Shelton

The Shelton area was settled as part of Stratford in 1639, with present-day Shelton as its northern part. The Pootatuck Indians were the original inhabitants, with a palisade fort above Riverview Park and a burying ground in the park, but by 1680 they had sold all their lands to Stratford settlers and moved north. Northern settlers established Ripton parish in 1717, and in 1789 Ripton separated from Stratford to become the town of Huntington, named for Governor Samuel Huntington. The first industry in the area was the Leavenworth Shipyards, established in 1685 on the Housatonic River at Indian Well, using nearby oak and chestnut forests for planking; as land was cleared, farmers sent cattle, pork products, corn, and oak timber to the West Indies on Leavenworth ships. The 1790 census listed 2742 adults and 120 slaves. The Derby-Shelton dam, built in 1870, allowed industrial development along the Housatonic River, and by 1900 Shelton was an industrial town of 5600 people producing everything from pins to pianos. In 1915 the borough of Shelton was incorporated as a city, named for industrialist Edward N. Shelton, a promoter of the dam, and in 1919 the town of Huntington became Shelton by act of the General Assembly. By 1977 Shelton had become a residential and light-industrial city with 30,000 people and more than 60 manufacturers.

Shelton, Connecticut · United States