Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, United States. The population was 10,242 at the 2010 census, it contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, as well as the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybrook Manor. In 1644, shortly after establishing their first settlement at Governors Island, Dutch settlers established a short-lived factory at present day Old Saybrook; the trading post was named Kievits Hoek, or "Plover's Corner". Kievits Hoek was soon abandoned as the Dutch consolidated settlement at New Amsterdam. In 1633, Fort Goede Hoop, was established at present-day Hartford; the Pequot siege of Saybrook Fort took place from September 1636 to March 1637 during the Pequot War. Following the August 1636 Massachusetts Bay attack on Manisses and Western Niantic villages, the Pequot retaliation fell on the English at Saybrook. During an eight-month time period, the Pequot killed and wounded more than twenty English at and near Saybrook Fort; the English were attacked when they ventured far from their palisade, the Pequot destroyed English provisions and burned warehouses while they attempted to interrupt river traffic to Windsor and Hartford.
During the Siege and Battle of Saybrook Fort, the Pequot and English assessed each other's military capabilities, adjusted counter-tactics. Each side’s tactical modifications show a high degree of sophistication and ingenuity. Lessons learned during the siege of Saybrook escalated the Pequot War in Connecticut Colony, indirectly resulted in the attack and destruction of Mistick Fort; the Saybrook Colony was established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River, in what is today Old Saybrook and environs. John Winthrop, the Younger, son of the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was designated Governor by the group that claimed possession of the land via a deed of conveyance from Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick. Winthrop was aided by Captain Lion Gardiner; as the principals of the group who had planned to settle the colony were supporters of Oliver Cromwell and remained in England during the English Civil War, the colony struggled. In 1644, Fenwick agreed to merge the colony with the more vibrant Connecticut Colony a few miles up river, which purchased the land and fort from him.
The design of the Flag of Connecticut comes from the seal of Saybrook Colony. The seal was brought from England by Colonel George Fenwick, depicted 15 grapevines and a hand in the upper left corner with a scroll reading "Qui Transtulit Sustinet". In 1647 Major John Mason assumed command of Saybrook Fort which controlled the main trade and supply route to the upper river valley; the fort promptly and mysteriously burned to the ground but another improved fort was built nearby. He spent the next twelve years there and served as Commissioner of the United Colonies, as the chief military officer and peacekeeper. In 1659 all settlers from Saybrook under the leadership of Mason, purchased land from Uncas, sachem of the Mohegan tribe, removed to and founded Norwich, Connecticut. In 1661 there was a witch trial of Saybrook residents Margaret Jennings and her husband Nicholas, who were accused of causing the deaths of Marie Marvin and others; the trial resulted in a finding that they were witches, but there was not sufficient proof to execute them.
On October 9, 1701 the Collegiate School of Connecticut was chartered in Old Saybrook. It moved to New Haven in 1716, was renamed Yale University. Turtle - the first American submarine - was invented in Westbrook Connecticut in 1775 by David Bushnell; the General Assembly created the separate town of Old Saybrook from Saybrook in 1852. Old Saybrook was partitioned again in 1854. In early 2007, plans were established to return the former town hall building to its original use as a theater; the theatre was completed in 2009 and is named "Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center and Theater". The town has committed spending $2 million on the renovation, at least $810,000 is to be contributed by the state. A committee is attempting to raise another $2.5 million for the renovation and to add two wings, but for an endowment. The structure was built in 1901 and was a theater until the 1940s. After renovations, the theater will seat 250, Hepburn memorabilia will be displayed there. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.6 square miles, of which, 15.0 square miles of it is land and 6.6 square miles of it is water.
