Prospect is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in the
Naugatuck Valley Planning Region,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby city of
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
to its north, and is on the north-eastern fringes of the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
. The population was estimated to be 9,401 in 2020. Prospect is part of the Waterbury
NECTA and of the historical
New Haven County
New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...
. Prospect is also a member of the regional health district Chesprocott, along with
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
and
Wolcott.
Prospect was incorporated as a town in 1827 from the South Farms part of
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
and the West Rocks part of
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
. Prospect is an
exurb
An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing density, and growth. It s ...
an town, with residents often traveling to other major cities and employment centers across the state.
Prospect is known locally as being "The Best Small Town in Connecticut," with the phrase posted on the town's trucks and website. The name originates from an early 1990s article in ''Connecticut'' Magazine which ranked Prospect as the worst small town in the entire state. The measurement was done based on its school system, economy, the cost of living, crime rate and cultural resources. In response to this, the town's long-time mayor
Robert Chatfield, removed the magazine from the library, and declared Prospect "The Best Small Town in Connecticut," and ordered it placed on town vehicles and bumper stickers.
History
It is believed that the
Native Americans who lived in the area now known as Prospect first arrived to the area between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. Little is known of their time living here, with only a few arrowheads, stone tools, and utensils being found in the town. What is known is that the town rested near the border zone of the
Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac is the English name for the Eansketambawg (meaning "original people"; ''cf.'' Ojibwe: ''Anishinaabeg'' and Blackfoot: ''Niitsítapi''), a Quiripi-speaking Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the ''Wampano ...
and
Tunxis
The Tunxis were a group of Quiripi speaking Connecticut Native Americans that is known to history mainly through their interactions with English settlers in New England. Broadly speaking, their location makes them one of the Eastern Algonquian ...
peoples, and it was known that the area served as a hunting and fishing ground for both tribes. There is no known evidence for any indigenous permanent settlement within the town prior to
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
European settlers permanently occupying the town.
The portion of the town that was located in Waterbury also briefly had an
indigenous reservation of between 1731 and 1778. The reservation was located on today's Bronson road, and did not have a large population, with a total of four inhabitants in 1774.
The first land record inside the town comes from a 1694 land record of John Moss, Jr., who owned to of land on "ye Tenn Mile river alongside an irremovable hill."
The land was then first surveyed in 1697, and divided into four tracts, starting from the Waterbury border, and advancing towards Cheshire in half-mile intervals. Several roads in the town today follow the tier lines as outlined in the original survey, and the old border between
Wallingford and Waterbury is seen in the modern-day Straitsville road.
![Harris Platt House Prospect CT](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Harris_Platt_House_Prospect_CT.jpg)
The first European settlers in what would become the town of Prospect arrived in 1712, building homes in the "West Rocks" near the then boundary line of
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
and
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
. In 1775, citizens petitioned both towns to establish their own church, which was denied. It was in 1778 that a
separatist
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
church was constructed, which gained the name Columbia church from its official title of "Society of Columbia." In 1797, through an act of the
Connecticut General Assembly
The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...
, the Congregational Church was established, governed by the "Columbia Company," earning the territory the name Columbia Parish until its incorporation as a municipality in 1827. The town was denied the name Columbia, owing to the already incorporated
Columbia in
Tolland County
Tolland County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, its population was 149,788. It is incorporated into 13 towns and was originally formed on 13 October 1785 from portions of eastern H ...
, and instead it was named Prospect. This name was chosen because of the view from the town green, which before the growth of the trees, one could observe
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
, the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
, and even
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
on clear days.
The town's economic history has long been dominated by agriculture, with agricultural production never being eclipsed by manufacturing or services until the onset of
suburbanization
Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
in the 1950s.
The town used to produce wood, charcoal, hay, ice, apples, cider, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, wool, flax, corn, rye, barley, and oats.
For some time, the town did have a manufacturing base. From the onset of the
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, farmers saw manufacturing as a way to supplement their incomes. Manufacturing activities that required water power were often located at the edges of the town, where the steep drops allowed for a large amount of power to be obtained. This led to the highest concentration of industry in the town being located in the Rag Hollow area, near the border of Cheshire. This section of town had factories that made sewing needles,
britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
and pewter ware, cutlery, buttons, button hooks, hardware, and wagon wheels.
The town was also where the first
parlor matches were made in the United States, with the factory of Ives & Judd producing them. Other manufacturing was scattered around the town, often on the farms of those who owned the factories. These factories often moved locations.
The town's brief foray into manufacturing came to a close by the twentieth century, with operations halting and entrepreneurs leaving for Waterbury, Naugatuck, Cheshire, or even New York.
Given the town's rural nature and sparse population, modern amenities developed slowly in the town. A telephone line was run through the town in 1898, connecting
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
and Waterbury, but it was not until 1904 that a telephone was installed in the town. Electrification took place in 1929, when service was established along Route 69. At this time, the Grange hall, the Congregational church, and three street lights made up the initial electric customers.
The town made use of dirt roads until the 1920s, where they were upgraded to gravel roads. Other than the two state highways, none of the roads in the towns were paved until 1968, when
Asphalt concrete
Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parkin ...
roads began to be installed across the town.
