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Southington, Connecticut

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'"Southington" redirects here. For the township in Trumbull County, Ohio, see Southington Township, Ohio
Southington, Connecticut
Town
NECTAHartford
RegionCentral Connecticut
Incorporated1779
Consolidated1947
Government
 • TypeCouncil-manager
 • Town managerJohn Weichsel
 • Town councilJohn N. Barry, Chm.
Anthony E. D'Angelo, Vice Chm.
William DellaVecchia
Dolores L. Longo
Christopher C. Palmieri
Michael A. Riccio
Arthur H. Secondo
Victoria E. Triano
David Zoni
Area
 • Total
94.8 km2 (36.6 sq mi)
 • Land93.2 km2 (36.0 sq mi)
 • Water1.6 km2 (0.6 sq mi)
Elevation
47 m (154 ft)
Population
 (2005)
 • Total
42,077
 • Density451/km2 (1,169/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code
06479, 06489, 06467, 06444
Area code860
FIPS code09-70550
GNIS feature ID0213508
Websitehttp://www.southington.org/

Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated about 10 miles east of Waterbury,about 20 miles southwest of Hartford, and about 80 miles North of New York City. Southington includes the areas of Plantsville, Marion and Milldale, all of which have their own post offices and distinct architecture. The town rests in a valley of two mountains on its east and west sides.The town is located along exits 28 through 32 of Interstate 84, exit 4 of Interstate 691, and bisected by Route 10. Southington has the nick name of The Apple Valley, due to the many orchards that still dot its landscape. The Quinnipiac River flows through the town. It is home to Mount Southington Ski Area, and ESPN which straddles the Bristol/Southington town lines. Southington is also known for their high school sports teams the Southington Blue Knights, the Briarwood College, and a branch of the Branford Hall Career Institute.

History

Southington town center

Although Southington was formally established as a town in 1779, its roots go back to a much earlier time. Samuel Woodruff, Southington's first white settler, moved from Farmington to the area then known as Panthorne that was settled in 1698 (now recognized by Southington's "Panthorn Park"). The settlement grew, prospered, and came to be known as South Farmington and then later, the shortened version, Southington.

Southington originally was a small rural farming community. In the early 1900's, southington developed as a manufacturing center, but still maintained a very small population of a few thousand residents. Some of the products invented there include cement that was able to harden under water, the carriage bolt machine and a new tinware process. With the overall decline of industry in New England, and the construction of Interstate 84 in the mid 1960's, Southington developed into a bedroom community of which the town saw explosive growth and a population that has surged to over 42,000 today. 28% of the workers in Southington are still employed in manufacturing, most of them in the production of fabricated metal and aircraft.

Each year, Southington is home to the Apple Harvest Festival, an effort to bring together local businesses and denizens from the area and surrounding cities. This has been a tradition of the town since 1968, generally spanning six weekdays and two weekends. Its highlights include a town parade, carnival rides and games, musical performances, and a wide selection of unique recipes and foods served by community cornerstones including the Boy Scouts of America, local churches, the Fire and Police Departments, the Southington Rotary Chapter, and the Southington Jaycees (Junior Chamber of Commerce), who provide leadership development through community service.

Planstville Village Green in Southington

Geography

Southington is located at geographical coordinates 41° 35′ 48" North, 72° 52′ 40" West (41.596588, -72.87767). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.6 square miles (94.8 km²), of which, 36.0 square miles (93.2 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (1.72%) is water.

The Metacomet Ridge, a rugged traprock mountain ridge that extends from Long Island Sound to the Massachusetts/Vermont border, passes through Southington. Notable peaks along the ridge form the eastern edge of town: Bradley Mountain, Ragged Mountain, Short Mountain, and part of the Hanging Hills. The ridge is traversed by the 51 mile Metacomet Trail. sutfufuygfuiguyuugstfuSTFU

Demographics

Average Southington Neighborhood

As of the census² of 2000, there were 39,728 people, 15,083 households, and 11,282 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,103.8 people per square mile (426.2/km²). There were 15,557 housing units at an average density of 432.2/sq mi (166.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.45% White, 0.86% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.57% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.02% of the population.

There were 15,083 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.9% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $60,538, and the median income for a family was $70,789 . Males had a median income of $48,828 versus $35,298 for females.Households in Southington are relatively affluent with 30.1% of its households earning above $100,000. The per capita income for the town in 2005 was $32,485[1]. About 2.2% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

Revitalization

As with the decline of industry in the area, many old factories and buildings were left vacant. The latest to close was Ideal Forging, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. This factory is located in the town center in the central business district. Meridian Development Partners (www.meridiandp.com) of New York City became interested in the property in late 2003. This project, which has been in the works for over three years, will create upscale homes, condominiums, store fronts, and parks on the former factory site. The factory parcel is contaminated and must be remediated before construction can begin. As of late, Meridian has accomplished adding zoning text to the towns regulations, rezoning the land, acquiring ownership of the property, applied for permits, and received approval for demolition from the Wetlands Commission.

