shore in Greenwich, is open for visitors, although as of the summer of 2006 it was getting few of them. More than half of the island is a bird sanctuary off-limits to members of the public without permission to visit; the island is available for overnight stays for those with permits, otherwise the east side is open from dawn till dusk. Great Captain Island is off the coast of Greenwich, is the southernmost point in Connecticut. There is a Coast Guard lighthouse on this island, as well as a designated area as a bird sanctuary.
The lighthouse is a Skeletal Tower. Island Beach or "Little Captain Island" once was the venue for the town's annual Island Beach Day. Ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his dummy, Jerry Mahoney, once came for a show, on another occasion the National Guard let adults and children fire machine guns into the water, according to an article in the Greenwich Time. Island Beach has changed over the decades; the bathhouse once on the island's eastern shore is gone, erosion is eating away at the beaches themselves. Greenwich experiences a humid continental climate. During winter storms, it is common for the area north of the Merritt Parkway to receive heavier snowfall than the area closer to the coast, due to the moderating influence of Long Island Sound; as of the census of 2000, there were 61,101 people, 23,230 households, 16,237 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,277.6 people per square mile. There were 24,511 housing units at an average density of 512.5 per square mile. As of the census of 2013, the racial makeup of the town was 80.90%
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960; the city is nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", as it hosts many insurance company headquarters and is the region's major industry. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. Census estimates since the 2010 United States Census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford. Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States, it is home to the nation's oldest public art museum, the oldest publicly funded park, the oldest continuously published newspaper, the second-oldest secondary school. It is home to the Mark Twain House, where the author wrote his most famous works and raised his family, among other significant sites. Mark Twain wrote in 1868, "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see this is the chief." Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades following the American Civil War.
Today, it is one of the poorest cities in the nation, with 3 out of every 10 families living below the poverty threshold. In sharp contrast, the Greater Hartford metropolitan area is ranked 32nd of 318 metropolitan areas in total economic production and 8th out of 280 metropolitan statistical areas in per capita income. Hartford coordinates certain Hartford-Springfield regional development matters through the Knowledge Corridor economic partnership. Various tribes lived around Hartford, all part of the Algonquin people; these included the Podunks east of the Connecticut River. The first Europeans known to have explored the area were the Dutch under Adriaen Block, who sailed up the Connecticut in 1614. Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam returned in 1623 with a mission to establish a trading post and fortify the area for the Dutch West India Company; the original site was located on the south bank of the Park River in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. This fort was called Fort Hoop or the "House of Hope."
In 1633, Jacob Van Curler formally bought the land around Fort Hoop from the Pequot chief for a small sum. It was home to a couple families and a few dozen soldiers; the fort was abandoned by 1654. The Dutch outpost and the tiny contingent of Dutch soldiers who were stationed there did little to check the English migration, the Dutch soon realized that they were vastly outnumbered; the House of Hope remained an outpost, but it was swallowed up by waves of English settlers. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant met with English representatives to negotiate a permanent boundary between the Dutch and English colonies; the English began to arrive in 1636, settling upstream from Fort Hoop near the present-day Downtown and Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhoods. Puritan pastors Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone, along with Governor John Haynes, led 100 settlers with 130 head of cattle in a trek from Newtown in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and started their settlement just north of the Dutch fort; the settlement was called Newtown, but it was changed to Hartford in 1637 in honor of Stone's hometown of Hertford, England.
The etymology of Hartford is the ford where harts cross, or "deer crossing." The Seal of the City of Hartford features a male deer. The fledgling colony along the Connecticut River was outside of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's charter and had to determine how it was to be governed. Therefore, Hooker delivered a sermon that inspired the writing of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a document ratified January 14, 1639 which invested the people with the authority to govern, rather than ceding such authority to a higher power. Historians suggest that Hooker's conception of self-rule embodied in the Fundamental Orders inspired the Connecticut Constitution, the U. S. Constitution. Today, one of Connecticut's nicknames is the "Constitution State."The original settlement area contained the site of the Charter Oak, an old white oak tree in which colonists hid Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662 to protect it from confiscation by an English governor-general. The state adopted the oak tree as the emblem on the Connecticut state quarter.
