Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in England.
History
The Connecticut General Assembly created the town on October 10, 1667. This original plot of land near the Quinnipiac River is now considered Main Street. Starting on May 12, 1670, there were 126 people who lived in temporary housing, and five years later in 1675 there were 40 permanent homes.
In 1697 Wallingford was the site of the last witchcraft trial in New England. Winifred Benham was thrice tried for witchcraft and acquitted all three times.
The 1878 Wallingford tornado struck on August 9 of that year. It killed at least 29 and possibly as many as 34 people in Wallingford, the most by any tornado event in Connecticut history.
Wallingford is home to a large variety of industries and major corporations spanning the spectrum of the medical, health care, service, hi-tech specialty metal manufacturing and research development. The development of the Barnes Industrial Parks, Casimir Pulaski Industrial Park, Centract Park and MedWay Industrial Park have greatly contributed to a diversified tax base. An Interchange Zone which permits restrictive commercial development of office parks, research and development centers and hotels was created at the intersection of interstate 91 and Route 68. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, the town's largest taxpayer, has established a research and development facility in Wallingford's MedWay Industrial Park. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company moved out in 2017 and the structures were demolished in 2018.
In terms of Wallingford's manufacturing and design history, silver-producing companies like Hall, Elton & Co., Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. and R. Wallace & Sons are of particular note. Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. as well as Wallingford's Watrous Manufacturing Co. later became part of the International Silver Company, which was headquartered in the neighboring city of Meriden.
Education
The Wallingford Public School System consists of eight elementary schools: Cook Hill, E. C. Stevens, Highland, and Moses Y. Beach Elementary Schools covering Pre-K to second grade and Parker Farms, Pond Hill, Rock Hill, and Mary G. Fritz Elementary Schools covering grades three to five; two middle schools, Dag Hammarskjöld and James H. Moran; and two high schools, Lyman Hall and Mark T. Sheehan.
Private schools
Choate Rosemary Hall, a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school Heritage Baptist Academy Holy Trinity School
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.9 square miles (103.3 km), of which 39.0 square miles (101.1 km) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.2 km), or 2.16%, is water.
The town of Wallingford sits astride the Quinnipiac River in northern New Haven County. It is south of Meriden and about north of New Haven. Towns bordering Wallingford are Cheshire, Durham, Hamden, Meriden, Middlefield, North Branford and North Haven. Situated in the Hartford-New Haven-Springfield corridor, Wallingford is traversed by U.S. Route 5, Interstate 91, and State Highways Route 15 (Wilbur Cross Parkway), Route 68, Route 71 and Route 150.
Principal communities
East Wallingford
Quinnipiac (partly in North Haven) Tracy Wallingford Center Yalesville
Demographics
As of the census of 2020, there were 44,396 people and 18,518 households residing in the town. According to the 2018 American Community Survey, the population density was 1,146.8 people per square mile. There were 19,914 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 86% White, 2% African American, less than 1% Native American, 4% Asian, less than 1% from other races, and 1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7% of the population.
There were 18,518 households, out of which 64% were married couples living together, 12% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18% were non-families. The average household size was 2.4.
The 2021 median household income was $88,573, a 7% increase from the prior year. Wallingford's average household income was $105,374 and the mean family income was $127,343. The per capita income in the town was $44,813. More than 40% of all households earn more than $100,000 per year, with 9.2% earning more than $200,000.