Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Prospect, Connecticut
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==History== It is believed that the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] who lived in the area now known as Prospect first arrived to the area between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. Little is known of their time living here, with only a few arrowheads, stone tools, and utensils being found in the town. What is known is that the town rested near the border zone of the [[Quinnipiac]] and [[Tunxis]] peoples, and it was known that the area served as a hunting and fishing ground for both tribes. There is no known evidence for any indigenous permanent settlement within the town prior to [[White people|white]] European settlers permanently occupying the town.<ref name="Guevin">{{cite book |last= Guevin |first= John |date= 1995|title=View From The Top: The Story of Prospect, Connecticut |publisher=Biographical Publishing Company |isbn=0963724037}}</ref>{{rp|17β21}} The portion of the town that was located in Waterbury also briefly had an [[Indian reservation|indigenous reservation]] of {{convert|50|acre|ha|abbr=on}} between 1731 and 1778. The reservation was located on today's Bronson road, and did not have a large population, with a total of four inhabitants in 1774.<ref>{{cite book |last= Anderson|first= Joseph |date= 1896|title= The Town and City of Waterbury, Connecticut from the Aboriginal Period to the Year Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-five |publisher= The Price & Lee Company |page=357 |isbn=0344540537}}</ref><ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|24}} The first land record inside the town comes from a 1694 land record of John Moss, Jr., who owned {{convert|90|acre|ha|abbr=on}} to {{convert|100|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of land on "ye Tenn Mile river alongside an irremovable hill."<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|29}} The land was then first surveyed in 1697, and divided into four tracts, starting from the Waterbury border, and advancing towards Cheshire in half-mile intervals. Several roads in the town today follow the tier lines as outlined in the original survey, and the old border between [[Wallingford, Connecticut|Wallingford]] and Waterbury is seen in the modern-day Straitsville road.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|30}} [[File:Harris Platt House Prospect CT.jpg|left|thumb|Harris Platt House, built {{circa|1803}}; the oldest standing building in Prospect]]The first European settlers in what would become the town of Prospect arrived in 1712, building homes in the "West Rocks" near the then boundary line of [[Waterbury, Connecticut|Waterbury]] and [[Cheshire, Connecticut|Cheshire]]. In 1775, citizens petitioned both towns to establish their own church, which was denied. It was in 1778 that a [[English Dissenters|separatist]] church was constructed, which gained the name Columbia church from its official title of "Society of Columbia." In 1797, through an act of the [[Connecticut General Assembly]], the Congregational Church was established, governed by the "Columbia Company," earning the territory the name Columbia Parish until its incorporation as a municipality in 1827.<ref>{{cite book |last= Beach |first= Joseph|date= 1912 |title=History of Cheshire, Connecticut, from 1694-1840, including Prospect, which, as Columbia parish, was a part of Cheshire until 1829 |publisher= Lady Fenwick Chapter, D.A.R.|isbn=1376072483}}</ref> The town was denied the name Columbia, owing to the already incorporated [[Columbia, Connecticut|Columbia]] in [[Tolland County, Connecticut|Tolland County]], and instead it was named Prospect. This name was chosen because of the view from the town green, which before the growth of the trees, one could observe [[Long Island Sound]], the [[Connecticut River]], and even [[Long Island]] on clear days.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|35}} The town's economic history has long been dominated by agriculture, with agricultural production never being eclipsed by manufacturing or services until the onset of [[suburbanization]] in the 1950s.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|104}} The town used to produce wood, charcoal, hay, ice, apples, cider, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, wool, flax, corn, rye, barley, and oats.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|105}} For some time, the town did have a manufacturing base. From the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]], farmers saw manufacturing as a way to supplement their incomes. Manufacturing activities that required water power were often located at the edges of the town, where the steep drops allowed for a large amount of power to be obtained. This led to the highest concentration of industry in the town being located in the Rag Hollow area, near the border of Cheshire. This section of town had factories that made sewing needles, [[Britannia metal|britannia]] and pewter ware, cutlery, buttons, button hooks, hardware, and wagon wheels.