Union Station Clock Tower, Waterbury

Union Station Clock Tower, Waterbury

Waterbury, in New Haven County, is located in west-central Connecticut on the Naugatuck River. It was settled in 1674 as a part of Farmington (in what is now known as the Town Plot area), and was originally called Mattituck Plantation. Incorporated as a town in 1686 and a city in 1853, Waterbury is named for its abundant waterways. Nicknamed the Brass City, and once the center of the American brass industry, manufacturing declined after World War II from employing a peak of 50,000 brass workers to less than 5,000 by the 1980s. Connecticut’s fifth-largest city, Waterbury is home to the Mattatuck Museum.

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Waterbury’s Radium Girls

In the early 20th century, girls working at the Waterbury Clock Company faced death and disease from exposure to radium in the workplace. …[more]

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