Pootatuck, Corum, Ripton, Huntington and Shelton
 Huntington Congrgational Church |
The area now know as the City of Shelton was originally settled by members of the Paugussett tribe. They were hunter-gatherers who were also involved in agriculture. They referred to the area along the banks of the Housatonic River a Pootatuck.English settlers from Stratford moved into the Long Hill section of Shelton by 1680. The settlement was known as Coram but was still under the jurisdiction of Stratford. By 1717
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there were approximately fifty families in Coram and they petitioned for the formation of a separate parish, to be known as Ripton. The parish was a prosperous agricultural community with farming in the hills and a modest shipyard along the river. The architecture of the community reflected this prosperity and several examples of 18th century architecture were extant in the center district by the turn of the 20th century.
In 1789 Ripton Parish separated from Stratford and became the Town of Huntington. As is common in New England rural towns, when the town began to settle the population began to decline from high of 2,770 in 1810 to a low of 1,301 in 1850. This was not necessarily due to the depletion of the soil or other negative factors, merely that the local economy had reached the limits of its growth and leveled off.
In 1789 Ripton Parish separated from Stratford and became the Town of Huntington. As is common in New England rural towns, when the town began to settle the population began to decline from high of 2,770 in 1810 to a low of 1,301 in 1850. This was not necessarily due to the depletion of the soil or other negative factors, merely that the local economy had reached the limits of its growth and leveled off.
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By 1870, along the banks of the Housatonic River a dam was constructed, a canal dug and factories were established to draw off the hydroelectric power. The Borough of Shelton was formally established in 1882 and separate census records were kept from 1880 on. It wasn't until 1919 that the borough
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 Canal c 1910 |
officially became the City of Shelton and the Town of Huntington voted to become incorporated with it. An 1890 article in the New York Times entitled "A Connecticut Sunday" describes a visit to the town of Huntington as follows:
The few curiosities of Huntington are soon seen and digested. Here runs the New York and Boston Telephone line, cutting across country as straight as a die, its forest-tree poles carrying more than fifty wires. Here is a public square in front of the church smooth and green, surrounded by an iron fence. Here is the little town hall that in former times, I am told, was often the scene of revelry by night, the sort of revelry that embraces dancing and oysters and ice cream. And here is the village store, in which are also the telephone office and the Post Office. There is no frantic crowd of customers pressing up to the counter,but I am told that a former owner of this little store made a fortune of $80,000.00 in it, and retired on his laurels and his cash.... Huntington lies in so deep a valley that from all around the neighborhood you look down upon it and see only a great collection of trees, with some roofs and a church spire peeping through.
While no similar account has come to light concerning the Borough of Shelton, it can be inferred from photographs, city directories, and other period sources that along the river was a bustling industrial center that was counterpart to the more agrarian life found just a few miles up into the hills. These were close connections between the two communities but they were fundamentally different on many levels.
By the turn of the 20th century, according to the 1910 "Connecticut State Register and Manual", Huntington was a well established agricultural economy and Shelton was largely concerned with the:
By the turn of the 20th century, according to the 1910 "Connecticut State Register and Manual", Huntington was a well established agricultural economy and Shelton was largely concerned with the:
manufacturing of paper, paper boxes, woolen yarn and knit goods, cotton goods, pins, tacks, hooks and eyes, carriage and other hardware, pianos, rubber goods printing presses, metal bedsteads, buttons brass hardware, combs, razor strops, bicycle forgings, silk goods, etc.
 Shelton Basket Company, c 1910 |
The factories of Shelton relied on the labor of immigrants or the children of immigrants. According to the 1910 census over 62% of Shelton's population fell into this category. The population of the Shelton Borough had exceeded that of the Town of Huntington in 1890 with the totals of being 2,837 and 2,735 respectively. Most of this growth was undoubtedly due to rising trends in immigration across the entire nation and the availability of unskilled or semi-skilled jobs in the factories.
Even in rural Huntington there were a |
surprising number of immigrants. In 1910 905 or 52% of the total population were immigrants or the children of immigrants. While there were many families who had been settled here for multiple generations, those considered traditional Yankees, there was also a steady influx of new blood.
The economic and social ties of Huntington were based on an extensive network of kinship, neighborliness, and other community ties. While these factors undoubtedly existed in the Borough of Shelton as well, the larger size of the community and the dynamic flow of its population would have made such connections less common. This type of industrial society was more likely to be based on wages, goods available for purchase, and services for hire.
The economic and social ties of Huntington were based on an extensive network of kinship, neighborliness, and other community ties. While these factors undoubtedly existed in the Borough of Shelton as well, the larger size of the community and the dynamic flow of its population would have made such connections less common. This type of industrial society was more likely to be based on wages, goods available for purchase, and services for hire.