The town had a
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
from 1830 to 1902, when it was closed and covered by
rural delivery
Rural delivery service refers to services for the delivery of mail to rural areas.
In many countries, rural mail delivery follows different rules and practices from that in urban areas. For example, in some areas rural delivery may require homeow ...
until a post office was reopened in 1962.
The town has no publicly available
sewer service, and all extant hookups are privately funded. Since 2002, there has been limited availability of
public water line connections on some roads, which is provided by Connecticut Water. Most town residents and businesses rely on
septic systems for discharge, and
well
A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s for water. Regulation of these systems is managed by Chesprocott, the regional health authority.
Since the 1950s, the town has undergone a rapid period of
suburbanization
Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
, as families fled the nearby city of Waterbury and other municipalities during the period of the national
white flight
White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...
. Between 1950 and 1969, 1,053 houses were built, which today makes up one third of Prospect's town housing. Today, 88.4% of the houses in the town have been built since 1950.
Single family homes
A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling ...
make up 90% of the housing stock in the town. In 1955, the
"Black Friday Flood" inundated Naugatuck and Waterbury with flood waters, and Prospect became the primary evacuation center. Those who lost their homes found refugee in Prospect's Community School, where they received medical attention and temporary housing. This event helped to drive more residents to move to the town.
In 1977,
Lorne J. Acquin murdered several members of his extended family, it was the largest mass murder in Connecticut history until the
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...
.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.58%, is water. Neighboring towns are
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
to the north,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
to the east,
Bethany
Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...
to the south, and
Naugatuck
Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which ...
to the west.
The town is located among the far eastern hills of the
Berkshires
The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...
, and the hilly landscape dominates the town's geography. The town is notable for rocky soil, deposited during the retreat of the
glaciers
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
around 11,000 years ago. Trees in the town are relatively new, they had all once been cleared for
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
s.
Oaks are the most abundant tree in the town, although in the
swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
areas, the
Red Maple
''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nativ ...
dominates.
The town has several
reservoirs
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...
either fully or partially inside its boundaries. Several small streams and brooks also originate in the town.
Climate
According to the
Köppen classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...
, Prospect is ''Dfb'', or a humid continental climate. The town has warm and humid summers with cold winters. Precipitation is spread throughout the year, with
thunderstorms
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
frequent during the summer months, and heavy snowfalls during the winter months. Due to Prospect's elevation and location, temperatures are often colder, leading to snow in the town while lower towns to its east have rain. Like Connecticut, Prospect frequently experiences
Nor'easter
A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...
s and
Blizzards
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling b ...
during the winter, which can bring heavy snowfall to the town.
Demographics
As of the
2010 Census,
there were 9,405 people, 3,357 households, and 2,616 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 3,094 housing units at an average density of . The
racial makeup
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of the town was 95.3%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 1.9%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.1%
Native American, 0.8%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.8% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 3.3% of the population.
Of the 3,357 households 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.3% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 28.4% of households were one person and 8.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.15.
The age distribution was 22.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 32.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% 65 or older. The median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males.
The median household income was $93,631 and the median family income was $104,306. The per capita income for the town was $26,827. About 2.1% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Government
The present mayor is
Robert Chatfield, known to town residents as "Mayor Bob." First elected in 1977, Chatfield is the town's second mayor and for many residents is the only mayor they've ever known. He is the
sixth longest serving incumbent mayor in the United States, and the longest serving Mayor in Connecticut. As of 2020, Chatfield is serving in his 22nd term as the town's chief executive.
Prospect operated under the
Board of selectmen system of government until 1967, when it shifted to adopt a
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
-council form of government. In 1975, the town adopted the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
–
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
system of government. George Sabo, the incumbent chief administrative officer, won election as the town's first mayor over his
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
opponent, Ronald Dreher. Sabo won 1,636 votes to Dreher's 1,189. Chatfield, then a member of the town council, defeated Sabo in the 1977 election with 1,599 votes to Sabo's 1,311. Chatfield has been re-elected to the office ever since. His longevity in office has led him to become the only mayor residents have ever known.
Prospect's town council employs
block voting
Block voting or bloc voting refers to electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected at once and a group (voting bloc) of voters can force the system to elect only their preferred candidates. Block voting may be used at large (in a si ...
in its elections. A total of nine members are elected every two years, and the town charter mandates that no political party have a majority larger than one seat. Since 1977, the town council has been controlled by the
Republicans. Other elected officials include the Town Clerk, the Town Treasurer, the Tax Collector, members of the Board of Assessment Appeals, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and seats to the Regional Board of Education.
The current town hall was built in 1961, and prior to that there was no dedicated building for the town's government. Just prior to the construction of the town hall the government met in the back of Oliver's Supermarket (now
LaBonne's Market). Prior to this, the town government met at the local tavern (which no longer exists) until 1841. From there, it regularly met in the basement of the Congregational Church. Other locations that they met were the Grange hall, Community School, and Center School.
