Bethel, Connecticut
Bethel is a town in
Fairfield County,
Connecticut,
USA, about sixty miles from
New York City.
The town is easily accessible from
Interstate 84 and has a
train station on the
Danbury Branch of
Metro-North's
New Haven line.
*
P. T. Barnum was born in Bethel at 55 Greenwood Avenue. He expanded the home during his youth after a fire destroyed the front of the building.
* The bicycle manufacturer
Cannondale and battery manufacturer
Duracell are both headquartered in Bethel.
*
Sonic Youth frontman
Thurston Moore and actress
Meg Ryan are from Bethel.
* In 1934, Rudolph Kunett started the first
vodka distillery in the U.S. after purchasing rights to the recipe from the exiled
Smirnoff family.
* Bethel High School is home to an award-winning
NJROTC unit. [
1]
For 96 years, until its secession in
1855, Bethel was a
parish of what would later become
Danbury. The name "Bethel" means "House of
El (God)".
*
Greenwood Avenue Historic District — Roughly along Greenwood Ave., P.T. Barnum Sq., Depot Pl., and South St. (added 1999)
*
Rev. John Ely House — 54 Milwaukee Ave. (added
May 25,
2001)
*
Seth Seelye House — 189 Greenwood Ave. (added
September 29,
1977)
*The Case of the Cosmic Comic (1976)
*Rachel, Rachel (1968) Source:
Internet Movie DataBase Web site's page for Bethel, ConnecticutAccording to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 43.7
km² (16.9
mi²). 43.5 km² (16.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.53%) is water.
| Historical population | | 1860 | 1,711 |
| 1870 | 2,311 |
| 1880 | 2,727 |
| 1890 | 3,401 |
| 1900 | 3,327 |
| 1910 | 3,792 |
| 1920 | 3,201 |
| 1930 | 3,886 |
| 1940 | 4,105 |
| 1950 | 5,104 |
| 1960 | 8,200 |
| 1970 | 10,945 |
| 1980 | 16,004 |
| 1990 | 17,541 |
| 2000 | 18,067 |
| 2002 | 18,449
(estimate) |
As of the
census2 of 2000, there were 18,067 people, 6,505 households, and 4,846 families residing in the town. The
population density was 415.5/km² (1,075.7/mi²). There were 6,653 housing units at an average density of 153.0/km² (396.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 92.39%
White, 1.26%
African American, 0.15%
Native American, 3.55%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 1.09% from
other races, and 1.52% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.70% of the population.
There were 6,505 households out of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% were
married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the town the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $68,891, and the median income for a family was $78,358. Males had a median income of $51,816 versus $36,544 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $28,927. About 1.2% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
*
Bethel home page*
Bethel public school system*
Northeast Connecticut Convention and Visitors BureauSources
*
Interactive Connecticut State Register & Manual*
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
