Litchfield, Connecticut: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 20142024}}

'''Litchfield''' is a [[New England town|town]] in and former [[county seat]] of [[Litchfield County, Connecticut|Litchfield County]], [[Connecticut]], [[United States]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011-06-07|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref> The population was 8,192 at the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0600000US0900543370|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2021-12-December 17, 2021|title=Census - Geography Profile: Litchfield town, Litchfield County, Connecticut}}</ref> The town is part of the [[Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut|Northwest Hills Planning Region]]. The [[borough (Connecticut)|borough]]s of [[Bantam, Connecticut|Bantam]] and [[Litchfield (borough), Connecticut|Litchfield]] are located within the town. There are also three unincorporated villages: [[East Litchfield Village, Connecticut|East Litchfield]], [[Milton (Litchfield)|Milton]], and [[Northfield, Connecticut|Northfield]]. Northfield, located in the southeastern corner of Litchfield, is home to a high percentage of the Litchfield population.

In 1751 it became the county- seat of Litchfield countyCounty, and at the same time the borough of Litchfield (incorporated in 1879) was laid out. From 1776 to 1780, two depots for military stores and a workshop for the Continental army were maintained, and the leaden statue of George III., erected in [[Bowling Green (New York City)]], in 1770, and torn down by citizens on theJuly 9th of July9, 1776, was cut up and taken to Litchfield, where, in the house of Oliver Wolcott, it was melted into bullets for the American army by Wolcott's daughter and sister.<ref name=EB1911/>

During the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]], several prominent Loyalists were held prisoner in the town, including [[William Franklin]], son of [[Benjamin Franklin]],<ref>[http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1996-12-01-9611280594-story.html A LITCHFIELD JAIL FOR BEN FRANKLIN'S SON] Retrieved January 30, 2019</ref> and [[David Mathews]], Mayor of [[New York City]].<ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mathews_david_4E.html Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Mathews, David] Retrieved January 30, 2019</ref>

In 1784, the first [[law school]] in the United States, the so-named [[Litchfield Law School]], was established by judge and legal scholar [[Tapping Reeve]]. Prior to its establishment, Reeve had accepted several legal apprentices since he had settled there in 1773, but saw such demand for his expertise that he formally opened the one-room school within a decade.<ref>{{cite book|title=Historic Litchfield, 1721-1907|last=Bulkeley|first=Alice Talcott|page=[https://archive.org/details/historiclitchfie00bulkiala/page/15 15]|publisher=The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company|year=1907|url=https://archive.org/details/historiclitchfie00bulkiala}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Oldest Law School|date=August 15, 2006|last=Oman|first=Nate|archive-date=February 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219171742/https://concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/08/the_oldest_law.html|url=https://concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/08/the_oldest_law.html|website=Concurring Opinions}}</ref> During the school's fifty -year history it would accept more than 1,100 students, including [[Aaron Burr, Jr.]], [[Horace Mann]], and [[Levi Woodbury]], the first justice of the [[US Supreme Court]] to attend law school.<ref>{{cite book |title=Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School |location=Hartford, CT |publisher=Press of Case, Tiffany and Company |year=1849}}</ref>

|access-date=August 2, 2020-08-02

Located southwest of [[Torrington, Connecticut|Torrington]], Litchfield also includes part of [[Bantam Lake]]. According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 56.8&nbsp;square miles (147.1&nbsp;km²), of which, 56.1&nbsp;square miles (145.2&nbsp;km²) of it is land and 0.7&nbsp;square milesmile (1.9&nbsp;km²) of it (1.3%) is water.

Litchfield is about {{convert|95|mi|km|abbr=on}} from [[Central Park]] in New York, aboutapproximately {{convert|50|mi|km|abbr=on}} from the [[Hudson River]] Valley, and about {{convert|40|mi|km|abbr=on}} from the nearest sea coast, on [[Long Island Sound]].

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 8,316 people, 3,310 households, and 2,303 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|148.4|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 3,629 housing units at an average density of {{convert|64.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|racial makeup]] of the town was 96.99% White, 0.75% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population.

