The city of Bristol, located in Hartford County, is in central Connecticut and has several distinct sections within its boundaries, including Forestville and Edgewood. Originally an agricultural village called New Cambridge, the town was incorporated in 1785 and given the name Bristol. In the mid-19th century, the town flourished with the rise of manufacturing companies like J.H. Sessions and Son and Ingraham Clocks. It incorporated as a city in 1911. Today, Bristol is mostly residential and best known as the home of ESPN, the American Clock & Watch Museum, and Lake Compounce, America’s oldest operating theme park.

Featured

Lake Compounce entrance, Bristol

Lake Compounce: Bringing Amusements to the State’s Residents Since 1846

Bristol’s Lake Compounce is the oldest continually operating amusement park in the US and has been open every summer since 1846.  …[more]

Learn More

Woodford, E. M. 1852. “Map of the Town of Bristol, Hartford County, Conn. from Original Surveys by E.M. Woodford, Surveyor.” http://hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:15061.
“The Carousel Museum.” 2017. http://www.thecarouselmuseum.org/.
“Lake Compounce.” 2017. http://www.lakecompounce.com/.
“Bristol History Room.” 2017. Bristol Public Library. http://www.bristollib.com/public-services/bristol-history-room/.
“Bristol Historical Society.” 2017. http://www.bristolhistoricalsociety.org/.
“American Clock & Watch Museum.” 2017. http://clockandwatchmuseum.org/.
“Digitized Historic Newspapers  - Bristol Herald (1888-1901).” 2016. Google News Archive. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=WhXzBXCJJjMC&hl=en.
Beals, Carleton. 1954. Our Yankee Heritage: The Making of Bristol. Bristol, CT: Bristol Public Library Association. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b541974.
Clouette, Bruce, and Matthew Roth. 1984. Bristol, Connecticut: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985. Canaan, NH: Bristol Public Library.
Peck, Epaphroditus. 1932. A History of Bristol, Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Lewis Street Bookshop.
Rockwell, Hugh M., and Stanley P. Rockwell. 1919. “Patent Number 1,294,171 - Hardness Tester.” https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US1294171.pdf (February 1, 2013).
Jerome, Noble. 1839. “Patent Number 1,200 - Striking Part Of Clocks.” https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US1200.pdf.
Norris, George E. 1889. “Bristol, Conn. Looking North-East.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/uconnlibrariesmagic/3389978847/.
“Bird’s Eye View of Bristol, Conn.” 1907. http://www.flickr.com/photos/uconnlibrariesmagic/3389704799/.
Smith, Eddy, George Benton Smith, and Allena J. Dates. 1907. Bristol, Connecticut: “In the Olden Time New Cambridge”, Which Includes Forestville. Hartford, CT: City Printing Company. http://www.archive.org/stream/bristolconnectic00smit#page/n5/mode/2up.
Russell, Lynda. 2008. Lake Compounce. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia.
Leach, Gail. 2001. Bristol. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia.
Russell, Lynda. 2010. Bristol Business and Industry. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia.