History of Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Waterbury is a post township, situated in the northwest part of the county, 20 miles distant from New-Haven; bounded north by Watertown and Plymouth, east by Wolcott and Cheshire, south by Woodbridge and Oxford, and west by Oxford and Middlebury, comprising an area of about 40 square miles; having an average length of 8 miles, and an average breadth of 5 miles. Its surface is diversified with hill and dale. The soil is generally a gravelly loam, and affords tolerably good grazing, and such productions as are common to this region...

Waterbury, Connecticut
New Haven county. The Indian Mattatuck, a territory comprising this and some of the neighboring towns, being 18 miles in length and 10 miles in width, was sold by the red men to the whites in the year 1684, "for divers good causes and thirty-nine pounds." This piece of ground was supposed by the white men, to afford sufficient room and accommodations for thirty families. The territory now contains 8,000 people; and if its population was as dense as that of England, in 1831, it would contain no less than 20,610, or of Belgium, 35,370 souls.

There are some good lands on the borders of the streams, within the present limits of Waterbury; but the surface of the town is generally rough, and the soil difficult of cultivation.

This town lies 28 miles S.W. from Hartford and 20 N. by W. from New Haven. Population, 1830, 3,070.

Samuel Hopkins, D.D., the founder of a religious sect, denominated Hopkinsians, was born in this town in 1721. He died at Newport, R.I., ...

Waterbury, a beautiful and flourishing city of New Haven county, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck railroad, and on the route of the Hartford, Providence, and Fish- kill railroad, which will be completed to this place by July, 1854, about 28 miles S. W. from Hartford, 21 miles N. W. by N. from New Haven, 82 miles N. E. from New York. It is delightfully situated in the Naugatuck Valley, the site extending eastward from the stream, up a graceful slope occupied with numerous tasteful residences. The dwellings generally arc remarkable for their neatness. and are usually adorned with shade-trees, flower-gardens, and shrubbery. In the centre is a beautiful public square. There are now 7 churches in the city, several of which are elegant structures. St. John's, (Episcopal,) situated on the principal street, near the upper part of Centre square, is one of the most splendid church edifices in New England. It is built of granite, in the Nor man style, and was dedicated in 1848. A new Methodist...

NEW-HAVEN, Friday, Aug. 18.
The large button factory of MALTBY, MORTON & Co., in Waterbury, Conn., was totally destroyed by fire this morning at 3 o'clock.

The building was entirely of wood, three stories high, and it burned like a cinder. The loss is $80,000. Insured $40,000.

The fire was probably the work of an incendiary.
A large number of hands are thrown out of employment.
The building is to be immediately rebuilt.