Editing Brookfield, Connecticut (section)

==History==
[[File:Nutmeg Inn Postcard.jpg|left|thumb|A vintage postcard from the Nutmeg Inn]]
[[File:Brookfield Junction Depot.jpg|left|thumb|The rail depot of [[Brookfield Junction station|Brookfield Junction]]]]
{{Main|History of Brookfield, Connecticut}}
Early people who lived in Brookfield were subsistence farmers, gatherers, and hunters. The main food sources were corn, beans, squash and wild foods found in the rocky, heavily forested foothills of the Berkshire Mountains of Brookfield and New Milford. Such wild foods that were harvested were white oak acorns, American chestnuts, shag bark hickory nuts, may apples, beach nuts and Solomon's seal. The hunted animals that were taken<ref name="history"/> from the forest and rivers were deer, passenger pigeon, turkey, bass, trout, crawfish, squirrel, rabbit and others.<ref name="hist1">{{Cite web |title=Town Hall |url=http://www.brookfieldcthistory.org/page_Brookfield.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112154813/http://www.brookfieldcthistory.org/page_Brookfield.html#Newbury |archive-date=January 12, 2016 |access-date=April 25, 2024}}</ref> In the 18th century the community was called "Newbury", a name that came from the three towns from which its land was taken—New Milford, Newtown, and Danbury.<ref name="history">{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} Brookfield CT |url=https://www.brookfieldct.gov/our-town/pages/history |access-date=April 25, 2024 |website=www.brookfieldct.gov}}</ref>

As traveling to surrounding churches was difficult in winter, in 1752 the [[Connecticut General Assembly|General Assembly]] granted the community the right to worship in area homes from September through March. In 1754, the General Assembly granted permission for the Parish of Newbury to build its own meeting house and recruit its own minister. On September 28, 1757, the first Congregational Church building was dedicated. The Reverend Thomas Brooks was ordained as the first settled minister. When incorporated in 1778, the town's name was changed to Brookfield in honor of Brooks, who was still the minister.<ref name=history/>

Along the [[Still River (Housatonic River)|Still River]], mills were in operation as early as 1732 in an area that became known as the Iron Works District. Brookfield was a thriving town with iron furnaces, grist mills, sawmills, comb shops, carding and cotton mills, a paper mill, a knife factory, hat factories, stage-coach shops, lime kilns, harness shops and other plants in operation. The grist mill still stands, as the [[Brookfield Craft Center]]. The Iron Works Aqueduct Company, formed in 1837 to supply water from mountain springs to the Iron Works District, still supplies water as the Brookfield Water Company.<ref name=history/><ref name=hist1/>

Before 1912, the town had two train stations: one in the Iron Works District near the present Brookfield Market and a second, Junction Station, near the corner of Junction Road and Stony Hill Road.<ref name=history/>

The Danbury & Bethel Gas and Electric Company brought electricity to Brookfield in 1915.<ref name=history/> The [[.475 Wildey Magnum]] gun, later made famous in the 1985 [[Charles Bronson]] movie ''[[Death Wish 3]]'', was developed by Wildey J. Moore in Brookfield in the early 1970s (the factory has since moved to [[Warren, Connecticut]]).

In the early 1970s, the town was home to the headquarters of [[Lego]] USA.<ref name="lego">{{cite web|url=http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/lego-group/the_lego_history/1970|title=Lego History, 1970|access-date=October 9, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006145557/http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/lego-group/the_lego_history/1970|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Throughout the 1970s and late 20th century, Brookfield saw a massive influx in its population. This is attributed to New Yorkers who began relocating from the city to the suburbs. This created rapid real estate development in Brookfield, and turned Brookfield into a popular [[commuter town]] for those who work in and around New York City.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 25, 2013 |title=Trending: Where we've grown |url=https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Trending-Where-we-ve-grown-4461681.php |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=NewsTimes |language=en-US}}</ref> The top professions of residents today are in the fields of professional, scientific, and technical services, health care, and finance and insurance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Occupation statistics Brookfield, CT |url=http://www.city-data.com/work/work-Brookfield-Connecticut.html}}</ref> As of 2022, 88.7% of residents in the workforce hold white-collar jobs, and about 20% work remotely full-time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brookfield, CT Demographics |url=https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/CT/Brookfield-Demographics.html |access-date=2024-05-04}}</ref>