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|112}} The town was also where the first [[Match#Friction matches|parlor matches]] were made in the United States, with the factory of Ives & Judd producing them. Other manufacturing was scattered around the town, often on the farms of those who owned the factories. These factories often moved locations.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|110}} The town's brief foray into manufacturing came to a close by the twentieth century, with operations halting and entrepreneurs leaving for Waterbury, Naugatuck, Cheshire, or even New York.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|116}} Given the town's rural nature and sparse population, modern amenities developed slowly in the town. A telephone line was run through the town in 1898, connecting [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] and Waterbury, but it was not until 1904 that a telephone was installed in the town. Electrification took place in 1929, when service was established along Route 69. At this time, the Grange hall, the Congregational church, and three street lights made up the initial electric customers.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|167}} The town made use of dirt roads until the 1920s, where they were upgraded to gravel roads. Other than the two state highways, none of the roads in the towns were paved until 1968, when [[Asphalt concrete]] roads began to be installed across the town.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|119}} The town had a [[post office]] from 1830 to 1902, when it was closed and covered by [[Rural delivery service|rural delivery]] until a post office was reopened in 1962.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|157}} The town has no publicly available [[Sanitary sewer|sewer]] service, and all extant hookups are privately funded. Since 2002, there has been limited availability of [[Public water system|public water]] line connections on some roads, which is provided by Connecticut Water.<ref>{{cite report |author=Town of Prospect |date=February 1, 2014 |title=PLAN OF CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT UPDATE |url=https://www.townofprospect.org/_files/land_use/conservation_plan_2014.pdf |publisher=Town of Prospect |page=36 |access-date=October 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |author=Connecticut Water |date=July 2020 |title=Connecticut Water Company Service Towns July 202 |url=https://www.ctwater.com/media/2531/service-towns-july-2020.pdf |publisher=Connecticut Water |page=2 |access-date=October 4, 2020}}</ref> Most town residents and businesses rely on [[septic tank|septic]] systems for discharge, and [[well]]s for water. Regulation of these systems is managed by Chesprocott, the regional health authority. Since the 1950s, the town has undergone a rapid period of [[suburbanization]], as families fled the nearby city of Waterbury and other municipalities during the period of the national [[white flight]]. Between 1950 and 1969, 1,053 houses were built, which today makes up one third of Prospect's town housing. Today, 88.4% of the houses in the town have been built since 1950. [[Single-family detached home|Single family homes]] make up 90% of the housing stock in the town.<ref>{{cite report |author=Town of Prospect |date=February 1, 2014 |title=PLAN OF CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT UPDATE |url=https://www.townofprospect.org/_files/land_use/conservation_plan_2014.pdf |publisher=Town of Prospect |page=20 |access-date=October 4, 2020}}</ref> In 1955, the [[1955 Connecticut floods|"Black Friday Flood"]] inundated Naugatuck and Waterbury with flood waters, and Prospect became the primary evacuation center. Those who lost their homes found refugee in Prospect's Community School, where they received medical attention and temporary housing. This event helped to drive more residents to move to the town.<ref name="Guevin"/>{{rp|183}} In 1977, [[Lorne J. Acquin]] murdered several members of his extended family. It was the largest mass murder in Connecticut history until the [[Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/courant-250/moments-in-history/hc-250-lorne-acquin-20140407-story.html|title=1977 Mass Murder In Prospect Claimed Woman, 8 Children|author=Julie Stagis|date=April 8, 2014|work=courant.com|access-date=October 4, 2020}}</ref> Prospect is known locally as being "The Best Small Town in Connecticut," with the phrase posted on the town's trucks and website. The name originates from an early 1990s article in ''Connecticut'' Magazine which ranked Prospect as the worst small town in the entire state. The measurement was done based on its school system, economy, the cost of living, crime rate and cultural resources.<ref>{{cite news |last=Somma |first=Ann Marie |date=October 11, 2005 |title='MAYOR BOB' EVERYWHERE IN PROSPECT |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2005-10-11-0510110677-story.html |location= Hartford |access-date=October 1, 2020}}</ref> In response to this, the town's long-time mayor [[Robert Chatfield]] removed the magazine from the library, and declared Prospect "The Best Small Town in Connecticut," and ordered it placed on town vehicles and bumper stickers.
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Prospect, Connecticut
(section)
Add topic