The Charter Oak Monument is located at the corner of Charter Oak Place, a historic street, Charter Oak Avenue. Throughout the 19th century, Hartford's residential population, economic productivity, cultural influence, concentration of political power continued to grow; the advance of the Industrial Revolution in Hartford in the mid-1800s made this city by late century one of the wealthiest per capita in United States. On December 15, 1814, delegates from the five New England states gathered at the Hartford Convention to discuss New England's possible secession from the United States. During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist activity, the most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers; the Reverend Lyman Beecher was an important Congregational minister known for his anti-slavery sermons. His daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Richard Blumenthal
Richard L. Blumenthal is an American attorney and politician who has served as a United States Senator from Connecticut since 2011, he is a member of the Democratic Party. He has been the state's senior senator since 2013 and is ranked as one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, with a net worth of over $100 million, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School, a private school in the Bronx. Blumenthal is a graduate of Harvard College, he studied for a year at Trinity College, Cambridge, in England before attending Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. While at Yale, he was a classmate of future President Bill Clinton and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. From 1970 to 1976, Blumenthal served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, where he attained the rank of sergeant. After college, Blumenthal served as administrative assistant and law clerk for several Washington, D.
C. figures. From 1977 to 1981, he was United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. In the early 1980s he worked in private law practice, including serving as volunteer counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987, when he was elected to the Connecticut Senate. He was elected Attorney General of Connecticut in 1990, served for twenty years. During this period he was speculated as a contender for Governor of Connecticut, but he never pursued the office. Blumenthal announced his 2010 run for U. S. Senate after incumbent Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd announced his retirement, he faced professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon in the 2010 election, winning by a 12-point margin with 55 percent of the vote. He was sworn in on January 5, 2011, took seats on the Senate Armed Services, he became Connecticut's senior senator after the retirement of Joe Lieberman in 2013. He won re-election in 2016 with 63.2% of the vote, becoming the first person to receive more than one million votes in a statewide election in Connecticut.
Blumenthal was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jane and Martin Blumenthal, the president of a commodities trading firm. His grandfather, Fred "Fritz" Rosenstock, raised cattle on his farm, where Blumenthal visited in his youth. Blumenthal’s father was a Jewish immigrant from Frankfurt, Germany who emigrated alone at 17. Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx before graduating from Harvard College with a A. B. degree magna cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. As an undergraduate, he was editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson. Blumenthal was a summer intern reporter for The Washington Post in the London Bureau. Blumenthal was selected for a Fiske Fellowship that allowed him to study at the University of Cambridge in England for one year after graduation from Harvard College. In 1973, Blumenthal received his J. D. degree from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. While at Yale, he was classmates with future President Bill Clinton and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
One of his co-editors on the Yale Law Journal was future United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. He was classmate of future supreme associate justice Clarence Thomas and radio host Michael Medved, his brother, David Blumenthal, is the President of the Commonwealth Fund. Blumenthal received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, obtaining first educational deferments, deferments based on his occupation. With part-time service in the reserves or National Guard regarded as an alternative for those wishing to avoid serving in Vietnam, in April 1970 Blumenthal enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, he served in units in Washington, D. C. and Connecticut from 1970 to 1976, attaining the rank of sergeant. During his 2010 Senate campaign, news reports that Blumenthal had claimed or implied that he'd served "in Vietnam" during the war created a controversy. Blumenthal denied having intentionally misled voters into believing he fought in Vietnam, but acknowledged having "misspoken" about his service record, apologized for remarks about his military service he said had not been "clear or precise".
Blumenthal served as administrative assistant to Sen. Abraham A. Ribicoff, as aide to Daniel P. Moynihan when Moynihan was Assistant to President Richard Nixon, as a law clerk Judge Jon O. Newman, U. S. District Court of the District of Connecticut, to Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. At age 31, he became United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, serving from 1977 to 1981, as the chief federal prosecutor of that state prosecuted many major cases involving drug traffickers, organized crime, white collar criminals, civil rights violators, consumer fraud, environmental pollution. In 1982, he married Cynthia Allison Malkin, daughter of real estate investor Peter L. Malkin and granddaughter of lawyer and philanthropist Lawrence Wien. Before he became Attorney General, Blumenthal was a partner in the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood, subsequently in the law firm of Silver, Golub & Sandak. In December 1982, while still at Cummings & Lockwood, he created and chaired the Citizens Crime Commission of Connecticut, a private, non-profit organization.
