Danbury

Danbury (dăn´bĕr´ē, –bərē), city (1990 pop. 65,585), Fairfield co., SW Conn.; settled 1685, inc. as a city 1889. Once home to a famous hat industry dating from 1780, this growing, diverse residential city now makes electronic equipment, plastics, machinery, and furniture. A colonial military depot, it was destroyed in Gen. William Tryon's 1777 raid, which led to the death of David Wooster, who is buried here. The noted Danbury Hatters' Case (1902) resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling (1908) prohibiting boycotts by labor unions. In the city are Western Connecticut State Univ. and a federal prison. Several 18th-century houses are included in the Scott-Fanton Museum, and there are sites associated with the composer Charles Ives, a native. Danbury's famous state fair was held for 112 years until 1981; the fairgrounds now house a huge mall. Candlewood Lake lies to the northeast.

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Publication information: Article title: Danbury. Encyclopedia title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. © 2012 The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All Rights Reserved. Publisher: The Columbia University Press. Place of publication: Not available. Publication year: 2013.

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