About Danbury, CT
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Danbury is located in Fairfield County Connecticut and is about sixty miles from New York City. Its nickname is Hat City because it used to be a center of the hat industry, at one point producing 25% of America's hatsThe town is easily accessible from I-84 and has a train station on the Danbury Branch of Metro-North's New Haven line.
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Danbury was first settled by colonists in 1685, when eight families moved to the area from the area that is now Norwalk and Stamford. The area was then called Paquiaqe by the Paquioque Indians. One of the first settlers was Samuel Benedict who bought land from the Paquioque natives in 1685 along with his brother James, James Beebe, and Judah Gregory. The settlers originally chose the name Swampfield for their town, but in October 1687, the general court decreed the name Danbury.
During the American Revolution, Danbury was an important military supply depot for the Continental army. On April 26-27, 1777, the British under Major General William Tryon burned and looted the city. The central motto on the Seal of the City of Danbury is Restituimus (Latin for "We have restored"), a reference to the destruction caused by the Loyalist army troops. The American General David Wooster was mortally wounded near the city of Ridgefield, Connecticut by these same British forces which had earlier attacked Danbury. He is buried in Danbury's Wooster Cemetery, and the private Wooster School in Danbury is named in his honor.
In 1780, the first hat factory in Danbury was established by Zadoc Benedict, employing three workers and producing 18 hats a week. Danbury was known as "The Hat City" or the "Hatting Capital of the World" during the early 20th Century.
In 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, a religious group, in which he used the expression "Separation of Church and State". It is the first known instance of the expression, which does not appear in the U.S. Constitutin, contrary to popular belief. (This letter is on display at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Danbury.)
The first Danbury Fair was held in 1821. By 1869, it became a yearly event and was held until 1981. After 1981, the fairgrounds were demolished to make room for the Danbury Fair Mall.
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