Southbury, Connecticut
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Southbury is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in western New Haven County,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, United States. It is north of
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and Newtown, and east of Brookfield. Its population was 19,879 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. Southbury comprises sprawling rural country areas, suburban neighborhoods, and historic districts. It is a short distance from major business and commercial centers. It is 67 miles (107 km) north of New York City, and 34 miles (54 km) west of Hartford. Southbury is the only community in the country with the name "Southbury", which is why the town seal reads ''Unica Unaque'', meaning "The One and Only."


History

The town of Southbury was one of several towns formed out of parcels of land purchased from the Pootatuck Native Americans. Southbury was originally part of Woodbury, which was settled in 1673. A meetinghouse for the Southbury Ecclesiastical Society was built in 1733, and in 1787 the town of Southbury was incorporated. After two decades within Litchfield County, Southbury was transferred to New Haven County in 1807. In the 1800s, water power became essential to the growth of Southbury's industries, which included mills, tanneries, and distilleries. The power for these industries came primarily from the Pomperaug River and the
Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United ...
. As the industrial revolution progressed, many of these businesses left for
Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...
. In the 1920s, Russian expatriates Count Ilya Tolstoy (son of the author
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...
) and
George Grebenstchikoff George Dmitrievich Grebenstchikoff (; 6 May 4 April Old Style1883 – 11 January 1964) was a writer and professor of Russian literature. Personal life Grebenstchikoff was born in Nikolayevsky Rudnik, Tomsk Governorate, Russian Empire (now i ...
founded an artists' colony at one end of Main Street, known as '' Churaevka'' (or "Russian Village"). At its peak, Churaevka had a printing press used by
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n and Ukrainian scholars and novelists. Visitors to the colony included the composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
. Most of its immigrant population is now gone; however, St. Sergius Chapel, designed by Nicholas Roerich and built in 1932–1933, remains. Churaevka is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. In November 1937, residents of the farming outpost got word that a man by the name of Wolfgang Jung had purchased in the town. Residents looking into his plans discovered that he was a member of the German American Bund, an organization of ethnic Germans living in the United States who supported
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and Nazi
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Its leader, Fritz Kuhn, was considered the leading
anti-Semite Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
in the country. Word soon got out that they were, in fact, planning to build their largest training facility in the country. Residents objected by calling a town meeting and set up a
zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
department with one simple rule, no military activity excluding the United States Army. The law was adopted December 14 and the Bund stopped work and eventually sold the land. Southbury was a rural farming town for most of its history. However, with the development of the
Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
, that changed. With the opening of Interstate 84 through Southbury by 1963, the town gained easy access to New York and Hartford, also improving its access to Danbury and Waterbury. Heritage Village opened in 1967, on a site. In 1987,
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
built an extensive office and research building in Southbury, employing over 2,500 workers. Southbury transitioned from a primarily rural community into the varied town it is today, with the commercial downtown and residential neighborhoods sharing the town with farming communities and extended rural acreage. Today, Southbury has approximately 17% open space, with a goal of 20%. In the early 1990s, Southbury was the subject of a lawsuit by the
Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation The Golden Hill Paugussett is a state-recognized Native American tribe in Connecticut. Granted reservations in a number of towns in the 17th century, their land base was whittled away until they were forced to reacquire a small amount of territor ...
. The 100-member tribe sought to take the land of roughly 1,200 property holders in the town. The lawsuit was thrown out in 1993 based on the fact that the man who brought the suit was not a chieftain, contrary to his claims, and had no standing to bring the suit.


Geography

According to the
US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, Southbury has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.69%, is water. Towns that border Southbury are Middlebury to the northeast,
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
to the east and southeast, Newtown to the southwest, Bridgewater to the west, and Roxbury and Woodbury to the north. South Britain and Southford are included in the incorporated township of Southbury.


