Naugatuck River Valley

The Naugatuck River Valley refers to the watershed area of the Naugatuck River in the western part of Connecticut. The Naugatuck Valley straddles parts of Litchfield County, New Haven, and Fairfield counties. The Route 8 corridor and Waterbury Branch of the Metro-North railroad line run along the river valley. Geographically, it comprises the municipalities located within the Naugatuck River basin. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the area was one of the main manufacturing centers in New England, and most of the communities around the river were emblematic New England mill towns.

Subdivisions

Map of Connecticut showing the regions of the Naugatuck River Valley. Green is the Valley, yellow is the Greater Waterbury area, and blue is the Litchfield Hills region.

Traditionally, the Naugatuck Valley is often subdivided for historical, cultural, geographic, and demographic reasons.

• The Upper Naugatuck Valley, more often referred to as the Litchfield (Northwest) Hills, refers to the area centered on the city of Torrington. The West Branch and East Branch Naugatuck Rivers merge in Torrington to form the main river. The watershed area in the Upper Naugatuck Valley includes parts of the towns of Goshen, Harwinton, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, Norfolk, Torrington, Winchester.
• The Central Naugatuck Valley, more often referred to as the Greater Waterbury area, is the region focused on the city of Waterbury. The towns covered in part by the watershed area are Thomaston, Plymouth, Bristol, Bethlehem, Watertown, Woodbury, Wolcott, Waterbury, Middlebury, Cheshire, Prospect, and Naugatuck, Beacon Falls, and Oxford. The last three towns are sometimes also grouped with the lower valley region.
• The Lower Naugatuck Valley, sometimes known as simply "The Valley", refers to the area focused on the city of Derby. The towns within the watershed area of the lower valley are Shelton, Seymour, Bethany, Woodbridge, Ansonia, and Derby. The towns of Beacon Falls, Oxford, and Naugatuck, usually grouped together in the central valley region, are also sometimes assigned to the lower valley region.

See also

• Naugatuck Railroad

External links

• Naugatuck River Watershed Association
• Lower Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments
• Central Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments

State of Connecticut
Hartford (capital)
Topics	Index Constitution Delegations Elections Geography Government History Images People Tourist Attractions
Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Party strength
Regions	Connecticut panhandle Coastal Connecticut Gold Coast Greater Bridgeport Greater Danbury Greater Hartford Greater New Haven Litchfield Hills Lower Connecticut River Valley Central Naugatuck Valley Naugatuck River Valley Quiet Corner Southeastern Connecticut
Counties	Fairfield Hartford Litchfield Middlesex New Haven New London Tolland Windham
Cities	Ansonia Bridgeport Bristol Danbury Derby Groton Hartford Meriden Middletown Milford New Britain New Haven New London Norwalk Norwich Shelton Stamford Torrington Waterbury West Haven
All Towns	Andover Ansonia Ashford Avon Barkhamsted Beacon Falls Berlin Bethany Bethel Bethlehem Bloomfield Bolton Bozrah Branford Bridgeport Bridgewater Bristol Brookfield Brooklyn Burlington Canaan Canterbury Canton Chaplin Cheshire Chester Clinton Colchester Colebrook Columbia Cornwall Coventry Cromwell Danbury Darien Deep River Derby Durham East Granby East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Haven East Lyme East Windsor Eastford Easton Ellington Enfield Essex Fairfield Farmington Franklin Glastonbury Goshen Granby Greenwich Griswold Groton Guilford Haddam Hamden Hampton Hartford Hartland Harwinton Hebron Hartford Kent Killingly Killingworth Lebanon Ledyard Lisbon Litchfield Lyme Madison Manchester Mansfield Marlborough Meriden Middlebury Middlefield Middletown Milford Monroe Montville Morris Naugatuck New Britain New Canaan New Fairfield New Hartford New Haven New London New Milford Newington Newtown Norfolk North Branford North Canaan North Haven North Stonington Norwalk Norwich Old Lyme Old Saybrook Orange Oxford Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Pomfret Portland Preston Prospect Putnam Redding Ridgefield Rocky Hill Roxbury Salem Salisbury Scotland Seymour Sharon Shelton Sherman Simsbury Somers South Windsor Southbury Southington Sprague Stafford Stamford Sterling Stonington Stratford Suffield Thomaston Thompson Tolland Torrington Trumbull Union Vernon Voluntown Wallingford Warren Washington Waterbury Waterford Watertown West Hartford West Haven Westbrook Weston Westport Wethersfield Willington Wilton Winchester Windham Windsor Windsor Locks Wolcott Woodbridge Woodbury Woodstock
Places	Boroughs Villages Historic Places Geography