From 1981 to 1986, he was a volunteer counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In 1984, when he was 38, Blumenthal was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing the 145th district. In 1987, he won a special election to fill a vacancy in the 27th District
George Jepsen
George Christian Jepsen is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 24th Attorney General of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. Jepsen was a State Senator from Connecticut's 27th Senate District, representing Stamford and part of Darien, served in the Connecticut Senate from 1991 to 2003. During his time in the Senate, he served as Senate Majority Leader from 1997 to 2003. Prior to that, he served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991, representing part of Stamford in Connecticut's 148th House District. After leaving the State Senate, he became Chairman of the Connecticut State Democratic Party from 2003 to 2005. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth College, Jepsen earned his law degree from Harvard Law School with honors and earned a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government. To help pay for his education, he worked as a teaching fellow in constitutional law for former Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. Following graduation, Jepsen worked as staff counsel for the carpenter's union for Western Connecticut.
For nearly ten years, Jepsen negotiated contracts for wages and benefits, represented injured workers, ensured job safety, advocated for different bidding practices. In private practice, Jepsen worked at some of Connecticut's top law firms, his legal experience included work with the probate court, estate planning, representing small business in contract negotiations, government compliance, real estate transactions. He defended individuals in the criminal courts and served as counsel to clients in the civil courts. Jepsen worked on complex legal issues as part of a successful appellate team in a number of cases before the Connecticut Supreme Court. Jepsen served 16 years in the Connecticut General Assembly, first as State Representative from the 148th House District, as a State Senator from Connecticut's 27th Senate District, the last six as Majority Leader; as a legislator, Jepsen worked to pass laws to protect the environment, civil rights, legitimate businesses. He crafted laws that preserve open space, clean water, clean air, clean energy.
Jepsen helped pass laws improving gun safety, by ensuring passage of the assault weapons ban. He crafted laws that protect personal privacy and individual freedom, civil rights laws protecting the right to choose, the right to create a living will, supported the right to marry regardless of gender, he helped enact laws that reformed HMO and insurance practices, including requiring insurance companies to permit new mothers to stay in a hospital for more than 24 hours. He fought for laws to ensure fair elections and ethical government; as Senate Majority Leader, Jepsen fought for bills to protect Connecticut's natural assets. He co-authored the Open Space Trust Fund, an initiative that sets aside $10 million in funding for the purchase of open space and he championed legislation that encourages corporations to turn unused land into open space. Jepsen worked to pass legislation to clean up brownfields to revitalize blighted areas, including efforts to provide municipalities property tax flexibility on brownfield sites, expand state financial assistance to re-developers.
He ushered in tax credits to businesses that invested in redevelopment of contaminated properties anywhere in the state. Jepsen helped the passage of major legislation to replace Connecticut's "Sooty Six" power plants with cleaner plants that have lower emissions. "Sooty Six" was one of Connecticut's largest environmental debates. These six old coal-burning plants were contributing to Connecticut's unique air pollution problem and rise in asthma rates, he sought new funding to upgrade sewage treatment plants for cleaner rivers and a cleaner Long Island Sound. As Senate Majority Leader, Jepsen became a national leader against the National Rifle Association and for gun control, he helped pass landmark legislation prohibiting the sale or possession of assault weapons, mandating trigger locks, demanding tougher background checks. For his work, he was nationally recognized by the Million Mom March; as Senate Majority Leader, Jepsen led the effort that put the rights that women earned through Roe v. Wade into state law.
Both the National Organization for Women and NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut recognized him for his work. He further fought to ban sexual orientation discrimination, to strengthen hate crime laws, to expand Connecticut's living will laws. Jepsen supported health insurance reform to improve covered services for mental illness and emergency room conditions, he helped mandate that health insurers cover the costs of mammograms and birth control, helped pass legislation to outlaw "drive-thru" mastectomies and child-birth deliveries, so insurers cover at least a 48-hour hospital stay. Jepsen announced on January 6, 2010 that he would form an exploratory committee for Attorney General. On May 22, 2010 George Jepsen received the Democratic Party's endorsement for Attorney General. On July 12, 2010 George Jepsen announced he had qualified for public financing in the Citizens Election Program. On November 2, 2010, George Jepsen was elected as Attorney General of Connecticut Jepsen was reelected in 2014, defeating Republican challenger Kie Westby.
*Jepsen was listed on the A Connecticut Party line. *Jepsen was listed on the Working Families Party line. *Jepsen was listed on the Working Families Party line. Official website of Attorney General George Jepsen
West Hartford, Connecticut
West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, United States, 5 miles west of downtown Hartford. The population was 63,268 at the 2010 census; the town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or "The Center," and is centered on Farmington Avenue and South/North Main Street. West Hartford Center has been the community's main hub since the late 17th century. In 2008, Blue Back Square opened as a new addition to the central area, which includes a bookstore, a movie theater, two parking garages, various physician and medical offices, several restaurants. Incorporated as a town in 1854, West Hartford was a parish of Hartford, founded in 1672. Among the southernmost of the communities in the Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor metropolitan region, West Hartford is home to University of Hartford and the University of Saint Joseph. In 2010, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine listed West Hartford as one of the nation's "10 Great Cities for Raising Families" and ranked it #9 on its "10 Best Cities for the Next Decade" list.
