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Cheshire, Connecticut
Seal
Location in Connecticut
Coordinates: 41°30′44″N 72°54′13″W / 41.51222, -72.90361
NECTA	New Haven
Region	Central Naugatuck Valley
Incorporated	1780
Government
- Type	Council-manager
- Town manager	Michael A. Milone
- Council	Matt Hall, Mayor Elizabeth Esty, D-1 Thomas Ruocco, R-2 Laura DeCaprio, D-3 Tim White, R-4 Matthew Altieri D-at large Michael Ecke D-at large James Sima, R-at large Tim Slocum, R-at large
Area
- Total	86.5 km² (33.4 sq mi)
- Land	85.2 km² (32.9 sq mi)
- Water	1.3 km² (0.5 sq mi)
Elevation	70 m (230 ft)
Population (2005)
- Total	29,097
- Density	341/km² (884/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	06410
Area code(s)	203
FIPS code	09-14160
GNIS feature ID	0213406
Website: http://www.cheshirect.org/

Cheshire is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 28,543 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Connecticut is located in Cheshire ^[1].

Contents 1 History 2 On the National Register of Historic Places 3 Notable people, past and present 4 Culture and notable features 5 Geography 6 Transportation 7 Demographics 8 References 9 External links

When Cheshire was originally settled by Europeans, it was part of the town of Wallingford and known locally as "Northfarms". In 1780, Cheshire separated from Wallingford to become its own town, and for the next 170 years, Cheshire remained a small but prosperous farming town.

In the post-war period, Cheshire began to suburbanize as residents of New Haven began moving outwards from the urban core. Several industrial plants also located themselves in one of the town's many planned industrial parks. Despite significant residential development, Cheshire has remained a highly agricultural town that has found an economic niche in producing bedding plants for local and national consumers. The town's slogan is "The Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut".

• Cheshire Historic District — Roughly bounded by Main Street, Highland Avenue, Wallingford Road, South Main, Cornwall, and Spring streets (added September 29, 1986)
• Farmington Canal Lock (Lock 12) — 487 N. Brooksvale Road (added March 16, 1973)
• First Congregational Church of Cheshire — 111 Church Drive (added March 16, 1973)

• Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), father of Louisa May Alcott, conducted a school in town from 1825-1827.
• Brad Ausmus, of the Houston Astros, graduated from Cheshire High School.
• Chris Berman, ESPN sportscaster, is a resident.
• Jay Bontatibus, a soap opera actor, was born and raised in the town.
• Samuel A. Foot (1780–1846), Connecticut governor (1834–35), U.S. senator (1827–1833), and congressman (1825–1827); born and died in Cheshire.
• Seabury Ford (1801–1855), the 20th Governor of Ohio, was born in town.
• Gerald R. Ford, former U.S. President, is reported to have lived in town while a student at Yale Law School^[2]
• Roberto Goizueta, former Chairman, Direct and CEO of Coca Cola attended high school at Cheshire Academy in the town center.
• James J. Greco, the CEO of Bruegger's Enterprises Inc. (Bruegger's), is a resident.
• Peter Hitchcock (1781–1854) 21-year chief justice of Ohio and uncle of Seabury Ford, was born in town.
• John Frederick Kensett (1816–1872), a successful nineteenth-century artist, was born in town.
• Brian Leetch, of the NHL grew up in town.
• Legs McNeil, founder of Punk Magazine was born in town.
• J.P. Morgan, founder of J.P. Morgan Bank attended high school at Cheshire Academy in the town center.
• Chris Murphy, Congressman for Connecticut's 5th district; moved to town in 2005.
• Anjul Nigam, television actor. Was filmed in The First 20 Million Is Always The Hardest and Grey's Anatomy.
• Scott Otis, former quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, resides in town. Played for Southington High School.
• Ron Palillo, ("Horshack" from Welcome Back Kotter) was born in town.
• Paul Pasqualoni, the former football coach of the Syracuse Orange was born in town. His family still owns a farm off of Johnson Avenue
• Dr. William Petit, Jr., a prominent endocrinologist who was wounded in a July 23, 2007 home invasion which resulted in the deaths of his daughters, Hayley and Michaela, as well as his wife, Jennifer^[3]

• Lonnie Quinn, TV weathercaster/meteorologist; former actor
• Edward Tufte, a Yale professor very influential in the field of graphic display of statistical information, lives in town.
• Vijay Vaitheeswaran, a journalist with The Economist, graduated from Cheshire High School.
• James Van Der Beek, a film actor ("Varsity Blues," "Dawson's Creek," "Rules of Attraction"), was born in town.
• Justin Tussing, acclaimed American Novelist ("Best People in the World") was born in town
• George Washington reportedly stayed in town for a visit during his presidency.
• Bernie Williams, New York Yankees CF played at the Baseball Academy in 1986 as a 16 year old from Puerto Rico

Every June, the town celebrates its annual Strawberry Festival on the First Congregational Church green.