Demographics

As of the 2000
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, there were 18,567 people comprising 7,225 households, including 4,833 families residing in Southbury. The population density was . There were 7,799 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.34%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.45%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.08% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.35% from other races, and 0.62% from multiple races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 1.59% of the population. Of Southbury's 7,225 households, 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. About 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.4% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.41, and the average family size was 3.02. Southbury's population consisted of 22.8% under the age of 18, 3.3% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 26.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males. The median income for a household in Southbury is $75,970 in 2007, compared to $61,919 in 1999; the median income for a family in 1999 was $81,109. In 1999, males had a median income of $87,365 versus $68,657 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $62,731. About 1.9% of families and 4.9% 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 ...
, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those 65 or over. The median home value was $532,650. In July 2008, it was estimated that there were 19,702 (+6.1% from 2000) people in Southbury. The estimated median household income was $75,970 (+22.7% from 2000). The estimated median home (or
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
) value was to $374,178 (+92.6% from 2000).


Heritage Village

Southbury is home to a variety of retirement facilities, including Heritage Village, one of New England's largest retirement communities. Heritage Village sits on and includes approximately 2,580 homes with 4,000 people. It is billed as being an "active retirement" community, offering many activities. Heritage Village was planned in the 1960s, as I-84 was completed in the area. Potential Heritage Village residents must be 55 years of age or older. By 2013, about 30% of the population of Southbury is expected to be 60 years of age or older. By 2020, about 40% will be 60 or older. Southbury has developed a three-phase plan to increase services for the aging population. The former Southbury Library was converted into a senior center; it also houses the new home of the area Parks & Recreations Department. In addition to the "active living" area of Heritage Village, Southbury contains several "assisted living facilities", including: * The Hearth at Southbury * Lutheran Home of Southbury * River Glen Health Care Center Other "active senior living" options that provide independent living, assisted living, and memory care in Southbury includes: * Pomperaug Woods * Watermark at East Hill


Government and voting

Southbury has a six-member
Board of Selectmen The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the Executive (government), executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three ...
, including First Selectman, Jeff Manville (R).


Method of voting

Southbury used mechanical voting machines until 2007 when it switched to optical scanning machines. The new system has been criticized for several reasons, including a lack of privacy. Southbury utilizes up to three polling stations. for machine vote as required by a town meeting or per charter, only the firehouse is used. Consistent with Connecticut law, citizens have the ''option'' of choosing a party when they register to vote. A citizen may join or change, their affiliation later. Primary voting is limited to members of that party.


Voting results for Connecticut and federal elected officials

In 2006, veteran
U.S. House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
Representative
Nancy Johnson Nancy Elizabeth Johnson (née Lee; born January 5, 1935) is an American lobbyist and politics in the United States, politician from the U.S. state, state of Connecticut. Johnson was a United States Republican Party, Republican member of the Un ...
was ousted in favor of Democrat Chris Murphy, who carried Southbury, 51–49%. Junior U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman dropped his Democratic party affiliation, but was re-elected as an independent, carrying Southbury with 57% of the vote; his closest opponent, Democrat
Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...
, had only 32% of Southbury's support. In the 2008 Presidential Election, Southbury supported Republican
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
over Democrat
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. For the U.S. House, the town narrowly supported Republican David Cappiello over Murphy, the Democratic incumbent who ultimately won in a landslide. In 2010, Southbury voted in favor of Republican candidates Tom Foley for
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
and
Linda McMahon Linda Marie McMahon ( ; ; born October 4, 1948) is an American politician, business executive, and former professional wrestling promoter who has served as the 13th United States Secretary of Education, United States secretary of education since ...
for U.S. Senate. Though neither of the Republicans won statewide, they carried Southbury with 61% and 56% of the vote, respectively. Southbury again supported the Republican for U.S. House, voting for Sam Caligiuri over the Democrat Murphy by a 56–44% margin. Current Federal Elected Official for U.S. Congress: * U.S. Senators: Chris Murphy,
Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal ( ; born February 13, 1946) is an American politician, lawyer, and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from ...
* U.S. Congressman: Jahana Hayes Current State Elected Official for
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. The ...
* State Senator: Eric Berthel (32) * State Representatives
Cindy Harrison
(69), David Labriola (131)


Political parties

*Southbury Democratic Town Committee, 2,967 members (+283 from previous totals) *Southbury Republican Town Committee, 4,583 members (+57 from previous totals) – Members are elected to serve two-year terms on the RTC.