In 2010, CNN Money ranked West Hartford the 55th best small city in America and Travelandleisure.com called it one of 10 "coolest" suburbs in the nation, the West Hartford Reservoir off Farmington Avenue "West Hartford's version of Central Park," noting the town's "vacation-worthy hot spots, with cutting-edge restaurants, great shopping, plenty of parking." According to archaeological evidence, the Wampanoag people used West Hartford as one of their winter camps. Fishing and hunting along the Connecticut River, the area of West Hartford offered the Wampanoag people a refuge from the cold winter wind and the river's severe spring flooding. In 1636 Reverend Thomas Hooker led a group of followers from what is now Cambridge, Massachusetts to the "Great River" and established the Hartford Colony; as the colony grew, additional land was needed. In 1672 the Proprietors of Hartford ordered. A total of "72 Long Lots" were laid out between today's Quaker Lane in the East and Mountain Road in the West.
The northern boundary was Bloomfield, the Southern, present day New Britain Avenue.. In the 1670s, the area was referred to as the "West Division" of Hartford; this remained the official name until 1806 when Connecticut General Assembly started referring to it as "the Society of West Hartford." It is believed that the first homesteader to West Hartford was Stephen Hosmer whose father was in Hooker's first group of Hartford settlers and who owned 300 acres just north of the present day Center. In 1679, Stephen Hosmer's father sent him to establish a sawmill on the property. Young Hosmer would go back to live in Hartford, but in his 1693 estate inventory, 310 acres in West Hartford along with a house and a sawmill are listed. For nearly a century the property would be handed down throughout the family. Evidence still remains of the Town's first industry, as Stephen Hosmer's mill pond and dam can still be found today on the westernmost side of North Main Street. By the time of the American Revolution, the once rugged wilderness had been clear and a new agricultural-based community had developed with a population of just over 1,000 residents and 3,000 sheep.
At its core was the parish meeting house. The First Congregational Meeting House was built around 1712. Now in its 5th building, the church stands proudly at what is now the southeast corner of Main Street and Farmington Avenue; as the focus of early religious and social life, the meeting house helped to provide this area with a name, a title that it still holds today – "The Center." Evidence in the Hartford Courant and in the 1790s census show that some of the more prosperous households relied on laborers and slaves for fieldwork and domestic help. The Sarah Whitman Hooker House still stands on New Britain Avenue. Evidence shows. One such slave, bought his freedom in 1775 to fight in the Revolutionary War. Slave for whom one of West Hartford's middle schools is named, Bristow bought his freedom from Thomas Hart Hooker in April 1775 as Hooker set off to fight in the Revolutionary War. Bristow continued to live with the family. Bristow became an agricultural expert and left his property to the Hookers' two children when he died.
He is the only known African American to be buried in West Hartford's Old Center Burial Yard. One of the first major industries to arise centered on the brick works. Extending from Hartford to Berlin is a sizable deposit of fine clay. In 1770, Ebenezer Faxon came from Massachusetts and settled in what would become the Elmwood section of West Hartford. There he established a pottery on South Road, it was Seth Goodwin, who helped to establish a pottery dynasty. Goodwin started his pottery works around 1798. For over a hundred years, the Goodwin name would be associated with West Hartford pottery. Producing utilitarian items such as jugs for the gin manufactured in local distilleries, to terra cotta designs and fine china, the Goodwin Company employed up to 75 people in its heyday; the Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company burned for the third time in 1908 and never recovered. In 1879 Edwin Arnold established the Trout Brook Feed Company. Ice from Trout Brook, a stream that runs through the middle of West Hartford, was harvested in the winter, sawn into blocks, placed into a series of ice houses through an escalator system.
