HVCEO - Town of Bethel, Connecticut

Natural Setting
and Town OrigiNS
Originally settled as the southeast part of the Town of Danbury, the Town of Bethel lies at the edge of the broad limestone valley of the upper Still River. Most of the town's area of 10,869 acres is drained by four streams - Sympaug, Wolf Pit, East Swamp and Limekiln Brooks, all of which flow northward to the Still River at Danbury. Small sections in the extreme south drain to Long Island Sound.

The Town's terrain is hilly and varied. Ridges define its western border with Danbury, and rugged highlands rise in its southern section to the Redding line.

Gently rolling hills, good farmland in the past, comprise the Codfish Hill, Plumtrees, Walnut Hill and Stony Hill eastern section of the Town. Lowlands along the Sympaug and East Swamp Brooks include significant aquifers, formed from gravel laid down over 10,000 years ago in glacial lakes (see glacial deposits map).

(See also early research on glaciers and drainage development in Greater Danbury), and more particularly such research for the Still River Valley.

TOPOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW OF BETHEL, CT
The highest elevation in Bethel is about 860 feet, found in the south-
eastern corner of the Town. The low point of about 300 feet is located on the
East Swamp Brook flowing northerly into Danbury, located more than two
thirds up the length of the Town. See the full context for Bethel's
terrain on the regional topographic map.

Bethel center, formerly the Village of Bethel, occupies the lower valley of the Sympaug Brook near the Danbury line. Town settlement began here before 1700, as early inhabitants of Danbury quickly claimed the level and fertile lands in the Grassy Plain section for farming.

Main Street in the center, site of the first meeting house and earliest village, developed at a "notch" or low point in the Chestnut Ridge - Shelter Rock Ridge where the terrain allowed a trail to cross eastward from Grassy Plain to other good lands. Early paths or roads were laid out in all directions from this point, becoming present day Wooster St., Maple Ave., Milwaukee Ave., Hoyt's Hill Rd., Chestnut St., Nashville Rd., and Reservoir St.

The Town's future development pattern was significantly influenced not only by its arable lands and rugged hills but also by this one central location accessible from all sections of its hilly topography.

Bethel Development:
Beginnings To 1950
In common with other towns of the Region, the better agricultural lands were cleared early in the eighteenth century. By the mid-nineteenth century most of the land outside the village was in self-sufficient small farms. The Revolutionary period saw the passing thru of the French General Rochambeau.

Industry first appeared during the Revolutionary War in response to domestic needs, and by the 1790's there were various mills, trades and four small hat shops in operation. Transportation improved in the early 1800's s two turnpikes were built through the central area (over Grassy Plain and Chestnut Streets), providing a link to the tidewater.

By the 1850's the center contained 9 hat shops, 7 stores, a tan yard, a blacksmith shop, a carriage shop and about 70 houses. In 1852 the railroad was completed from Danbury to Norwalk and the commercial center shifted westward from Main and Chestnut Streets to the vicinity of the present railroad station. At the Town's incorporation in 1855 there was a population of about 1,500 persons.

With the prosperity of the hatting industry, the central a area continued to grow through the latter l800's. Additional hat shops and commercial buildings were built near the railroad and along Greenwood Avenue. New residential streets were laid out west of the railroad, and many dozens of substantial homes were built in the "Victorian" style throughout the village. Streets in the village were improved and a public water system installed, drawing its supply from Eureka Reservoir west of the village, in 1878.

A high school was built in the village in 1888, and two eight-room grade schools (Center and Grassy Plain) in 1894. A street car line to Danbury commenced service in 1887, making the Grassy Plain section a "trolley suburb". In the countryside, however, agriculture was declining in the face of western competition and farms were being abandoned as rural dwellers moved to cities or went west.

By 1910 village population had peaked while rural population continued to decline; in that year Bethel's population stood at a high of 3,792 while ten years later it would register only 3,201 persons. A table of census population by decade for Bethel in this period is available.

The advent of the automobile brought an abrupt turnabout. Paved state highways (present Routes. 58 and 302) reached the center of Bethel about 1920, about the same time Route 6 was paved eastward from Danbury through Stony Hill.

As state aid became available for surfacing town roads, the formerly isolated rural areas began a population comeback. New houses and small commercial establishments were attracted to main roads in Stony Hill and elsewhere, and country homes were established in Chestnut Ridge, Sunset Hill and Plumtrees by affluent families from New York City.

What did Bethel's neighborhoods look like in 1934? Check them out on this highly detailed aerial photograph. You will see a lot of farm land, for according to the U. Conn Dept. of Agriculture in 1935 there were 219 agricultural businesses in Bethel occupying 68% of the Town's total area.

During this period, 1920-1950, although hats and hat components remained the principal industry, the village continued a modest growth as it developed into a regional trading center in building materials, fuel oil, coal, services and retail goods. The Town's population in 1950 was 5,104, of which 4,145 persons (81%) resided in the village and 959 persons were rural residents.

Developed land in 1950 (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and utilities, but excluding gravel mines, water supply and major reservations) totaled less than 500 acres -- 4.6% of Town area, mostly concentrated in the village. Major reservations, primarily state parks and water supply land, accounted for an additional 266 acres.