Education

Southbury is part of the Pomperaug Regional School District, region 15, a school system that includes the towns of Southbury and Middlebury. The system contains four elementary, two middle and one high school. There has been a debate between the two towns over the amount each pays towards the system. Schools located in Southbury include: *Gainfield Elementary School *Pomperaug Elementary School *Rochambeau Middle School * Pomperaug High School Students from Region 15 also have the option to attend: *W.F. Kaynor Technical High School (Waterbury) * Henry Abbott Technical High School (Danbury) * Nonnewaug High School (Region 14, Woodbury, accessible as an agricultural school for Region 15 students)


Recreation

The Southbury Parks & Recreations Department moved into the old Southbury Library in 2007. Southbury town sports include: * Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken baseball * Basketball * Pop Warner football * Soccer * Lacrosse Controversy has arisen over town sports since the Parks and Recreation Department began enforcing a policy banning out-of-town players from participating in town-sanctioned sports in 2006. This policy stems from the fact of overcrowding at town fields, a problem which is plaguing Southbury.


Local media

* Waterbury Republican-American – A Waterbury-based independent daily newspaper * The Danbury News-Times – A Danbury-based daily newspaper * ''Voices'' – A local newspaper serving Southbury, Middlebury, Oxford, Seymour, Naugatuck, Woodbury, Bethlehem, New Preston, Washington, Washington Depot, Roxbury, Bridgewater, Monroe, Sandy Hook, and Newtown * WTCH – A local student & staff run television station broadcast by Pomperaug High School in Southbury. Channel 17 in Southbury, Channel 16 in Middlebury.


Infrastructure

Only a small area of Southbury is covered by water or sewer systems, with the vast majority left to wells and septic. Southbury is generally concerned with its water table, to the point where the only car wash in town is required to recycle all of their water used, an expensive process. The town water provider is Aquarion. The gas provider is Yankee Gas Company. The cable (TV, internet, and, phone) provider is Charter Communications. The electric provider is Eversource Energy (a Northeast Utilities Company). The phone provider (POTS & DSL) is
Frontier Communications Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. is an American telecommunications company. Known as Citizens Utilities Company until 2000, Citizens Communications Company until 2008, and Frontier Communications Corporation until 2020, as a communications pr ...
.


Notable features


National Historic Registry

* Aaron Bronson House – 846 Southford Rd. * Adin Wheeler House and Theodore F. Wheeler Wheelwright Shop – 125 Quaker Farms Rd. * Bullet Hill School – Main St. and Seymour Rd. * Hurley Road Historic District – 6 and 17 Hurley Rd. * Little Pootatuck Brook Archeological Site * Plaster House – 117 Plaster House Rd. * Reuben Curtiss House – 1770 Bucks Hill Rd. * Russian Village Historic District – Roughly Kiev Dr. and Russian Village Rd. between US 6 and the Pomperaug River * Sanford Road Historic District – 480 and 487 Sanford Rd. * South Britain Historic District – E. Flat Hill, Hawkins, Library, and Middle Rds., and 497-864 S. Britain Rd. * Southbury Historic District No. 1 – Main St. from Woodbury Town Line to Old Waterbury Rd. * Southbury Training School – 1484 S. Britain Rd., a section of Southbury developed as a facility for mentally handicapped adults. * William Hurd House – 327 Hulls Hill Rd


Southbury Training School

The Southbury Training School is a residential facility for individuals with developmental disabilities and other mental handicaps. The 1,400-acre campus contains a mix of large acreages of farmland still occasionally used by patients and 125 residential cottages. Southbury Training School's future is strongly contested, with some advocating the complete closure of the facility, and others suggesting expanding the facility's population to house more patients.


