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1904 Map of Waterbury

Name: 1904 Topographic Map of Waterbury
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1935
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1935

About this map

The Naugatuck River valley serves as the industrial and transportation backbone for this region of west-central Connecticut at the end of the nineteenth century. The dense urban center of Waterbury dominates the lower valley, showing a complex network of streets and rail lines including the New York New Haven and Hartford railroad. This corridor contrasts sharply with the glaciated uplands to the west and north, where smaller villages like Litchfield and Bethlehem are surrounded by prominent topographic features such as Plumb Hill and Chestnut Hill.

Evidence of early water-powered industry and recreation is found throughout the landscape, from the large expanse of Bantam Lake to smaller mill sites and ponds like Wattles Pond and Quassapaug Pond. For the local historian, the map details numerous named hills and brook crossings that defined the agricultural and early manufacturing limits of towns such as Woodbury, Watertown, and Middlebury. Notable local landmarks like White Deer Rocks and Townplot Hill provide specific points of reference for tracing late-1800s property and community boundaries.