The story
History
Origins
Shelton was settled by the English as part of the town of Stratford in 1639. On May 15, 1656, the Court of the Colony of Connecticut in Hartford affirmed that the town of Stratford included all of the territory 12 miles (19 km) inland from Long Island Sound, between the Housatonic River and the Fairfield town line. In 1662, Stratford selectmen Lt. Joseph Judson, Captain Joseph Hawley and John Minor had secured all the written deeds of transfer from the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation for this vast territory that comprises the present-day towns of Trumbull, Shelton and Monroe. Shelton was split off from Stratford in 1789, as Huntington (named for Samuel Huntington).
The current name originated in a manufacturing village started in the 1860s named for the Shelton Company founded by Edward N. Shelton—also founder of Ousatonic Water Power Company.
The rapidly growing borough of Shelton incorporated as a city in 1915 and was consolidated with the town of Huntington in 1919, establishing the present city of Shelton.
Decline of Shelton's industry
Shelton was the site of one of the largest arson fires in the United States history. It happened in 1975 when the Sponge Rubber Products plant (formerly owned by B.F. Goodrich) was set on fire. Charles Moeller, president of parent company Grand Sheet Metal Products, was acquitted of criminal charges, but in a suit under civil law (where preponderance of evidence suffices to establish a factual claim), a jury found in 1988 the insurer was entitled to disallow claims on the fire losses, based on the finding that the company's top officials arranged the fire to claim insurance money. Eight others were convicted or pleaded guilty.
The explosion that destroyed the Sponge Rubber Plant on Canal Street in 1975 marked the start of the decline of Shelton's industries. During the remainder of the 1970s and 1980s several firms that operated factories along the banks of the Housatonic River either went out of business or relocated to areas where labor and operating costs were cheaper. In 1995, Sikorsky Aircraft closed a plant off Bridgeport Avenue that manufactured electrical components for helicopters.
Rise of Shelton's office space
With the completion of Route 8, new office spaces and businesses were attracted to the town, due to its Fairfield County location coupled with low costs of doing business as opposed to places such as Stamford or Greenwich. Major firms such as Tetley Tea, TIE Communication, I.T.T., Black and Decker, Sikorsky Aircraft, Gama Aviation, Chesebrough-Pond's, Tetra-Pak, General Electric, and Bunker Ramo. Over 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) of corporate office space spread across 12 buildings was constructed by the R.D. Scinto corporation alone.
Downtown revitalization
Efforts are underway to restore nineteenth-century industrial buildings in the downtown area; those that were beyond repair were demolished in the late 1990s and early 2000s and replaced with the Veteran's Memorial and a farmer's market. The 10-acre (40,000 m2) Riverwalk Park next to the Veterans Memorial was created on the site of the former Sponge Rubber Plant. Other buildings along Howe Avenue, one of the city's main thoroughfares, have been restored, while developers have renovated two 19th-century factory buildings on Bridge Street, converting them into luxury condominiums. Several downtown streets have been reconstructed as part of a streetscape improvement project: sidewalks were reconstructed with brick and cobblestone, trees were planted, and some power lines were rerouted underground to improve the appearance of Shelton's central business district. In March 2008, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that after negotiations with State Senator Dan Debicella and State Representative Jason Perillo, state bond funds in the amount of $2 million would be directed toward additional infrastructure improvements.
Other events
In November 2007, a tree growing on Soundview Avenue in Shelton was selected and felled to be the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
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On July 31, 2009, a line of heavy thunderstorms with weak rotation spawned an EF1 tornado, which touched down with wind speeds between 95 and 105 miles per hour. According to WTNH, the most concentrated damage was along the Oronoque Trail, where many trees were blown down. There were no injuries or fatalities.
In November 2013, a tree located on Kazo Drive was picked to be the second Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from Shelton.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Shelton had a population of 40,869. The population density was 1,334.2 inhabitants per square mile (515.1/km2). The median age was 47.0 years. 17.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.0 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 16,356 households in Shelton, of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.1% were married-couple households, 15.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 17,174 housing units, of which 4.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%.
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 14,190 households, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.9% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older.
Parks and recreation
There are two private golf courses in town. Highland Golf Club of Shelton is located in the downtown Shelton area where it was founded in 1900. It is a 9-hole course (with 10 greens to allow alternating #2 and #11 where the tee shot goes over Perry Hill Road) in which the original designer Frank Gates created difficult greens. The clubhouse's 1920s era structure remained as the core to the clubhouse until a fire in 2024 completely destroyed the building. A rebuilt clubhouse has opened as of spring 2026. Brownson Country Club is an 18-hole venue located in the Huntington section of Shelton. There is an annual competition between the clubs for the "Mayor's Trophy", alternating the venue each year.
The City of Shelton's goal is to preserve at least 15% of the land as permanently protected, locally controlled open space in the following three forms: City of Shelton Public Open Space properties, Privately owned farmland protected by the purchase of development rights, and properties held by the non-profit Shelton Land Conservation Trust. As of 2009, these forms of open space amount to 13% of the City and more than 2,700 acres (11 km2). The City of Shelton owns close to 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of Public Open Space, Protected Farmland is 411 acres (1.66 km2), and the Shelton Land Trust organization has preserved 364 acres (1.47 km2).
There are over 15 miles (24 km) of hiking trails in Shelton, including a portion of the Paugussett "Blue Blazed" trail, part of an 800-mile (1,300 km) network of hiking trails throughout the state. There is opportunity for fishing, boating, geocaching and letterboxing, hiking, walking and biking. Dogs are welcomed when on leash. There is no hunting on city-owned open space, by ordinance.
From Wikipedia’s article on Shelton, Connecticut, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4