Portland, Connecticut
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| Portland, Connecticut | |
  Portland, Connecticut
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| Coordinates: | |
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| NECTA | Hartford |
| Region | Midstate Region |
| Incorporated | 1841 |
| Government | |
| - Type | Selectman-town meeting |
| - First selectman | Susan S. Bransfield |
| Area | |
| - Total | 64.5 km² (24.9 sq mi) |
| - Land | 60.6 km² (23.4 sq mi) |
| - Water | 3.8 km² (1.5 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 55 m (180 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| - Total | 9,543 |
| - Density | 157/km² (408/sq mi) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 06480 |
| Area code(s) | 860 |
| FIPS code | 09-61800 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0213491 |
| Website: http://www.portlandct.org/ | |
Portland is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,732 at the 2000 census. It is situated across the Connecticut River from Middletown.
Brownstone quarried in Portland was used in the construction of Hartford's Old State House in 1796. The vast majority of the brownstone buildings in Connecticut (see College Row at Wesleyan University and the Long Walk at Trinity College) as well as the famous brownstones in New York City were built with brownstone from Portland's quarries.
About half of the town's perimeter is made up of the Connecticut River. The town has eight marinas and boat clubs as well as two 18-hole golf courses and one 9-hole golf course.[1]
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[edit] History
The Wangunk ("Big Bend") tribe lived in the area before European settlement. Their name referred to the bend in the Connecticut River which curves around half of the town's perimeter.[1]
[edit] Settlement to the nineteenth century
Portland was first European settlers came in the late 1650s, attracted by the brownstone, which was used for both construction and gravestones. The proximity of the river meant that the stone could be transported far and wide, and the Portland brownstone quarries supplied to New York, Boston and even San Francisco, Canada and England. By the 1850s, more than 1,500 people were employed in the quarry industry. More than 25 ships transported the stone. By the 1850’s, shipbuilding became more important as an industry, and the economic center of town shifted toward the Gildersleeve area. Immigrants from Ireland, then Sweden, then (to a lesser extent) Italy came to town to work the quarries.[1]
It originally was part of Middletown and then known as East Middletown. In 1767, Chatham, which then included Portland and East Hampton, was founded.[2]
The town was a part of Chatham until 1841, when it became separate. It's name comes from Portland, England, a place famous for its freestone quarries.[3]
Portland's oldest church is the First Congregational Church. In 1710 a meeting was held for the building of a meetinghouse for preaching. The Connecticut General Assembly approved "parish privileges" in 1714. After a vociferous controversy, a location for the new "First Ecclesiastical Society of Chatham" meetinghouse was decided upon at "Hall Hill". On October 25, 1721, Rev. Daniel Newell, the first pastor, was ordained. The Bristol, Connecticut native and Yale College graduate died in 1731. In 1748 a new meetinghouse was built, and 1843 the name of the society was changed to the "First Ecclesiastical Society of Portland."[3]
[edit] Late nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Before quarrying became the town's chief industry in the nineteenth century, Portland was known for its shipbuilding. The Gildersleeve village in town is associated with the Gildersleeve family, prominent shipbuilders in the 1800s. The first vessel built in town was launched in 1741. During the American Revolution and the War of 1812 many U.S. Navy vessels were built in various shipyards in town. Tinware and enamel ware were produced in town in the late nineteenth century.[3] Tobacco farming has also been a big industry in the town.[4]
In 1895, the town decided to establish a public library, although private libraries had been in town for more than a century. The Portland Library was originally a room in Town Hall with about 800 books after the private Portland Library Association turned over all of its books. Within months of its establishment, Horace B. Buck, a native resident who later moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, donated $2,000 toward the erection of a separate library building, and the town appropriated another $1,000. Shaler & Hall and Brainerd Quarries contributed the brownstone, and before the building was finished, Buck gave another $500 (after his death, his estate gave another $2,500. The library moved into another building in 1981.[3][2]
In the early twentieth century, brownstone couldn't compete much with concrete, and the industry went into decline. In 1936, the Connecticut River flooded the quarries, which ended the industry in town, and the shipbuilding industry collapsed as well.[1]
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 24.9 square miles (64.5 km²), of which, 23.4 square miles (60.6 km²) of it is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) of it (5.99%) is water.
[edit] Education
The Portland Public School District consists of four schools: Portland High & Middle School, Brownstone Intermediate School, Gildersleeve School and Valley View School. The district serves a total of 1,425 students.[5]
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 8,732 people, 3,388 households, and 2,419 families residing in the town. The population density was 373.1 people per square mile (144.1/km²). There were 3,528 housing units at an average density of 150.7/sq mi (58.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.12% White, 2.44% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.96% of the population.
There were 3,388 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $63,285, and the median income for a family was $73,036. Males had a median income of $48,849 versus $35,104 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,229. About 3.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d [1]Web page titled "Portland, Connecticut" at the "Portland Online" Web site of the Town of Portland, accessed July 10, 2007
- ^ a b [2]"History of the Portland Library" Web page at the Web site of the Portland Library, accessed July 10, 2007
- ^ a b c d [3]"Portland — 1896 / (an Introduction)" Web page reprinting an article from a "Souvenir Edition of the The Middletown Tribune, dated 1896", at the official town Web site, accessed July 10, 2007
- ^ [4]Web page titled "Portland Online" at the Town of Portland Web site, accessed July 10, 2007
- ^ [5]Web page titled "About" at the Web site of the Portland Public School District, accessed July 10, 2007
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
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