Borough (Connecticut)

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]

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]

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Winsted Winchester 1858 Consolidated with Winchester 1915; chartered as city in 1917, although the US Census Bureau rescinded recognition sometime between 1970 and 1980.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

See also
  • Administrative divisions of Connecticut
  • Borough

References
  1. "Town Elections". Connecticut Secretary of the State. Archived from the original on 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
  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. 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2008-06-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading
  • C.H. Carter, "Connecticut boroughs", New Haven Colony Historical Society Papers, Vol. IV (1886), p. 149
  • N.M. Schoonmaker, The Actual Government of Connecticut, (National Woman Suffrage Publishing, 1919)
  • C.H. Douglas, The Government of the People of the State of Connecticut, (Hinds, Hayden and Eldredge, 1917)
  • Various editions of the Connecticut State Register and Manual
  • R.A. Ferry, "A short directory of the names, past and current of Connecticut boroughs", (Connecticut Ancestry Society, 1996)
  • W.E. Buckley and C.E. Perry, "Connecticut, the state and its government", (Oxford Book Co., 1948)
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