Southington clock tower square, 2007

Southington has taken initiative to spur its own revitalization. In 2002, the town completed the downtown renaissance project. This project replaced the sidewalks on Main St. and Center St. with granite curbing and brick pavers. Life-long resident philanthropist, Robert Petroske donated $50,000 to the revitalization effort, which lead to the installation of decorative iron lamp posts, benches, and rubbish bins. Flowering trees were planted and a former fountain and light fixture was restored and returned to the town center. A renaissance zone was created to where private business owners in the zone could apply to the town to continue the project of granite, brick pavers, and lamp posts, of which the town would pay the difference of replacement concrete sidewalks versus the more expensive brick.

The town water department, which has since built a new facility, has received approval to demolish their former facility and turn it into a landscaped park, along with a continuation of the sidewalks, iron fences and decorative lamp posts. The old water facility abuts the former Ideal Forging site and the linear walking trail.

The linear trail was opened in 2003. This trail was built over the town's old rail line which had ceased operation decades prior. Dubbed the Farmington Canal Greenway, when completed it will stretch from New Haven, CT to North Hampton, MA. The town has only completed 1.9 miles of the trail, running from Hart St. to the center of the village of Planstville. This trail has brought landscaping, iron benches, and intersections of brick pavers where the trail crosses roads. This is seen as a major link for the further revitalization of downtown Southington and the town's village of Plantsville. Southington is in the process of expanding the trail further to the Cheshire, Connecticut town line, of which Cheshire will have to expand their trail to connect to Southington.

Schools

Southington has 8 public elementary schools, 2 middle schools and one high school. It also has an alternative school for children in grades 8-12 called ALTA. Southington Schools rank well, outperforming State and reference district averages, and rank among the top %16 of all public schools nation wide. Approximately 6,500 students are enrolled in Southington public schools, making it one of the larger districts in the state of Connecticut. Southington High School has a growing enrollment exceeding 2,200 students of which 90% of graduates attend post-secondary education.

Due to Southington's popularity as a family suburb, the town has undertaken plans to expand all schools to accommodate the growing enrollment. Three elementary schools have been completed and a new building and second cafeteria has been added to the High School campus. Voters recently approved expansion and renovations to two other elementary schools (with one to be demolished and rebuilt), of which construction should start soon.

Elementary schools: Walter A.Derynoski, Flanders, William H. Hatton, Urban T. Kelley, Plantsville, South End, William Strong, and Rueben E. Thalberg

Middle Schools: Joseph A. DePaolo and John F. Kennedy

High Schools: Southington High School

Parks & Recreation

Ragged Mountain overlooking Southington

Southington boasts a fair share of large parks and open land, each serving several outdoor activities, and as a whole, a vast array of them.

Public

  • Crescent Lake
  • Panthorn Park
  • Recreation Park
  • Southington Dog Park
  • Southington Little League Fields
  • Veterans Memorial Park

Recreation

Notable Residents

Interesting Facts

The town’s most important early visitor was General George Washington, who passed through the town in 1770 on his way to Wethersfield.

Settlers from Southington, CT formed a township in the mid 1800’s in Ohio near the city of Warren and named it Southington. Today, it has fewer than 2,000 residents.

In May of 1942, during World War II, the town was selected by the War Department to be highlighted in a defense booklet called Southington, CT…“Microcosm of America.” Photographers roamed the community taking photos of residents at work, at play and in their homes and churches. The final publication was intended to show friends and foes alike in Europe the typical American citizens and families, their traditions and values. Thousands of copies were dropped from military airplanes over Europe during Nazi German Occupation.

Southington's west ridge is home to an extremely rare geological formation called the Great Unconformity.

Southington was named for best quality of life for a town its size in Hartford County

Southington Inventions

  • The first cement to harden under water
  • The first carriage bolt cutting machine
  • The break neck rat trap
  • Advances in tinware processing

Pictures

  • Southington center, ca. 1909
    Southington center, ca. 1909
  • Southington Reservoir
    Southington Reservoir
  • Southington's Rolling Hills
    Southington's Rolling Hills

References

  1. ^ Town of Southington Plan of Conservation and Development, page 80. 2006
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