Chalker Beach Cornfield Point District of Fencove Borough of Fenwick District of Fenwood Indian Town Knollwood Old Saybrook Center District of Otter Cove Saybrook Manor North Cove Coastal Connecticut is the broad transition zone where so-called "subtropical indicator" plants and other broadleaf evergreens can be cultivated. Old Saybrook averages about 90 days annually with freeze - about the same as Baltimore, Maryland, or Albuquerque, NM, for example; as such, Southern Magnolias, Needle Palms, Windmill palm, Loblolly Pines, Crape Myrtles are grown in private and public gardens. As of the census of 2000, there were 10,367 people, 4,184 households, 2,920 families residing in the town; the population density was 689.5 people per square mile. There were 5,357 housing units at an average density of 356.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 95.75% White, 1.01% African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.72% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, 0.9
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under Mattabeseck, it received its present name in 1653. Middletown was included within Hartford County upon its creation on May 10, 1666. In 1784, the central settlement was incorporated as a city distinct from the town. Both were included within newly formed Middlesex County in May 1785. In 1923, the City of Middletown was consolidated with the Town. A busy sailing port and an industrial center, it is now residential with its downtown—mainly Main Street—serving as a popular retail and bar district somewhat close to Wesleyan University. Middletown was the county seat of Middlesex County from its creation in 1785 until the elimination of county government in 1960; as of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 47,648. Middletown, Connecticut is considered the southernmost city in the Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor Metropolitan Region, which features a combined metro population of 1.9 million.
The land on the western bank of the Connecticut River where Middletown now lies was home to the Mattabesett Native Americans. At the time the first European settlers arrived in the region, the Mattabesetts were a part of the group of tribes in the Connecticut Valley, under a single chief named Sowheag. Plans for the colonial settlement were drawn up by the General Court in 1646. On September 11, 1651, the General Court of Connecticut established the town of "Mattabesett". A couple of years in November of 1653, the settlement was renamed Middletown, it was chosen because the site was approximate halfway between Windsor and Saybrook on the Great River. Life was not easy among these early colonial Puritans. Law, was harsh among the Puritans; the Mattabesett and other tribes referred to the Mohegan as "destroyers of men." Sowheag hoped. They did not. Smallpox, afflicted the Mattabesett lessening their ability to resist and their cohesion as a tribe. Records show that, over time, Sowheag was forced to sell off most of the Mattabesett property to the local colonists.
Similar milieus of tragic interaction between Native Americans and colonists were common in 17th century New England. During the 18th century, Middletown became the largest and most prosperous settlement in Connecticut. By the time of the American Revolution, Middletown was a thriving port with one-third of its citizens involved in merchant and maritime activities. Slavery was part of the early economy of Middletown. Middletown merchant traders pushed for the clearance of the Saybrook Bar at the mouth of the Connecticut River, sought the creation of Middlesex County in 1785; the name'Middlesex' was chosen because the intention was to make Middletown the head of a long river port, much as London was at the head of its long river port in Middlesex County, England. The same persons established the Middlesex Turnpike to link all the settlements on the western side of the Connecticut, again with the intent of creating one long port; the port's decline began in the early 19th century with strained American-British relations and resulting trade restrictions, which led to the War of 1812.
The port never recovered. During this period, Middletown became a major center for firearms manufacturing. Numerous gun manufacturers in the area supplied the majority of pistols to the United States government during the War of 1812. After that war, the center of this business passed to Springfield, Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut. 1831 saw the establishment of Wesleyan University, to become one of the United States' leading liberal arts institutions. The institution replaced an earlier institution on the same site, Partridge's American Literary and Military Academy, which had moved to Norwich and became Norwich University; the two main buildings of the original campus were built by the people of Middletown with the intent of attracting an academic institution to the city. In 1841, Middletown established the state's first public high school, which at first enrolled all students from age nine through age sixteen who had previous attended district schools; the mid-19th century saw manufacturing replace trade as Middletown's economic mainstay.
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.
