CANTERBURY, CONNECTICUT

'Canterbury' is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,692 at the 2000 census.

Contents

History

Registered historic places in town

Notable people, past and present

Government

Geography

Demographics

Education

References

External links

History

In 1832, Prudence Crandall, a schoolteacher raised as a Quaker, stirred controversy when she opened a school for black girls in town. The Connecticut General Assembly passed the "Black Law" which prohibited the education of black children from out of state, but Crandall persisted in teaching, and was briefly jailed in 1832. Mobs forced the closure of the school in 1834, and Crandall married and moved out of state. Connecticut repealed the Black Law in 1838, and later recognized Crandall with a small pension in 1886, four years before her death.
The school still stands in Canterbury, and currently serves as the Prudence Crandall Museum.

Registered historic places in town

★ 'Canterbury Center Historic District' — Roughly along Elmdale, Library, N. Canterbury, S. Canterbury, and Westminster Rds. (added May 10, 1998)

★ 'Capt. John Clark House' — Rte. 169, S of Canterbury (added November 6, 1970)

★ 'Jonathan Wheeler House' — N. Society Rd. (added March 11, 1982)

★ 'March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Manship Road-Barstow Road' — Manship Rd., Barstow Rd. from jct. with Manship Rd. to Westminister Rd. (added February 8, 2003)

★ 'Prudence Crandall House' — Jct. of CT 14 and 169 (added November 22, 1970)

Notable people, past and present

★ Prudence Crandall (1803-1890), a schoolteacher who set up a school for black girls in town despite local resistance

★ John Adams, (1772-1863), born in Canterbury, noted educator and organizer of several hundred Sunday schools^[1]

★ Horace Austin (1831–1905) the sixth 'governor' of Minnesota (1870-1874), was born in town.

★ William Durkee Williamson (1779-1846) a 'governor' of Maine (1821) was born in town.

★ Charles Rocket, born Charles Adams Claverie (1949–2005), actor and former resident, who died in town.

★ Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806), a surveyor and namesake of Cleaveland, Ohio.

★ Ephraim Paine (1730–1785) delegate for New York to the Continental Congress in 1784, was born in town.

Government

Currently, Republican Neil Dupont Sr. is the First Selectman. Second Selectman is Chris Johnson, also of the Republican Party. The Third Selectman is Paul Santoro of the Canterbury First PAC. Dupont held the First Selectman position for eight years before losing to Santoro in 2003. He won the seat back by a margin of 208 votes in 2005.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[2]
Party		Active Voters	Inactive Voters	Total Voters	Percentage	Republican	986	64	1,050	29.50%	Democratic	713	40	753	21.16%	Unaffiliated	1,652	104	1,756	49.34%	Minor Parties	0	0	0	0.0%
Total		3,351	208	3,559	100%

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 104.0 km² (40.2 mi²). 103.3 km² (39.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (0.62%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 4,692 people, 1,717 households, and 1,339 families residing in the town. The population density was 45.4/km² (117.6/mi²). There were 1,762 housing units at an average density of 17.1/km² (44.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.34% White, 0.36% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.07% of the population.
There were 1,717 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $55,547, and the median income for a family was $65,095. Males had a median income of $41,521 versus $28,672 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,317. About 3.5% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.2% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students from grades Kindergarten through 8 are zoned to the Canterbury School District. The district has two schools:

★ Canterbury Elementary School

★ Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle School
The local elementary school for kindergarten through fourth grades is Canterbury Elementary School, whose mascot is the Kitt Fox. The local middle school for fifth through eighth grades is Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle School, whose mascot is the bulldog.
As Canterbury has no high school of its own, Canterbury students have the option of attending H.H. Ellis Technical High School, Norwich Technical High School, Windham Vocational-Technical High School, Woodstock Academy, Norwich Free Academy, or Griswold Senior High School.

References

1. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896, , , , Marquis Who's Who, ,
2. Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 25, 2005

External links

★ Town government Web site

★ Mystic Country: The Eastern Regional Tourism District