Ansonia, Connecticut
Ansonia , Connecticut Quick Facts: Land area is approximately 6 Square miles and the elevation is 141 feet. Incorporated in 1889, Ansonia currently has about 18,408 residents in 7,338 households, 53% of which are owner occupied. Approximately 49.5% of the housing stock was built prior to 1950. The 2012-2013 Tax Rate is 26.25 mills. See the 2011-2012 property tax rate for Ansonia here.
Check out our 12 page detailed demographic report HERE.
The City of Ansonia is in New Haven County, Connecticut on the Naugatuck River. Ansonia was part of Derby when the first settlers came in 1652. It wasn't until 1844 when Anson Greene Phelps purchased land along the East side of the Naugatuck River, dug a canal for this new industrial area for businesses and factories and named it Ansonia. In 1888 the borough of Ansonia , a petitioned to become a separate township from Derby, and that separation was granted in 1889, which included the Hilltop, West Ansonia, The Borough, and Elm Street areas. Current nrighborhoods include Derby Hill, Windy Hill, the North End, Hilltop, and West Ansonia.
Ansonia has suffered many traumatic losses to its landscape over the years. In the mid-1930s, its original high school burned down. Hurricane Diane brought massive rains that created such an overflow to the Naugatuck River that not only took down the Maple Street Bridge, but destroyed many blocks of houses and a multitude of businesses. The catastrophic event is known as The Great Flood ( August 19, 1955 ) Years after the flood, Main Street began to look run-down and businesses started moving out. Retail shoppers went elsewhere, and malls started popping up in nearby communities,and people didn't have to go downtown anymore. And if that wasn't enough, the Latex Foam Company building-a 284,000 square foot building in the downtown area along the Naugatuck River caught fire in 2001. It took 5 days to extinguish, even with multiple counties firefighting units. The smoke was thick, and acrid fumes swept over neighboring towns as well for quite some time, and it made national headlines.
An extremely resilient small town, for decades the residents fought back adversity and came back stronger. When the high school burned down, not only did the town build a new one, but hired famed designer William Lescaze to create the plans. He was noted for being at the forefront of modernism, and the school opened in 1936, it was considered very modern and unique. The revitalization efforts of the downtown area are evident and quite impressive considering everything this small town has gone through. Antique stores and boutiques are still popping up, and even the old Latex Foam Company building, which was an empty lot and vacant for years, is now a Target superstore.
Local Landmarks include the Ansonia Opera House which was built in 1870, and is the oldest opera house in Connecticut. Also to note is Ansonia Copper & Brass facilities , National Guard Armory, its public library, the YMCA and the Farrel Corporation
Notable and honored Ansonia Residents include David Humphreys- a diplomat, legislator, entrepreneur. Humphreys accompanied George Washington to New York for the first inaugural. Highly decorated Korean War veteran General Samuel Jaskilka, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps 1975-1978 who led the Marines onto Red Beach in Incheon, Pusan Perimeter. Also William Wallace who was the co-inventor of the first electric dynamo, (with Moses Farmer) .It was first shown at Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition in 1876. Thomas Edison utilized this idea to create the light bulb.
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TRIVIA: Two Presidents made campaign stops here- John F. Kennedy, once as Senator while on a campaign stop, and then again as President, and George H. W. Bush by helicopter
In 2000, the Lower Naugatuck Valley, which includes Ansonia, was named an "All America City" by the National Civic League.
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