A settlement was authorized here in 1674 as Mattatuck, a name changed to Waterbury when the area was admitted in 1686 as the 28th town in the Colony of Connecticut. It then included all or parts of the later towns of Watertown, Plymouth, Wolcott, Prospect, Naugatuck, Thomaston, and Middlebury. The name Waterbury, selected because of the number of streams flowing into the Naugatuck River, indicated a plentiful supply of energy from water power used in the early 19th century to create an industrial center for manufacturing non-ferrous metal products. For many years known as the brass center of the world, the city continues to be a major manufacturing area.