Southbury Public Library

The Southbury Public Library is a department of the town, with its own 9-member Board of Directors. On May 1, 2006, Southbury officially opened its new library (its 3rd, though no two have ever been in use concurrently) at 100 Poverty Road. This $6 million project was the first public building constructed in Southbury in 30 years. It is a , 2 floor, state-of-the-art facility. It contains around 90,000 books. It has computers, audiobooks, DVDs, recording rooms for recording books for the blind, meeting rooms, internet, a fireplace and a coffee bar. Selections recorded for the blind at the Southbury Public Library become part of the National Library Service catalog. Planning for the library began in 1998, with an original projected bond issue of $7.35m. The planning committee solicited donations from the public, which resulted in two single donations of $100,000 or more, and five more of between $25,000 and $99,000, in addition to smaller donations. The old library building, at 561 Main Street South, has been converted to hold offices for the Parks and Recreation Department, as well as a new senior center. The old library was built in 1969 and expanded in 1979. The oldest library building was located in South Britain (a section and
Historic District A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...
of Southbury) and was replaced in 1969. It was built in 1904 and contained approximately 1,000 volumes.


Shepaug Dam and eagle observation area

The Shepaug Dam on the Housatonic River is part of a hydroelectric power plant, operated by FirstLight Power Resources, capable of a peak power output of 42,600 kW. This dam is a popular nesting and feeding ground for wintering eagles and hawks, including
bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...
s. Near the power station, FirstLight also operates an eagle observation area first opened by the utility's predecessor, Northeast Utilities, in the mid-1980s.Associated Press, "Popular eagle-watching spot set to welcome visitors today",
The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...
'' of Stamford,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, December 26, 2007, page A13
Access is free, and some telescopes are provided. Utility company employees and volunteers from the Connecticut Audubon Society and other groups are at the observation area to assist visitors. Advanced reservations are required. Eagles are attracted to the spot because the water churning through the dam's hydroelectric turbine keeps the surface from icing over, allowing the birds to fish. Red-tailed hawks, goshawks, great blue herons and other waterfowl are also attracted to the spot. The dam flooded an area now known as Lake Lillinonah. FirstLight Power Resources has submitted a plan to the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control to build a new peak-power plant next to the existing hydroelectric facility.


Parks

* Kettletown State Park, a state park on the Housatonic River that includes campgrounds located off I-84 Exit 15 * Southford Falls State Park, a state park off I-84 Exit 15 and I-84 Exit 16 * George Waldo State Park, a state park located on the Housatonic River, off Purchase Brook Road * Ballentine Park, a town park with fields, basketball courts and a public pool (town residents only) * George Ewald Park, a town park consisting of little league baseball fields * Audubon Center at Bent of the River, a nature sanctuary with about of hiking trails, an extensive nature library, and a bird-watching balcony * Community House, a park consisting of newly renovated basketball courts, soccer field, football field, baseball field, and multiple tennis courts


Businesses


IBM Southbury

The largest corporate complex in Southbury is that of
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
. IBM located its facilities between Kettletown Road and Bullet Hill Road, up a hill from Main Street on a site. Access to the site is restricted to authorized personnel only. Its original design and construction allowed for of office space, intended for 2,500 people (later increased as around-the-clock operations began). It also had of "raised floor" data center space, originally designed for large-scale water-cooled mainframe operations. It is an "off the grid" facility, with its power plant taking advantage of jet turbine technology to generate power for the entire site. In 2006, this power plant was replaced with a larger one as power demands increased. IBM Southbury was originally designed to be one of IBM's new corporate headquarters buildings, as IBM's "North Castle" facility in Armonk became outdated. It was never used for this purpose and has been primarily used as an IBM Global Services facility. There are four buildings, labeled A, B, C, and Central Services. Due to decreasing demand for office space, buildings A and C are currently shut down. It was announced in December 2023 that IBM would be closing the complex on January 26, 2024, with the jobs currently located there moving to other locations.


Southbury Corporate Park

Southbury Corporate Park is a largely theoretical site between
I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts), passing through New York and Connecticut {{road disambiguation ...
exits 13 and 14. It is approved for roughly of zone R60-C compliant corporate offices. The town purchased the site for a total of $5 million. It is designed to attract large corporate partners, or at worst, non-"big box" retailers. An arts center has also been proposed for the site, though this proposal was later revoked in favor of a possible location inside the Southbury Training School.