! colspan = 6 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 31, 2023<ref>{{cite web|url=https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SOTS/ElectionServices/Registration_and_Enrollment_Stats/Nov23RE-Rev2.pdf|title=Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 31, 2023|publisher=Connecticut Secretary of State|access-date=March 4, 2024-03-04}}</ref>

The 1812 [[Litchfield County Jail]], the town's oldest public building, is in Litchfield.<ref>{{Cite magazine|author=Cooper, Anneliese|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/27129-orange-is-the-new-blacks-prison-location-isnt-real-but-its-not-entirely-fictional-either|title='Orange Is the New Black's Prison Location Isn't Real, But It's Not Entirely Fictional Either|magazine=[[Bustle (magazine)|Bustle]]|date=June 6, 2014-06-06|access-date=August 4, 2017-08-04}}</ref> While controlled by the Connecticut state government, the facility historically held inmates convicted of minor offenses.<ref name=RyanBill>{{Cite news|author=Ryan, Bill|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/16/nyregion/litchfield-s-jail-begins-another-era-with-women-hoping-for-new-lives.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1|title=Litchfield's Jail Begins Another Era With Women Hoping for New Lives|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=1994-10-October 16, 1994|access-date=August 5, 2017-08-05}}</ref> [[List of governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut]] [[Lowell Weicker|Lowell P. Weicker Jr.]] ordered the facility closed for financial reasons in 1993. It was converted into the McAuliffe Manor, a substance abuse treatment center for women operated by Naugatuck Valley HELP Inc.,<ref name=RyanBill /> but in 2009 the contract between Naugatuck Valley HELP Inc. and the state expired, leading to the closure of McAuliffe Manor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.registercitizen.com/general-news/20090522/rehab-center-closing-mccauliffe-manors-contract-expires|author=Taylor, Alex|title=Rehab center closing: McCauliffe Manor's contract expires|publisher=[[The Register Citizen]]|date=2009-05-May 22, 2009|access-date=August 5, 2017-08-05}}</ref>

[[Litchfield Public Schools]] operates public schools. [[Litchfield High School (Litchfield, Connecticut)|Litchfield High School]] is the area high school. Students may also attend [[Wamogo Regional High School|Wamogo Regional Six]] to study agriculture, located in Litchfield, or [[Oliver Wolcott Technical High School|Oliver Wolcott Technical School]], located in [[Torrington, Connecticut|Torrington]].

Litchfield Center School hosts children in grades K–3, with a Pre-K program available. Students then move on to Litchfield Intermediate School, where they will remain through sixth grade. Students then finish their Litchfield Public School career at [[Litchfield High School (Litchfield, Connecticut)|Litchfield High School]].

Litchfield is also home to [[Forman School]], a private [[boarding school]] for students in grades 9–12/PG with learning differences such as [[ADD]]/[[ADHD]] and [[dyslexia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Forman School - Private School for Students with ADHD & Dyslexia |url=formanschool.org |access-date=6 April 6, 2022}}</ref>

* [[Caroline Fitzgerald]] (1865–1911), poet<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pallastrelli |first1=Gottardo |title=Ritratto di signora in viaggio : un'americana cosmopolita nel mondo di Henry James |trans-title=Portrait of a Travelling Lady|date=2018 |publisher=Donzelli editore |location=Roma |isbn=978-88-6843-7770 |language=it |type=eBook|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

* [[Robert Pierpoint (Vermont politician)|Robert Pierpoint]], [[Lieutenant Governor of Vermont]]{{sfn|''Men of Vermont Illustrated''|}}

* [[Mary Livingston Ripley]], horticulturist, entomologist, and photographer<ref>{{cite news|title=Mary L. Ripley, Smithsonian Leader|url=https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-56868296/mary-l-ripley-smithsonian-leader|newspaper=The Washington Times|access-date=10 November 10, 2012}}</ref>

* [[Charles Smith (cowboy)|Charles Smith]], Arizona lawman and friend of [[Wyatt Earp]]