New London County, Connecticut

**New London County** is the southeastern most county of Connecticut and comprises the Norwich-New London Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Hartford-West Hartford, Connecticut Combined Statistical Area.

There is no county government and no county seat (as is the case with all other seven Connecticut counties). Prior to 1960, New London was it's seat. Towns are responsible for all local government activities including: fire, rescue, snow removal, and schools.

New London County contains reservations of four of the five state-recognized Indian tribes, although the Paugussett are historically located farther west. The population was 274,055 as of the 2010 census.

## History

Southeastern New England was dominated by the Pequot people at the time of English colonization. They spoke the Mohegan-Pequot language and were one of the Algonquian-speaking tribes in the coastal areas. After years of conflict, the Colonists and their Indian allies defeated the Pequots in the Pequot War of 1637, ending their dominance. Two descendant Pequot tribes are recognized by the state today, as are three other tribes.

New London County was one of four original counties in Connecticut that were established on May 10, 1666 by an act of the Connecticut General Court, which states:

This Court orders that from the Paukatuck River wth
Norridge to ye west bounds of Homonoscet Plantation shalbe
for future one County, wch County is called the County of
N: London. And it is ordered that the County Court shalbe
held at N. London the first Wednesday in June and the third
Thursday in Septembr yearly.
New London County in 1666 consisted of the towns of Stonington, Norwich, New London, and Saybrook. The "Homonoscet Plantation" was settled in March 1663, at first as Kenilworth; but it was incorporated as the town of Killingworth in 1667.[4]Several new towns were incorporated and added to New London over the next few decades: Preston in 1687, Colchester in 1699, and Lebanon in 1700. The settlements along the Quinebaug Valley were placed in New London County in 1697, and incorporated as Plainfield in 1699. By 1717, more towns were established in northeastern Connecticut and added to New London County between the Quinebaug Valley and the Rhode Island border.

Windham County was constituted from Hartford and New London counties on May 12, 1726, consisting of towns in northeastern Connecticut. New London County lost the towns of Voluntown, Pomfret, Killingly, Canterbury, Plainfield, and Lebanon to the newly formed county. In 1785, Middlesex County was constituted, consisting of towns along the lower Connecticut River Valley, taking away the towns of Killingworth and Saybrook from New London County. Several additional boundary adjustments took place in the 19th century: the establishment of the town of Marlborough in 1803, the transfer of the town of Lebanon from Windham County in 1824, and the transfer of the town of Voluntown from Windham County in 1881.

## Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 772 square miles (2,000 km2), of which 665 square miles (1,720 km2) is land and 107 square miles (280 km2) (13.8%) is water.

The terrain of the county is mostly level, becoming more elevated only in its northern extreme. The highest point in the county is **Gates Hill** in the Town of Lebanon at approximately 660 feet (201 m) above sea level, and the lowest point is sea level.

### Bordering Counties

#### Connecticut

* Windham County, Connecticut
* Middlesex County, Connecticut
* Tolland County, Connecticut
* Hartford County, Connecticut

#### Rhode Island

* Kent County, Rhode Island
* Washington County, Rhode Island

## Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 274,055 people, 107,057 households, and 69,862 families residing in the county. The population density was 412.2 inhabitants per square mile (159.2/km2). There were 120,994 housing units at an average density of 182.0 per square mile (70.3/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 82.2% white, 5.8% black or African American, 4.2% Asian, 0.9% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 3.2% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.9% were Irish, 15.2% were Italian, 14.8% were English, 11.6% were German, 9.6% were Polish, and 3.7% were American.

Of the 107,057 households, 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.7% were non-families, and 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.4 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $65,419 and the median income for a family was $80,425. Males had a median income of $54,352 versus $41,721 for females. The per capita income for the county was $32,888. About 5.0% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

## Communities

### Cities

* New London
* Norwich

### Towns

* Bozrah
* Colchester
* East Lyme
* Franklin
* Griswold
* Groton
* Lebanon
* Ledyard
* Lisnon
* Lyme
* Montville
* North Stonington
* Old Lyme
* Preston
* Salem
* Sprague
* Stonington
* Voluntown
* Waterford