Southbury

SOUTHBURY In 1659 this area was part of a large tract of land bought from the Paugussett Indians by prospective settlers from Stratford. The boundaries of this purchase, from which several towns were later formed, extended from the Pootatuck River on the southwest to the Naugatuck River on the northeast. The first settlers arrived in 1673 and the area was named Woodbury in the following year. The Southbury Ecclesiastical Society was formed in 1733, when a new meetinghouse was erected. In 1787 Southbury and South Britain together were incorporated by the General Assembly as a new town of approximately forty square miles. Because of available water power, many small mills and manufacturing plants were established here. A railroad line served the town from 1881 to 1948. Southbury, in spite of rapid population growth, has retained most of its rural characteristics and natural beauty.