Many thrive here

Who were the people who first populated the region now called Naugatuck? Like most of the surrounding Valley communities, Yankees were the inhabitants of the land for many generations leading up to 1844, when Naugatuck was set off as an independent town. In that year, there were 1,730 residents making up about 300 families, nearly all Protestant.

It was the industrial revolution in the latter half of the nineteenth century that altered the make-up of the town and turned it into a small, thriving,, diverse community.

After the 1840s, when the potato crop failed in Ireland and created a famine, many Irish emigrated to the United States. Naugatuck, which was fast gaining the reputation as the first rubber town of America, became one of the areas where a large number of Irish immigrants settled.

Though no Irish were born in Naugatuck in 1840, within 30 years, 1,176 of the town’s 3,824 inhabitants had been born in Ireland.

In 1850, the town population was about 2,300; in 1860, an estimated 2,500 people lived in Naugatuck. The growth in industry brought in more foreign-speaking people. Swedish iron workers came to Naugatuck to work in the foundry. There were also some German and English cutlery-makers.

But the last 25 years of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of this century brought the greatest diversity of nationalities. English, Swedes, Italians, Poles, Lithuanians and Germans were among those who moved to Naugatuck. By 1893, when Naugatuck became a borough, there were 6,200 inhabitants and 1,100 families, nearly half of them foreign-born and Roman

By 1910, Naugatuck had peoples of nearly every European nationality. About 33 percent foreign-born in 1900 became 31 percent in 1930 and 19 percent in 1940. The schools began to offer evening classes to immigrants who wanted to learn English. In the winter of 1938-39, there were 362 non-English speaking pupils enrolled in night class.

Population increased in spurts. In 1900, there were 10,541 residents; by 1910, an estimated 15,000, which remained the same through 1920. From 1930 to 1940, population increased only 15 percent, from 14,315 to 15,388.

Source: Special Edition of the Naugatuck Daily News (1844 - Naugatuck Sesquicentennial - 1944)