Community organizations


Southbury Volunteer Firemen's Association

The Southbury Volunteer Firemen's Association, Inc. is a private, member-governed corporation, operating as a non-profit organization and is chartered for the purpose of providing emergency service to the community. Serving a rural territory which includes several miles of Interstate 84, single family homes, industrial, heavy commercial, institutional, and some multi-family occupancies. Founded in 1932, they operate out of 4 facilities, with 16 specialty fire vehicles, and 107 department members. They provide services including Fire Suppression, Motor Vehicle Extrication, Operations level HAZMAT, Confined Space, and Water Rescue to the community.


Southbury Ambulance Association

The Southbury Ambulance Association was started as a volunteer organization in 1953 by the Southbury Lions Club, handling both Southbury and Woodbury. The SAA had some of the first EMT's in the state in the 1970s. Until 1978, only SLC members were allowed to join the SAA, which caused difficulties in finding sufficient crew for the ambulance service. As of 1997, the SAA was responding to more than 1,500 service calls a year. Today, the SAA still operates as a volunteer organization which receives zero funding from the town. It currently operates three ambulances.


Southbury Land Trust

The Southbury Land Trust is a "private nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Southbury Connecticut's natural resources for the enjoyment and benefit of all present and future generations." Basically, the SLT purchases or is gifted with land which it places development restrictions on. They currently control more than of land in Southbury. Much of this land is open to the public.


Notable people

* Howard Malcolm Baldrige (1894–1985), politician and lawyer; father of Howard M. Baldrige, Jr. and Letitia Baldrige *
Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer, and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan (singer), Helen ...
(1930–2014), actress, recording artist, and entrepreneur. Bergen called a vintage house on several wooded acres in the South Britain area her home *
Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (; 3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish and American actor, comedian, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in both North America and Europe. Hi ...
(1909–2000), comedian, owned the Colonial House in Southbury, which now serves as a community center. His estate and Cornish hen game farm is now Heritage Village * Linda Cohn (born 1959), sportscaster on the
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
network * Philip Evergood (1901–1973), painter, etcher, lithographer, sculptor, illustrator, and writer * Joel Hinman (1802–1870), Chief Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors * James Ledbetter, author and editor based in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
* Mark W. Libby, United States diplomat * Dave Longstreth, singer and guitarist for the Brooklyn-based band, Dirty Projectors * Jake Longstreth, American painter, musician, and internet radio personality * Jan Miner (1917–2004), actress, most likely to be remembered as "Madge the Manicurist" in dozens of TV commercials for Palmolive dishwashing soap * Wallace Nutting (1861–1941), famed photographer (and also a minister, author, lecturer, furniture maker), moved his photography studio to a farm in town from New York City in 1899. In 1912, he moved again to Framingham,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
* Katie Stevens (born 1992), actress and singer, known for her role in the MTV series Faking it * Billy Frolick (born 1959), American screenwriter who wrote Madagascar and PAW Patrol: The Movie * Ralph Dunning Smyth (1804-1874), American judge and politician * Leland Stowe (1899–1994), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the first to recognize the expansionist character of the German Nazi regime *
Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television host, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York News ...
(1901–1974), iconic television personality and columnist; had a country home in town * Gladys Taber (1899–1980), author of 59 books and columnist in the ''Lady's Home Journal'', lived in "Stillmeadow", a 1690 farmhouse off Jeremy Swamp Road, starting in 1933 (summers only) and 1935 (full-time) * Sada Thompson (1927–2011), an actress of stage, screen, and television, perhaps best known for her role on the long-running ABC drama ''
Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
'' * Krista Watterworth. interior designer and TV personality


References


External links


Town of Southbury official websiteThe Southbury Historical Society
{{authority control Towns in New Haven County, Connecticut Populated places established in 1787 Towns in the New York metropolitan area Towns in Connecticut Towns in Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, Connecticut