Borough (Connecticut)

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In the U.S. state of Connecticut, a borough is an incorporated section of a town. Borough governments are not autonomous and are subordinate to the government of the town to which they belong. For example, Fenwick is a borough in Old Saybrook. A borough is a clearly defined municipality and provides some municipal services, such as police and fire services, garbage collection, street lighting and maintenance, management of cemeteries, and building code enforcement. Other municipal services not provided by the borough are provided by the parent town. Connecticut boroughs are administratively similar to villages in New York. Borough elections are held biennially in odd years on the first Monday in May. [1]

Contents

Historical background

Bridgeport (now a separate city) was the state's first borough, formed in 1800 or 1801 as a subdivision of the town of Stratford. Numerous additional boroughs were established thereafter, mostly during the 19th century, to serve a variety of local governmental purposes. There were 18 boroughs in the state as of 1850 and a total of 26 as of 1910. Most Connecticut boroughs have subsequently disincorporated or have become cities. [2] [3] An example of a former borough is Willimantic located in the Town of Windham. It was originally incorporated as a borough in 1833, re-incorporated as a city in 1893 and in 1983 was dis-incorporated becoming a special service district within the town of Windham under the town's governmental control. [4]

List of boroughs

As of 2016, there are nine boroughs in Connecticut, four of which share the name of the town in which they are located. Of the current boroughs, one (Naugatuck) is consolidated with its town. Litchfield is the only town to have two incorporated boroughs located within its limits. Below is a list of boroughs that have existed ordered by date of incorporation. Currently existing boroughs are indicated in boldface. [5]

BoroughParent townDate incorporatedCurrent status
Bridgeport Stratford 1800Consolidated city-town separate from original parent town since 1889
Stonington Stonington 1801Borough
Guilford Guilford 1815Disincorporated 1941
Essex Deep River (Saybrook)1820Disincorporated 1854 when Town of Essex was incorporated
Killingworth (Clinton) Killingworth 1820Disincorporated 1838 when Town of Clinton was incorporated
Danbury Danbury 1822Consolidated city-town since 1965
Newtown Newtown 1824Borough
Colchester Colchester 1824/1846Disincorporated 1990
Waterbury Waterbury 1825Consolidated city-town since 1902
Stamford Stamford 1830Consolidated city-town since 1949
Southport Fairfield 1831Disincorporated 1854
Willimantic Windham 1833Disincorporated 1893 when City of Willimantic was incorporated
Clifton Winchester 1833Disincorporated 1858
(Became part of new Borough of Winsted)
Worthington Berlin 1834Disincorporated ?
Norwalk Norwalk 1836Consolidated city-town since 1913
Humphreysville Derby 1836Disincorporated 1850 when Town of Seymour was incorporated
Bethel Danbury 1847Town of Bethel separated from Danbury in 1855; Borough disincorporated (?)
New Britain New Britain 1850Consolidated city-town since 1906
Birmingham Derby 1851Consolidated city-town since 1893 (as Derby)
Wallingford Wallingford 1853Disincorporated 1958
Sharon Sharon 1853Disincorporated ?
Danielson Killingly 1854Borough
Greenwich Greenwich 1854Disincorporated 1932
Winsted Winchester 1858Consolidated with Winchester 1915; chartered as city in 1917, although the US Census Bureau rescinded recognition sometime between 1970 and 1980.
Ansonia Derby 1864Consolidated city-town in 1893, separated from original parent town in 1889 when town of Ansonia was incorporated
Branford Branford 1867Disincorporated 1970s
Fair Haven East East Haven
(annexed to New Haven in 1881)		1872Disincorporated 1897
West Stratford Stratford 1873Disincorporated 1889 (now part of the city of Bridgeport)
West Haven Orange 1873Consolidated city-town since 1961, separated from parent town of Orange since 1921
Stafford Springs Stafford 1873Disincorporated 1991
Litchfield Litchfield 1879Borough
Shelton Shelton (Huntington)1882Consolidated city-town since 1915
Torrington Torrington 1887Consolidated city-town since 1923
New Canaan New Canaan 1889Disincorporated 1935
Southington Southington 1889Disincorporated 1948
Naugatuck Naugatuck 1893Consolidated borough-town since 1895
Bristol Bristol 1893Consolidated city-town since 1911
Jewett City Griswold 1895Borough
Fenwick Old Saybrook 1899Borough
Farmington Farmington 1901Disincorporated 1947
Ridgefield Ridgefield 1901Disincorporated 1921
Groton Groton 1903Chartered as non-coextensive city in 1964
Woodmont Milford 1903Borough
Bantam Litchfield 1915Borough
Unionville Farmington 1921Disincorporated 1947

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Town Elections". Connecticut Secretary of the State. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  2. ↑ Connecticut Heritage Commission (2003), City, Town, Borough, and County, Connecticut Heritage Gateway website, accessed January 31, 2010
  3. ↑ S. Matthews, The Woman Citizen's Library , (The Civics Society, Chicago, 1913), Volume 4, Chapter 8
  4. ↑ "Incorporation of the Borough of Willimantic". Connecticut Genealogy. August 9, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading

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