Cromwell is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in Middlesex County,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

located in the middle of the state. The population was 14,225 at the 2020 census. The town was named after a shipping boat that traveled along the Connecticut River, which runs along Cromwell. The ship was named after

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometimes ...

of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...

. Other theories are that the town was named after the 1776 warship ''

'', or named directly after the Lord Protector Cromwell. The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a ...

Foundation of America is located in Cromwell. The Evangelical Covenant Church's regional East Coast Conference offices are located in Cromwell.

Points of interest

* On the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

: ** Main Street Historic District – roughly bounded by Nooks Hill Rd., Prospect Hill Rd., Wall and West Sts. and New Ln., and Stevens Ln. and Main St.; since October 24, 1985 **

Middletown Upper Houses Historic District The Middletown Upper Houses Historic District, also known as the Upper Houses River Port, encompasses the historic early nucleus of Cromwell, Connecticut. Sandwiched between Main Street and the Connecticut River, this area was set off from ne ...

– on

Connecticut Route 99 Route 99 is a state highway in Connecticut running for from Route 9 in Cromwell, through the town of Rocky Hill, ending in Wethersfield at the Hartford city line. The road continues into Hartford as a local road (Wethersfield Avenue). It f ...

; since July 27, 1979 **

Sage-Kirby House The Sage-Kirby House is a historic house at 93 Shunpike Road in Cromwell, Connecticut. Built sometime between 1811 and 1815, it is one of four Federal-period brick houses in the town, and the only one of these with a central chimney. The hous ...

– 93 Shunpike Road; since April 29, 1982 *

TPC River Highlands TPC may refer to: Organizations * Tax Policy Center, for US tax analysis * Technology Professionals Canada * Texas Professional Communicators * Transaction Processing Performance Council, developing benchmark specifications for database systems ...

– location of the Travelers Championship,

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

event * Long-time home of hardware manufacturing company Horton Brasses, Inc.

History

Settlers first arrived in the area that is now Cromwell in 1651 Cromwell was originally a part of Middletown known as the Upper Houses, likely due to the fact that the

Mattabesset River The Mattabesset River as delineated on present-day maps flows out of Harts Ponds in the town of Berlin and travels east to the Connecticut River, passing Kensington and later forming the boundary between Middletown and Cromwell.U.S. Geological Su ...

separated it from the rest of Middletown. In 1703, Cromwell formed a separate parish from the rest of Middletown due to the inconvenience of crossing the floodplains of the Mattabesset during certain seasons. From that point on, the schools and churches of the Upper Houses (population about 250) were administered (and taxed for) separately from the rest of Middletown. In 1850, the town began talks of splitting off into a separate town from Middletown. Possible new names included: Upper Middletown, North Middletown, Glenwood, and, the eventual choice, Cromwell, which was put forth by Senator Levi Heaton. The

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. ...

approved the incorporation on June 18, 1851.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the town has a total area of , of which, is land and (4.03%) is water. A major north–south highway, Interstate 91, with two Cromwell exits, runs through the Town. The Central Connecticut Expressway (Route 9), opened at the end of 1989, enhances the Town's location as it connects I-95 in Old Saybrook, I-91 in Cromwell and I-84, the State's major east–west highway in New Britain.

Demographics

At the 2010 census there were 14,005 people, 5,212 households, and 3,262 families in the town. The population density was . There were 5,365

housing unit A housing unit, or dwelling unit, (at later mention often abbreviated to ''unit'') is a structure or the part of a structure or the space that is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one person or more people who maintain a common hous ...

s at an average density of . The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the town was 93.08% White, 3.13% African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.24% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.03% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.19%. Of the 5,212 households 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 30.3% of households were one person and 11.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.99. The age distribution was 21.6% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median household income was US$60,662, and the median family income was $70,505. Males had a median income of $46,223 versus $36,218 for females. The per capita income for the town was $29,786. About 1.6% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Cromwell public schools

There are four public schools in Cromwell: Edna C. Stevens Elementary School (K–2), Woodside Intermediate School (3–5), Cromwell Middle School (6–8), and Cromwell High School (9–12).

Fire Protection

Fire Protection for the Town of Cromwell is provided by the Cromwell Fire District via the Cromwell Fire Department. The Cromwell Fire Department is a combination fire department that operates out of three stations. The Fire Department operates on a rotating 24/7 schedule with six Firefighter/EMT's assigned to each shift. The Fire Department also operates ambulances to provided Emergency Medical Care to residents and visitors. Full time Firefighters are supplemented by Part-time and Volunteer Firefighters.

Notable people

* David Gere, actor and film producer, Gere was born and raised in Cromwell and attended Cromwell High School, class of 1993 *

Donald Honig Donald Martin Honig (born 1931 in New York City) is a novelist, historian and editor who mostly writes about baseball. While a member of the Bobo Newsom Memorial Society, an informal group of writers, Honig attempted to convince Lawrence Ritter t ...

, novelist, historian and editor; lived in Cromwell for over 40 years. In September 2020, there was a ceremony at the Cromwell Belden Public Library where Honig was given with a key to the town and presented with a proclamation declaring it “Donald Honig Day.” In his honor, there is a special “Donald Honig Collection,” where many of his books are on display at the library

In popular culture

* A season 6 episode of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

series ''

A Haunting ''A Haunting'' is an American paranormal drama anthology television series that depicts eyewitness accounts of alleged possession, exorcism, and ghostly encounters. The program features narrations, interviews, and dramatic re-enactments based on ...

'', called ''The Well from Hell'', takes place in Cromwell in 2011.

References

External links

Town government website
{{authority control Towns in Connecticut Towns in Middlesex County, Connecticut Connecticut populated places on the Connecticut River Greater Hartford