Wallingford, Connecticut, United States

🇺🇸 Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The community was named after 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wallingford, in England.

History The Connecticut General Assembly created the town on October 10, 1667. This original plot of land near the Quinnipiac River is now considered Main Street. Starting on May 12, 1670, there were 126 people who lived in temporary housing, and five years later in 1675 there were 40 permanent homes.

In 1697 Wallingford was the site of the last witchcraft trial in New England. Winifred Benham was thrice tried for witchcraft and acquitted all three times.

The 1878 Wallingford tornado struck on August 9 of that year. It killed at least 29 and possibly as many as 34 people in Wallingford, the most by any tornado event in Connecticut history.

Wallingford is home to a large variety of industries and major corporations spanning the spectrum of the medical, health care, service, hi-tech specialty metal manufacturing and research development. The development of the Barnes Industrial Parks, Casimir Pulaski Industrial Park, Centract Park and MedWay Industrial Park have greatly contributed to a diversified tax base. An Interchange Zone which permits restrictive commercial development of office parks, research and development centres and hotels was created at the intersection of interstate 91 and Route 68. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, the town's largest taxpayer, has established a research and development facility in Wallingford's MedWay Industrial Park. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company moved out in 2017 and the structures were demolished in 2018.

In terms of Wallingford's manufacturing and design history, silver-producing companies like Hall, Elton & Co., Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. and R. Wallace & Sons are of particular note. Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. as well as Wallingford's Watrous Manufacturing Co. later became part of the International Silver Company, which was headquartered in the neighboring city of Meriden.

Education The Wallingford Public School System consists of eight elementary schools: Cook Hill, E. C. Stevens, Highland, and Moses Y. Beach Elementary Schools covering Pre-K to second grade and Parker Farms, Pond Hill, Rock Hill, and Mary G. Fritz Elementary Schools covering grades three to five; two middle schools, Dag Hammarskjöld and James H. Moran; and two high schools, Lyman Hall and Mark T. Sheehan.

Private schools • Choate Rosemary Hall, a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school • Heritage Baptist Academy • Holy Trinity School

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.9 square miles (103.3 km²), of which 39.0 square miles (101.1 km²) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.2 km²), or 2.16%, is water.

The town of Wallingford sits astride the Quinnipiac River in northern New Haven County. It is 5 miles (8 km) south of Meriden and about 13 miles (21 km) north of New Haven. Towns bordering Wallingford are Cheshire, Durham, Hamden, Meriden, Middlefield, North Branford and North Haven. Situated in the Hartford-New Haven-Springfield corridor, Wallingford is traversed by U.S. Route 5, Interstate 91, and State Highways Route 15 (Wilbur Cross Parkway), Route 68, Route 71 and Route 150.

Principal communities • East Wallingford • Quinnipiac (partly in North Haven) • Tracy • Wallingford Center • Yalesville.

Demographics As of the census of 2020, there were 44,396 people and 18,518 households residing in the town. According to the 2018 American Community Survey, the population density was 1,146.8 people per square mile. There were 19,914 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 86% White, 2% African American, less than 1% Native American, 4% Asian, less than 1% from other races, and 1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7% of the population.

There were 18,518 households, out of which 64% were married couples living together, 12% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18% were non-families. The average household size was 2.4.

The 2022 median household income was $102,836, a 16% increase from the prior year. The median family income was $115,949.

In the town, the population's ages were spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.

Economy: Top employers Top employers in Wallingford according to the town's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report: 1 Town of Wallingford; 2 Anthem; 3 Masonicare; 4 Gaylord Specialty Healthcare / Gaylord Hospital; 5 Community Health Network; 6 Choate Rosemary Hall; 7 Fosdick Fulfillment; 8 United Concrete Products Inc; 9 Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc.; 10 Thurston Foods Inc.

Transport Wallingford is also located on the New Haven–Springfield Line with daily passenger service to points north and south and to New York City via a connection in New Haven. It is served at Wallingford station by the CT Rail (Connecticut Department of Transportation) Hartford Line trains and by Amtrak's Hartford Line, Northeast Regional, and Valley Flyer.

Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) in East Haven and Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks are the closest commercial airports to Wallingford.

Sport In 1943 and 1944 the Boston Braves held spring training in Wallingford at Choate's Winter Exercise Building. The town is the home of the Connecticut Bearcats, a New England Football League team.

Points of interest • Choate Rosemary Hall • Oakdale Theatre • Paul Mellon Arts Center • Yalesville Underpass.

Historic Places Ten buildings and districts in Wallingford are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: • Center Street Cemetery, added August 1, 1997 • Franklin Johnson House, added November 23, 1998 • John Barker House, added August 3, 1974 • Joseph Blakeslee House, added April 13, 1998 • Nehemiah Royce House, added August 24, 1998 • Samuel Parsons House, added April 12, 1982 • Samuel Simpson House, added June 18, 1986 • Theophilus Jones House, added January 30, 1992 • Wallingford Center Historic District, added December 2, 1993 • Wallingford railroad station, added November 19, 1993.