Manchester, Connecticut
Manchester is a town in Hartford County, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 58,241; the urban center of the town is the Manchester census-designated place, with a population of 30,577 at the 2010 census. The town is named in England. Manchester was settled by colonists around 1672 as a farming community, although at the time it was known just as Orford Parish; the many rivers and brooks provided power for paper and textile industries, the town evolved into an industrial center. The town of Hartford once included the land now occupied by the towns of Manchester, East Hartford, West Hartford. In 1783, East Hartford became a separate town, which included Manchester in its city limits until 1823; the Pitkin Glassworks operated from 1783-1830 as the first successful glassworks in Connecticut. The Pitkin Glassworks Ruin have been preserved by a historical society. In 1838, the Cheney family started. Manchester became an ideal industrial community; the mills, houses of the owners, homes of the workers are now part of the Cheney Brothers Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.
Of note are the E. E. Hilliard Company Woolen Mills. Founded ca. 1780 by Aaron Buckland and sold to the Hilliard family, the Hilliard Mills are the oldest woolen mill site in the country. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 27.7 square miles, of which 27.4 square miles is land and 0.27 square miles, or 1.00%, is water. The Manchester census-designated place consists of the urban center of the town and has a total area of 6.5 square miles, or about 23% of the town's total area. 6.4 square miles of the CDP is land, 0.039 square miles, or 0.56%, is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 54,740 people, 23,197 households, 14,010 families residing in the town; the population density was 2,008.2 people per square mile. There were 24,256 housing units at an average density of 889.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 82.77% White, 8.42% African American, 0.20% Native American, 3.15% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.12% from other races, 2.31% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.54% of the population. There were 23,197 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.6% were non-families. Of all households, 31.1% were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.93. In the town, the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $49,426, the median income for a family was $58,769. Males had a median income of $41,893 versus $32,562 for females; the per capita income for the town was $25,989. About 6.0% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.
Manchester is home to The Shoppes at Buckland Hills, The Plaza at Buckland Hills, the nearby strip mall, Buckland Plaza. Manchester is home to Shady Glen, a restaurant recognized by the James Beard Foundation in 2012 as an American classic. Manchester Memorial Hospital is located in the city; as home to the Cheney family silk mills, Manchester was a center of the American silk industry from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. Today, the Cheney Brothers Historic District showcases mills refurbished as apartments and includes nearby museums. Stemming from a heritage of Scottish culture, Manchester is home to the second-oldest continuously operating pipe band in the United States, the Manchester Pipe Band, a grade 2 pipe band, founded in 1914; the city is home to a nonprofit orchestra, the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, performing and educating youths in music in the community since 1960. Manchester hosts four museums; the Fire Museum is housed in a restored 1901 firehouse building.
The museum's firefighting equipment and memorabilia include leather fire buckets used in colonial times, a display showing the evolution of sprinkler systems, a horse-drawn hose wagon, a 1921 Ahrens-Fox fire pumper, a 105-foot 1911 water tower. The Lutz Children's Museum has participatory exhibits covering art, science and ethnology; the museum's permanent collection includes small live animals. The Old Manchester Museum, focusing on local history, is operated by the Manchester Historical Society. Permanent exhibits include examples of Cheney silk, Pitkin glass, Spencer Repeating Rifles; the Cheney Homestead Museum is an eighteenth-century house of the founders of the Cheney Brothers Silk Company. On exhibit are examples of period furniture and artwork. On site is the one-room Keeney Schoolhouse dating from 1751. Wickham Park, a non-profit private foundation, is located on Manchester and East Hartford property; the 53-acre Oak Grove Nature Center has wildlife habitats. Case Mountain Recreational Area, located in the less populated southeast corner of Manchester, is popular for hiking, mountain biking, has a great view of the Hartford skyline to the west.
