| Litchfield, Connecticut | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Town — | |||
|
|||
| Location in Litchfield County, Connecticut | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Connecticut | ||
| NECTA | None | ||
| Region | Litchfield Hills | ||
| Incorporated | 1719 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Selectman-town meeting | ||
| • First selectman | Leo Paul, Jr. | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 56.8 sq mi (147.1 km2) | ||
| • Land | 56.1 sq mi (145.2 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0.7 sq mi (1.9 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 495 ft (151 m) | ||
| Population (2005)[1] | |||
| • Total | 8,684 | ||
| • Density | 155/sq mi (60/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP code | 06750, 06759 | ||
| Area code(s) | 860 | ||
| FIPS code | 09-43370 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0213452 | ||
| Website | Litchfield | ||
Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States,[2] and is known as an affluent summer resort. The population was 8,316 at the 2000 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also two unincorporated villages: Northfield and Milton.
Contents |
Founded in 1719, Litchfield was designated the county seat in 1751, and by the 1790s the town had become the leading commercial, social, cultural and legal center of Northwestern Connecticut. Its population grew from 1,366 in 1756 to 2,544 in 1774, and by 1810 Litchfield was the fourth largest settlement in the state with a population of 4,639.
In October 1777, William Franklin, the son of Benjamin Franklin, may have been jailed in the Litchfield jail because he was a Loyalist.[3]
Beginning in 1784, Litchfield lawyer, Tapping Reeve, systematized his law lectures for young students, creating the Litchfield Law School. Reeve was the first to develop a series of formal, regular lectures that insured that all students had access to the same body of knowledge. Among those who attended was David Sherman Boardman, a prominent nineteenth-century lawyer and judge in the county.
Litchfield Law School is believed to be the first Law School in the United States.
Established in 1792, Sarah Pierce's Litchfield Female Academy was one of the first major educational institutions for women in the United States.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Catharine Beecher all grew up in Litchfield where their father, Lyman Beecher was the minister.
During its "Golden Age" (1784–1834) Litchfield had an unusual number of college educated inhabitants. In 1791 Samuel Miles Hopkins, a student at the Litchfield Law School, described Litchfield in his journal as a town of "hard, active, reading, thinking, intelligent men who may probably be set forth as a pattern of the finest community on earth."
Litchfield's fortunes declined during the later years of the nineteenth century. The town did not have the ample water supply and rail transportation necessary to establish industry and the village became a sleepy backwater. Rediscovered as a resort community in the late nineteenth century Litchfield became a popular spot for vacation, weekend and summer homes. The town embraced the Colonial Revival movement and by the early Century many of the homes began to sport the white paint and black shutters seen today.
Located southwest of Torrington, it also includes part of Bantam Lake. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 56.8 square miles (147.1 km²), of which, 56.1 square miles (145.2 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.9 km²) of it (1.27%) is water.
Litchfield is about 150 km (93 mi) from Central Park, New York, about 80 km (50 mi) from the Hudson River valley, and about 60 km (37 mi) from the nearest sea coast, on Long Island Sound.
| Historical population of Litchfield [1] [2] [3] |
|
| 1830 | 4,456 |
| 1840 | 4,038 |
| 1850 | 3,953 |
| 1860 | 3,200 |
| 1870 | 3,113 |
| 1880 | 3,410 |
| 1890 | 3,304 |
| 1900 | 3,214 |
| 1910 | 3,005 |
| 1920 | 3,180 |
| 1930 | 3,574 |
| 1940 | 4,029 |
| 1950 | 4,964 |
| 1960 | 6,264 |
| 1970 | 7,399 |
| 1980 | 7,605 |
| 1990 | 8,365 |
| 2000 | 8,316 |
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 8,316 people, 3,310 households, and 2,303 families residing in the town. The population density was 148.4 people per square mile (57.3/km²). There were 3,629 housing units at an average density of 64.7 per square mile (25.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.99% White, 0.75% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population.
There were 3,310 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $58,418, and the median income for a family was $70,594. Males had a median income of $50,284 versus $31,787 for females. The per capita income for the town was $30,096. About 2.8% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.
| Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Active Voters | Inactive Voters | Total Voters | Percentage | |
| Republican | 2,044 | 90 | 2,134 | 33.59% | |
| Democratic | 1,384 | 67 | 1,451 | 22.84% | |
| Unaffiliated | 2,596 | 165 | 2,761 | 43.45% | |
| Minor Parties | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0.13% | |
| Total | 6,032 | 322 | 6,354 | 100% | |
Route 202 is the main east-west road connecting Bantam and Litchfield center to the city of Torrington. Route 63 runs north-south through the town center. The Route 8 expressway runs along the town line with Harwinton. It can be accessed from the town center via Route 118. The town is also served by buses from the Northwestern Connecticut Transit District connecting to the city of Torrington.
See also: List of newspapers in Connecticut in the 18th-century: Litchfield
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||