I have been living in the city for over 25 years. I know the nickname, The Hat City, and I know where that came from, but why did they call it Danbury to begin with? The answer is very fascinating.

Everyone knows Danbury is sometimes called the Hat City because of it's Hat manufacturing plants that were located here, and thrived during the early part of the twentieth century. Did you know that Danbury produced 24% of all hats worn in this country by 1904?

Of course, long-time residents of the city fondly remember the days of the great Danbury Fair, which was first held in 1821, and became a yearly event in 1869. It remained in operation every fall until 1981.

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youtube image/group w danbury
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But, what about the name Danbury? Where did that come from? After doing some extensive research on Wikipedia, here's what I found out:

  • Colonists who originally settled in Norwalk and Stamford, set up shop in Danbury in 1685. They probably got tired of the traffic on I-95 and the Merrit Parkway.
  • At that time, the area was called Pahquioque. Named after the Native American tribe that occupied the region.
  • The original settlers chose the name Swampfield. Probably not the greatest choice of names, but, in October of 1687, someone thought a name change was best for the city's image, and it was officially named, Danbury.
  • How did they come up with Danbury? The bottom line is that the city was actually named for the place of origin of many of the early settlers, Danbury, Essex, England.

So, there you go. Pretty interesting, isn't it?

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townsquare media image
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In future articles, I'll be taking a look at how some of the other towns in our area got their names, so check back. I can't wait to find out how Coxsackie, N.Y. got it's name...

 

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