In the
U.S. state of
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, a borough is an
incorporated section of a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
. 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
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
and
fire services,
garbage collection,
street lighting and maintenance, management of
cemeteries, and
building code
A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for construction objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permis ...
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.
Historical background
Bridgeport (now a separate
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
) 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. 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.
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.
See also
*
Administrative divisions of Connecticut
*
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
References
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)
{{authority control
Local government in Connecticut
Connecticut geography-related lists