Naugatuck dates to 1701, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #47 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 132 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Naugatuck’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Naugatuck is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #47 of 155 in Connecticut. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Naugatuck’s overall grade.
Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Naugatuck’s 42.8 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 136 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1701.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Naugatuck’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Settlement began as early as 1702. Samuel Hickox (1669–1713), credited as Naugatuck’s first settler, established a fulling mill on Fulling Mill Brook in 1709. The locality was known as Judds Meadow until 1752, when it was renamed Salem Bridge.
In 1844, parts of Waterbury, Bethany, and Oxford incorporated as the town of Naugatuck. The Borough of Naugatuck was established in 1893 and became coextensive with the town in 1895.
Passages that mention Naugatuck, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut1918 · page 214Read the page →
Read the text
He resigned his position, soon after opening of the road for public travel, and entered the employ of the Naugatuck Railroad Company, and in this connection laid out and was in charge of construction of the first piece of double track constructed by this company, running six miles northerly from Junction with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad; also engaged in improving the main track at other points, by elimination of curvature, improvement of grades, the location of new stations, yard tracks, the designing and construction of a locomotive round-house, coal handling railway, and the rebuilding of nearly all the timber stringer, and truss bridges into wrought iron structures. This
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Naugatuck, 1701 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1701, according to Wikidata. Naugatuck’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1850 counted 1,720 people here.
How does Naugatuck rank for history?
Naugatuck is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #47 of 155 in Connecticut. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Naugatuck?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Salem School (listed 1983, the first), and 1 historic district, the Naugatuck Center Historic District, with 132 contributing buildings. 136 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Naugatuck?
20% of Naugatuck’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1971.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (9), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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