Southington, Connecticut
Southington is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is situated about 10 miles east of Waterbury and about 20 miles southwest of Hartford. Southington includes the areas of Plantsville, Marion and Milldale, all of which have their own post offices. The town is located along five exits of Interstate 84. Southington is also known for its high school sports teams, the Southington Blue Knights. Southington is also home to Briarwood College
History
Although Southington was formally established as a town in 1779, its roots go back to a much earlier time. Samuel Woodruff, Southington's first white settler, moved from Farmington to the area then known as Panthorne that was settled in 1698. The settlement grew, prospered, and came to be known as South Farmington and then later, the shortened version, Southington.
Southington originally developed as a manufacturing center. Some of the products invented there include cement that was able to harden under water, the carriage bolt machine and a new tinware process. Despite the overall decline of industry in New England, 28% of the workers in Southington are still employed in manufacturing, most of them in the production of fabricated metal and aircraft.
Geography
Southington is located at geographical coordinates 41° 35′ 48" North, 72° 52′ 40" West (41.596588, -72.87767). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 94.8 km² (36.6 mi²). 93.2 km² (36.0 mi²) of it is land and 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.72% water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 39,728 people, 15,083 households, and 11,282 families residing in the town. The population density was 426.2/km² (1,103.8/mi²). There were 15,557 housing units at an average density of 166.9/km² (432.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.45% White, 0.86% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.57% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. 2.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 15,083 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.9% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $60,538, and the median income for a family was $70,339. Males had a median income of $48,828 versus $35,298 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,370. 3.3% of the population and 2.2% of families were below the poverty line. 3.0% of those under the age of 18 and 5.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Athletics
Southington High School has had a history of an outstanding inter-scholastic sports. State Champions in many sports, many athletes have continued on to professional careers, most notably, Major League Baseball pitchers Rob Dibble and Carl Pavano. The SHS Gymnastics Team, in 2005 and 2006, was named New England Champions.
Way of Life
Southington is a very large town with many people but lacks cultural diversity. The town itself is considered by most people a really nice place to live but it is known for being "stuck up" by some nieghboring towns. In some places police are well respected and do fantastic jobs, but in certain towns and cities, the police are quite huborus and power hungry. Unfortuantly Southington Police are like that. Of course not all of them are but there are a handful. Southington resident seem to look out for eachother but seem to try and keep people moving from other towns out.