Bethel Development:
1950 To 2000
In 1950 Bethel was a rural town with a compact central village. The commercial center was concentrated, as presently, along Greenwood Ave. frontage between the railroad and the vicinity of Fountain Place (now Barnum Square) with a few additional small businesses along Grassy Plain St. between Greenwood Avenue and Mansfield Street.

The railroad frontage north and south of Greenwood contained extensive wholesale commercial and industrial uses (coal and oil storage, contractor supply yards, two lumber yards, a woodworking shop, a tannery, a fuel oil depot). Two hat factories, both inactive, remained in archaic buildings on Greenwood Ave. at Sympaug Brook and on Main Street east of Fountain Place.

Private residences, the Town offices, the Town library and several churches all were to be found in close proximity to the businesses along Greenwood. Route 6 through Stony Hill was still rural in character, with scattered residences and 8 or 10 small roadside businesses, including tourist cabins, filling stations and other enterprises.

Concentrated residential development, mostly single family on smaller lots, extended throughout the village from Fleetwood Ave. and Reservoir St. on the west to Highland and Maple Avenues on the east. Scattered homes were to be found along all of the Town's rural roads but there was not yet a pattern of subdivision outside the confines of the village. Nine farms and a dozen gravel mines were in active operation at various locations throughout the town.

But 1950 was a turning point. While the hat industry faded new light industry was being attracted to the Danbury-Bethel area by virtue of its available sites, skilled labor force and attractive living areas. World War II veterans were forming families and seeking housing. In its proximity to Danbury and location on the fringe of the New York metropolitan area, Bethel was suddenly within commuting range of lower Fairfield County, Westchester and even Manhattan.

Several new small industries located on sites in the village in the 1950's. Intensive subdivision activity began at several areas in the village and in Stony Hill. By 1957 the building boom had created over 200 new houses in Stony Hill, a like number in the west end of the village (west of Grassy Plain St.), and another 250 in scattered locations east of the village. By 1960 Town population had jumped to 8,200, a 60% increase in only ten years.

The Town rushed to build additional school space at its "educational park" off Judd Ave. (east side of village), a town hall, additional library space and other public facilities. Under state mandate, installation of a sanitary sewerage system throughout the village commenced in the mid-sixties, in response to numerous septic failures, growth, and badly polluted brooks. Local sewer service expanded thereafter. In addition municipal wells were constructed to augment water supply.

Construction of Interstate 84, the Region's first expressway took place in the early sixties, passing through northern Stony Hill with an interchange just west of the Bethel-Danbury line. Commercial development increased along the nearby Route 6 frontage, and extensive residential subdivision continued throughout the Stony Hill section, on predominantly half-acre lots.

It had always been intuitive to shape Bethel's development to natural features of the underlying landscape. These are "constraints on development" due to soil, slope and flood plain.

But as planning and zoning modernized, consideration of these limiting natural features became more formalized in local land use regulations, this trend due in part to newly available federal and state natural resource maps.

HVCEO as the regional planning agency for Bethel was formed in 1968, the word "Housatonic" in its title having its source in an old indian name.

By 1969 there were over 500 dwellings in this erstwhile agricultural area, rapidly becoming a suburb. New dwelling construction continued as well throughout other sections, and Town population reached 10,945 in 1970. Several small, light industrial plants were built on Wooster Street during this decade, and non-agricultural employment virtually doubled, from 1356 jobs in 1960 to 2550 jobs in 1970.

After the arrival of Connecticut's 1973 wetlands protection law, development potential in Bethel was significantly reduced as the approximately 11% of municipal land area defined as wetland was largely excluded from development.

Even so, the building boom continued apace during the 1970's and early 1980's with the growth of the regional economy. Two industrial parks were established during this period, north of I-84 at the Danbury line and off 53 just south of the village. A warehouse replaced the tannery on Henry St. and new retail and office space was built along the railroad to replace old lumber and building supply yards.

By 1990 over 6,000 jobs were provided in Bethel, of which 2,370 were in manufacturing and 1,330 were in retail and wholesale trade. Office uses expanded westward along Greenwood Ave. during this period and new retail uses replaced dwellings and old industrial uses at the Greenwood-Grassy Plain vicinity. A large motel, retail stores, offices and a utility service building were built along Rt. 6 in Stony Hill.

By the 1970's and 1980's residential development was occurring widely throughout the town. Much of the remaining land in Stony Hill was subdivided, as were extensive areas of former farmland in Walnut Hill, Plumtrees and Hoyts Hill. Fortunately the scenic and productive Blue Jay Orchards was permanently preserved thru a state farmlands preservation program.

Also during this period older dwellings in the village were converted to apartments, and condominiums appeared at the edge of the village off Maple, Chestnut and Wooster Streets, and on Shelter Rock.

The town's population leapt upward to 16,004 in 1980 and, reflecting the recession of the latter 1980's, stood at 17,541 in 1990. While but one farm, an apple orchard preserved by conservation easement remained, protected open space had also increased over the years since 1950. In 1990, 42.6% of Bethel's land had been developed for intensive uses, 12.5% was permanent open space, and 44.9% was vacant, some of the latter, such as wetland and steep slopes, not suitable for development.

Bethel's population reached 18,607 in 2000, a modest increase of 3% over 1990. Having moved into the twenty first century, this attractive Town has a bright future as a pleasant place in which to live and work.