Insulated in sawdust, the blocks of ice were used as refr
West Haven, Connecticut
West Haven is a city in New Haven County, United States. At the 2010 census, the population of the city was 55,564. Settled in 1648, West Haven was a part of the original New Haven Colony. In 1719, it became the separate parish of West Haven, but was still a part of New Haven until 1822. During the American Revolution, West Haven was the frequent launch and arrival point for raiding parties on both sides of the war. On July 5, 1779, the British came ashore in West Haven and East Haven. Thomas Painter, a teenaged militiaman watching for the approaching British ships while standing atop Savin Rock, is depicted on the city seal; the main commercial street, Campbell Avenue, is named for British Adjutant William Campbell, at the time an ensign in the Third Guards, who rescued the Reverend Noah Williston, the local Congregational minister and outspoken revolutionary, from being bayoneted by British and Hessian troopers, after he broke his leg trying to escape his captors. Campbell ordered the soldiers to help the minister back to the parsonage and had the regimental surgeon set his leg.
Campbell is credited with keeping the troops in reasonably good order during their march through the village and had two soldiers arrested after a local woman accused them of stealing her jewelry. Campbell was killed hours atop Allingtown Hill on his way to New Haven by a local farmer-turned defender. Campbell is buried in the Allingtown section of town off Prudden Street. Patriot victims of the invasion are buried in the Christ First Society Cemetery. A historical headstone marks Campbell's approximate gravesite and is maintained by the West Haven Historical Society. While West Haven again attempted to incorporate as its own town in 1784, that attempt failed due to the protests of neighboring Milford, which opposed North Milford becoming part of the new town. West Haven and North Milford tried again in 1787 with the same result; the two joined to become Orange. In 1921, West Haven split from Orange to become a separate town, it was incorporated as a city in 1961 and is known as "Connecticut's Youngest City", but it is one of the state's oldest settlements.
The Savin Rock section of West Haven was the site of the Savin Rock Amusement Park, which began in the late 19th century as a regionally renowned seaside resort. It evolved into a general amusement park in the 20th century and closed in the 1960s; the park ran along the west side of the New Haven Harbor beachfront. What followed was a 40 year struggle to stop Savin Rock's Redevelopment - approved by voters in 1963 and starting in 1966, it involved multiple referenda, petition drives, court cases, Connecticut Supreme Court decisions affecting the 40 acre area. Opposition began about 1971 soon after old Savin Rock had been torn down and the first project built, but ballooned in 1973 when Save Our Shore led a referendum to stop “the Great Wall of China”, an 800 foot 12 story apartment, proposed for a 10 acre parcel, blocking the shore view. A 1974 referendum to stop all development was organized by IMPACT, but was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1978; this led to a struggle for a Compromise Plan, initiated by Mayor Robert Johnson, brought to completion by action of the Concerned Citizens for Bradley Point, which petitioned the final holdout to the Plan, to which the Supreme Court had required all developers to agree for any significant change.
The Compromise was signed by all in May, 1979, but IMPACT continued to oppose it thru 1980. Thereafter, a committee sought public input and federal money, in July, 1984, the 20 acre Bradley Point Veterans Memorial Park opened. In 1987 and 1989, the city bought development rights of all the remaining parcels, part of which became the Old Grove Park and part included a former restaurant that became the Savin Rock Conference Center. In 1991, the Land Trust of West Haven, Inc. was founded, but it was not until 2007 that a Conservation Easement was signed, preserving all but the Conference Center, as open space forever - beautiful parks, with walks and bike path, along Connecticut’s longest public shoreline. Several restaurants remain as last reminders of the area including Jimmies, Turk's of Savin Rock, both for their seafood and split hot dogs and Mike's Apizza & Restaurant. West Haven has a mayor-council form of government. Nancy R. Rossi, the city's twelfth mayor, was elected in 2017, she is West Haven's first female mayor.
There are three independent fire districts served by the First Fire Taxation, West Shore and Allingtown Fire Districts. Over the years there have been unsuccessful efforts made to consolidate the fire districts, each of which levies its own tax rate. In 1986, West Haven observed the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. During the year-long celebrations, the mayor and council passed numerous resolutions to encourage community involvement, including naming the official ship of West Haven—the U. S. Navy destroyer USS Edson -- and the daylily. Public schools included curriculum on the Constitution from K-12, school children were released from class to participate in a Constitution Day parade up Campbell Avenue. In June 2014, the "Where Angels Play" playground opened next to Sea Bluff Beach in West Haven; the playground was built in honor of Charlotte Bacon, a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The playground includes some of her drawings. American Mills Web Shop, aka: East Coast Loose Leaf Company, Inc.
114-152 Boston Post Road aka: Orange Ave. West Haven Old West Haven High School — 278 Main St. (a
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Connecticut Constitutional Officers