Charles Ives

Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. The city was named for the place of origin of many of the early... settlers, Danbury, Essex, in England, and has been nicknamed Hat City, because it used to be a center of the hat industry, at one point producing almost 25% of America's hats. Danbury is home to the Danbury Hospital, as well as Danbury High School and Western Connecticut State University. 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 Pahquioque by the Pahquioque American 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. Originally called Paquiack by local American Indians, the settlers chose the name Swampfield for their town, but in October 1687, the general court decreed the name Danbury.
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