Cheshire is home to one public kindergarten, four public elementary schools, one public middle school and one public high school. Children attend different elementary schools depending on where they live, while anyone is welcome to attend the public high school. There are also several private and special needs schools in the town.

Cheshire Academy (originally The Episcopal Academy of Connecticut) was founded in Cheshire in 1794.

Cheshire is home to two large state prison facilities located in the northern section of town. The largest of these facilities is the Cheshire Correctional Institution, which opened in 1910. In 1982, the Manson Youth Institution opened adjacent to the CCI. These prisons explain the skewed male/female ratios listed below.

The Barker Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum, located in the northern section of Cheshire, holds a large collection of memorabilia, novelties and ephemera such as lunch boxes and PEZ dispensers bearing the likenesses of characters from television, cartoons and comics.^[4]

Cheshire High School's extracurricular programs are both numerous and somewhat well-known. The Marching Ram Band has won several competitions since its creation. It is noted as one of the top marching bands in the country having been United States Scholastic Bands Association All-States Champion numerous times, as well as being the top band in its class in New England.^{[citation needed]} The Rams football team was once ranked as one of the Top 25 in the nation by USA Today.^{[citation needed]} Richard Pulusciano was named the 2002 Coach of the Year for High School Lacrosse programs.^{[citation needed]}

On October 15,2007 the CHS girls swim team set a national record for the longest winning streak in dual meets. Their victory over Branford was their 235th straight victory. The CHS girls swimmers have not lost since 1986. [1]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 33.4 square miles (86.5 km²), of which, 32.9 square miles (85.2 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it (1.50%) is water.

Cheshire is situated in the midst of several major cities of Connecticut. It lies fourteen miles north of New Haven, twenty-five miles south of the capital Hartford, and is adjacent to Waterbury. Hamden, Connecticut borders the town to the south.

Transportation within Cheshire is largely by car. Interstate 691 skirts the northern edge of the town. Interstate 84 passes through the northwest part of the town. The main north-south artery is Route 10, a difficult passage that is busy, sometimes congested, and includes many stoplights. There are two east-west routes: Route 42 and Route 68/Route 70. Route 10 is by far the busiest road in Cheshire, with the worst Route 10 traffic occurring between Routes 68/70 and Route 42 every weekday during the morning commute, evening commute, and after the high school gets out at 2 pm. West Main Street and Main Street, Route 68/70 between Route 10 and Waterbury Road, is the next busiest road in town. The intersection of Route 10 and Route 68/70 is the busiest intersection in town. The second busiest intersection is the Cheshire High School and Route 10 intersection right before school starts and right after school ends.[2]^{[citation needed]}

The J line of Connecticut Transit New Haven which runs from Waterbury to New Haven travels through Cheshire on Routes 70 and 10. A commuter express bus also runs from the commuter lot near Interstate 84 to Hartford.

As of the census² of 2000, there were 28,543 people, 9,349 households, and 7,254 families residing in the town. The population density was 867.4 people per square mile (334.9/km²). There were 9,588 housing units at an average density of 291.4/sq mi (112.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 89.40% White, 4.67% African American, 0.22% Native American, 2.63% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.91% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.84% of the population. The largest ethnic groups in the town are Italian Americans and Irish Americans.

There were 9,349 households out of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.5% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.4% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 113.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $80,466, and the median income for a family was $90,774. Males had a median income of $60,078 versus $38,471 for females. The per capita income for the town was $33,903. About 1.6% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[5]
Party		Active Voters	Inactive Voters	Total Voters	Percentage
	Republican	4,402	133	4,535	25.09%
	Democratic	3,792	113	3,905	21.60%
	Unaffiliated	9,292	332	9,624	53.24%
	Minor Parties	11	1	12	0.07%
Total		17,497	579	18,076	100%

• Town of Cheshire official Web site
• Cheshire Public Library - The Library has a Cheshire/Connecticut history section and will answer genealogical and historical questions about Cheshire and environs.
• First Congregational Church - Host of the Annual Strawberry Festival and "mother church" to other congregations in the area and along the Eastern Seaboard. The church steeple is an official symbol of the town, as it is depicted on the town seal.
• Barker Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum

• Cheshire, Connecticut is at coordinates 41°29′56″N 72°54′03″W / 41.4990, -72.9007Coordinates: 41°29′56″N 72°54′03″W / 41.4990, -72.9007

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