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Plainville, Connecticut
Plainville is a town in Hartford County, United States. The population was 17,716 at the 2010 census. Plainville first was inhabited by Europeans around 1650. By the 1660s the land was incorporated as land for nearby Farmington. In the year 1869, it separated from Farmington due to the distance of the town center and the growth of Plainville downtown due to the installation of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the Hartford and Fishkill Railroad. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.3 square kilometres, of which 9.7 square miles is land and 0.077 square mile (0.2 km2, or 0.72%, is water. The east side of the town is bordered by two prominent peaks of the Metacomet Ridge: Pinnacle Rock and Bradley Mountain; the 51-mile Metacomet Trail traverses those peaks. As of the census of 2000, there were 17,328 people, 7,385 households, 4,645 families residing in the town; the population density was 1,776.0 people per square mile. There were 7,707 housing units at an average density of 789.9 per square mile.
The racial makeup of the town was 93.52% White, 2.25% African American, 0.17% Native American, 1.67% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.19% from other races, 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.57% of the population. There were 7,385 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.1% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.93. In the town, the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $48,136, the median income for a family was $60,586.
Males had a median income of $41,541 versus $31,281 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,257. About 4.2% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.2% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over. Companies and organizations headquartered in Plainville include Carling Technologies, Connecticut Tool & Manufacturing, GE Industrial Solutions, Gems Sensors & Controls, Manafort Brothers, CWPM, Mott Corporation, Tilcon Connecticut, Wheeler Clinic The Town of Plainville is one of the only municipalities to own its own airport, Robertson Field. Plainville holds an annual Hot Air Balloon Festival at the end of August at Norton Park, gathering many of the townspeople together for fun-filled nights of games and fireworks; the event is sponsored by the Plainville Fire Company. However, wanting to improve the soccer fields with an irrigation system at Norton Park, the Plainville Town Council was planning to discontinue the Balloon Festival due to the fire trucks parking on the soccer fields.
However, this did not pass, the festival continues to operate annually. Plainville has been something of a minor transportation hub. In the nineteenth century, Plainville was served by the Farmington Canal, it sits on the intersection of two rail lines, one running north from New Haven and the other running east-west between Waterbury and Berlin. Plainville is the home of Robertson Field, the oldest private airport in Connecticut. Plainville is run by a Town Manager/Town Council form of government. Robert Lee is the current town manager; the Town Council comprises seven members elected every two years. The Municipal Center is located at 1 Central Square near the center of town. Plainville has three elementary schools: Louis Toffolon School, Frank T. Wheeler School, Linden Street School. There is one middle school, the Middle School of Plainville, which serves grades 6 to 8; the middle school adopts the same mascot and colors as the town high school. Plainville High School is the only town high school.
The school mascot is the Blue Devil, the colors are blue and white, same as nearby Central Connecticut State University. The baseball team has a rich tradition, with another state title won in 2012. John Bello and former CEO of SoBe Beverages. Anthony Fantano, Internet's Busiest Music Nerd/YouTube personality "The Needle Drop" Niko Koutouvides, Former NFL Linebacker John Harper Trumbull was an American politician who served as the 70th Governor of Connecticut. Re-elected twice. Town of Plainville official website Plainville Community Schools
Mansfield, Connecticut
Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, United States. The population was 26,543 at the 2010 census. Mansfield was incorporated in October 1702 in Hartford County; the community was named after the original owner of the town site. When Windham County was formed on 12 May 1726, Mansfield became part of that county. A century at a town meeting on 3 April 1826, selectmen voted to ask the General Assembly to annex Mansfield to Tolland County; that occurred the following year. The town of Mansfield contains the community of Storrs, home to the main campus of the University of Connecticut and the associated Connecticut Repertory Theatre; the first silk mill in the United States was constructed in Mansfield and financed by pilgrim descendent, William Fisk. The town, along with neighboring Willimantic, played an important role in the manufacture of thread and other textiles. Though nothing but foundation remains of the mill, Mansfield has held onto several other historic landmarks. A intact gristmill, dating to 1835, the Gurleyville Gristmill is the only one of its kind in Connecticut.