The town's form of government remained mostly unchanged until the 1960s, when it underwent a rapid series of changes, first replacing the three selectmen system with just one First Selectman, then changing the position to Chief Administrative Officer, and finally in 1975 to Mayor. Prospect is the least populated town in Connecticut with a mayoral form of government.
Education
Since 1969, the town of Prospect and the town of
Beacon Falls
Beacon Falls is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It lies in the southwestern part of the state, and is bisected by the Naugatuck River. The population was 6,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, dow ...
have jointly operated
Regional School District 16, with the first full school year having been operated in 1970. Both towns did not have access to a
High School
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
of their own, pursuant to the original intent of school district consolidation in Connecticut for small towns, and sought to consolidate their Boards of Education and begin research on the establishment of a new High School for district members. A high school would not be built in Region 16 until a 1998 referendum in the region approved the construction of
Woodland Regional High School
Woodland Regional High School is a high school located in the western part of Beacon Falls, Connecticut, near the town line shared with Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its ...
in Beacon Falls, with it opening on the 4th of September, 2001. The two towns almost dissolved the regional school district in the late 1970s over the composition of the Board of Education, poor funding, and a lower quality of education for students. The composition of the Board of Education was originally slated to be split evenly between the two towns, which was agreed upon prior to the referendum approving the merger.
According to a March 1976
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
ruling which upheld an earlier decision, the principle of
One man, one vote
"One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...
applied to the Boards of Education of regional school districts. At the time, Connecticut had 16 regional school districts, and 11 regional school districts were in conflict with this ruling, which affected 34 towns, including Prospect and Beacon Falls. Beacon Falls then attempted to dissolve the regional school district, which at the time only officially contained Long River Middle School, on the basis that the Supreme Court ruling now constituted a
breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...
between Beacon Falls and Prospect.
![Prospect Elementary School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Prospect_Elementary_School.jpg)
Prior to the construction of Woodland Regional High School, Prospect students attended High School at Wilby High School in
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
until 1983. After the contract with Waterbury concluded, Prospect high schoolers had the choice of attending
Nonnewaug High School
Nonnewaug High School is a public school in Woodbury, Connecticut, United States, which serves the towns of Woodbury and Bethlehem, Connecticut
Bethlehem is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,385 at th ...
in
Woodbury Woodbury may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory
Australia
* Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
England
* Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset
*Woodbury, East Devo ...
or Wolcott High School in
Wolcott.
Since 2015, total enrollment in Region 16's school district has been declining, losing 192 students between 2015 and 2019. In early 2020, the Board of Education began to discuss a policy wherein non-resident students from other towns could attend school within the district, which would cost about $15,800 a student in tuition, but as of the 22 of February 2020, no further action was taken on the measure.
Funding for Region 16, which today controls and operates four schools, is based on the number of students from each town attending the district. As of 2020, the operating budget for the district was $40.7 million, with the town of Prospect responsible for $20.5 million due to the town's children making up 63.25% of the school district's student population. The town, like Beacon Falls, funds its portion of the region's budget through property taxes.
In 2011, voters approved a $47.5 million bonding package that would fund the construction of Prospect Elementary School, renovate Laurel Ledge Elementary School, and build a new office for Region 16 in Prospect on the former location of Algonquin School on Coer Road. The new Prospect Elementary School (grades K–5) replaced Algonquin School (grades K–3) and Community School (grades 4–5). Students in grades 6–8 in Prospect and Beacon Falls attend Long River Middle School, and students in grades 9–12 attend
Woodland Regional High School
Woodland Regional High School is a high school located in the western part of Beacon Falls, Connecticut, near the town line shared with Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its ...
.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Prospect is well connected to Connecticut's wider transportation network.
Route 69 and
Route 68 intersect near the town centre, which provide town residents access to
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
,
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
, and
Union City. In close proximity to the Waterbury-Prospect line are entrances to
I-84
Interstate 84 may refer to:
* Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N
* Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts)
Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeaster ...
, and close to the
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
-Prospect border are entrances to
I-691.
There are no bus routes within the town, but Bus Routes 431 and 428 of the Greater Waterbury Bus System have stops located just north of the Waterbury-Prospect on
East Mountain off Route 69, and on Scott Road near the intersection with Austin Road.
Notable people
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Robert Chatfield, politician
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Christopher Evans, French-American graphic designer and illustrator
*
John Fusco
John Fusco is an American screenwriter, producer, and television series creator born in Prospect, Connecticut. His screenplays include ''Crossroads'', '' Young Guns'', ''Young Guns II'', ''Thunderheart'', ''Hidalgo'', '' Spirit: Stallion of the ...
, screenwriter and producer
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Julius Hotchkiss
Julius Hotchkiss (July 11, 1810 – December 23, 1878) was a United States representative from Connecticut. He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of Woodward and Polly (Castle) Hotchkiss, Prospect farmers.John R. Guevin. '' View from ...
, politician
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Vincent Ingala, smooth jazz and R&B saxophonist
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Rufus G. Russell (1823–1896), architect
References
External links
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Towns in New Haven County, Connecticut
Towns in the New York metropolitan area
Towns in Connecticut