Built on the Fenton River, this stone grist mill remains intact with the original equipment. There are tours available May through October; the adjacent miller's house is the birthplace of former CT governor Wilbur L. Cross. More recent yet rare nonetheless, the Mansfield Drive-in, a drive-in movie theater, Lucky Strike Lanes, a duckpin bowling alley, are among the last of their breed in the nation; the Mansfield Training School and Hospital, situated on more than 1,000 acres and encompassing 85 buildings, was operated by the Connecticut Department of Mental Retardation until its closure, after legal challenges, in 1993. Four years the former director and a once staunch advocate of the school declared, "The Mansfield Training School is closed: the swamp has been drained." Since the site has been allowed to deteriorate, though the University of Connecticut has been finding uses for and fixing up many of the buildings. The school, with its eerie overturned wheelchairs and neo-classical hospital, remains a magnet for adventurous locals, the police, amateur photographers.
Located directly across U. S. Route 44 from the Mansfield Training School is the Donald T. Bergin Correctional Institution, which closed in August 2011; the Level 2 facility housed 1,000 inmates. It served as a pre-release center for inmates who were approaching the end of their sentence or a period of supervised community placement. Development has increased in recent years, leading to the imposition of a temporary moratorium on new subdivisions, as well as additional land acquisition. Mansfield enjoys a moderate amount of protected open space, notably Mansfield Hollow State Park, eight town parks and preserves, numerous Joshua's Trust properties, in addition to university holdings. Three large farms operate within Mansfield, including Mountain Dairy, producing and processing milk under the stewardship of one family since 1871. In contrast to many municipalities, Mansfield is pursuing a program of smart growth through the construction of a livable downtown. On the Northeastern edge of town, the playwright and producer Willard Mack owned a large estate.
Mack permitted his other various friends and associates to board and breed their thoroughbreds on his property. One of these, boxing legend Jack Dempsey, made continual use of these facilities until Mack's death in the mid-1930s. During Mack's stewardship of this property, the famous Arabian Stallion "Broomstick", sire of numerous Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winning thoroughbreds, was a temporary resident; the property has since been maintained by private owners. U. S. Route 6 passes through the southern part of Mansfield as an isolated stretch of divided highway, part of the planned but never realized interstate between Hartford and Providence, Rhode Island. Construction began midway between Providence, far removed from population centers; when opposition arose and complications developed, the project was shelved, with only stranded parts of the highway completed. Free community wireless Internet access is available at the Mansfield Community Center, the Mansfield Town Hall, the Mansfield Senior Center, the Mansfield Public Library.
Farwell Barn, Horsebarn Hill Rd. Mansfield Center Cemetery, jct. of Storrs and Cemetery Rds. Mansfield Center Historic District, Storrs Rd. Mansfield Hollow Historic District, 86-127 Mansfield Hollow Rd. Mansfield Training School and Hospital, jct. of Route 32 & U. S. Route 44 University of Connecticut Historic District-Connecticut Agricultural School Route 195/Storrs Rd. at North Eagleville Rd. Elijah Porter Barrows and writer. Jearl Miles Clark, Olympic runner who won gold in 1996 and 2000. Wilbur Lucius Cross, well-known literary critic and Governor of Connecticut from 1931 to 1939. Rivers Cuomo, lead singer/guitarist of the alternative rock band Weezer. Charles Davis, Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court Benjamin Hanks, instrument maker, first maker of bronze cannons and church bells in America. Wally Lamb, author of She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True. Dave Lindorff investigative columnist. George S. Moulton, Connecticut State Representative and State Senator. Charles Emory Smith, Postmaster General, US Ambassador to Russia and newspaper editor.
Peter Tork and musician, best known as a me
Enfield, Connecticut
Enfield is a town in Hartford County, United States. The population was 44,654 at the 2010 census, it is bordered by Longmeadow and East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, to the north, Somers to the east, East Windsor and Ellington to the south, the Connecticut River to the west. Enfield was inhabited by the Pocomtuc tribe, contained their two villages of Scitico and Nameroke. Though land grants were first granted in 1674, no one attempted to settle what is known as Enfield until 1679 when the Pease Brothers of Robert and John II, settlers from Salem, Massachusetts came in to settle the fertile lands, they dug a shelter into a bill and camped there for the winter until their families came to help them build houses. In 1675, a sawmill owned by William Pynchon II was burned in the wake of King Phillip's War; the first town meeting was held on August 14, 1679 and a committee of five were appointed by men from Springfield as it was the parent town at the time. Enfield was incorporated in Massachusetts on May 1683 as the Freshwater Plantation.
The same day as the town of Stow, making them the 52nd/53rd towns in the Colony. The namesake is the Freshwater Brook. Five years on March 16, 1688, the townspeople purchased Enfield from a Podunk named Notatuck for 25 pounds Sterling, it is unclear what claim Notatuck had to the land, or whether he was selling the land or the rights to use it. Shortly around 1700, the town changed its name to Enfield after Enfield Town in Middlesex, to go with the other fields in the area such as Springfield and Suffield. In 1734, the eastern part of town separated into the town of Somers. In 1749, following the settlement of a lawsuit in which it was determined that a surveyor's error placed a section of present-day Hartford County within the boundaries of Massachusetts, the town seceded and became part of Connecticut. Jonathan Edwards preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", in Enfield, it was part of the Great Awakening revival that struck New England in the mid-18th century and spread throughout Western North American civilization.
The modern town of Enfield was formed through the merging of Enfield and Hazardville, named for Colonel Augustus George Hazard, whose company manufactured gunpowder in the Powder Hollow area of the town from the 1830s to the 1910s. In the 1989 film Glory, boxes of gunpowder can be seen with the words Enfield, CT printed on the sides. In an episode in the 1970s police drama Hawaii Five-O, Jack Lord's character Steve McGarrett traces explosives back to "The Hazard Gunpowder Company- Enfield, CT"; the capacity of the mill at the time of the Civil War was 1,200 pounds per day. Over 60 people died in explosions in Powder Hollow during the years when gunpowder was manufactured there; the mill blew up several times, but was set up so that if one building blew up, the rest would not follow in a chain reaction. The ruins of these buildings and the dams are open to the public. Powder Hollow is now home to baseball fields and hiking trails. King's Island in the Connecticut River known as Terry Island, was the location of pivotal meetings of Adventist Christians in 1872 and 1873.
In 1972, Asnuntuck Community College was established in Enfield as the twelfth institution in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. Classes began in 1972 with an initial enrollment of 251, 12 Associate in Science degrees and 20 Associate of Art degrees were awarded to the first graduating class in 1974. There are five sections of the town of Enfield. Enfield Village, Hazardville and Sherwood Village. In 1793, a historic Shaker village, Enfield Shaker village, one of nineteen scattered from Maine to Kentucky, was established in the town; the Utopian religious sect practiced celibate, communal living, is today renowned for its simple architecture and furniture. Membership dwindled and the village disbanded; the property has since been redeveloped by the Enfield Correctional Institution, still located on Shaker Road. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 34.2 square miles, of which 33.3 square miles is land and 0.93 square miles, or 2.76%, is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,212 people, 16,418 households, 11,394 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,354.3 people per square mile. There were 17,043 housing units at an average density of 510.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 89.74% White, 5.61% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.34% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.57% from other races, 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.74% of the population. There were 16,418 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.6% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.04. In the town, the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 34.2% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $67,402, the median income for a family was $77,554. Males had
United States
I-291 (serves as the northeastern portion of the partial beltway)
I-384 (spur route into eastern Connecticut)
I-691 (originally a connection to Willimantic)
Route 2
Route 3 (initially part of the larger I-491 plan)
Route 9 (serves as the southwestern portion of the partial beltway)
Route 15
Route 72
