A brass and copper city on the Naugatuck River, begun in 1844 when Anson Phelps couldn't buy the farm he wanted in Derby and built his own village two miles upriver instead.

New Haven County · Record checked October 8, 2026

18,918Population2020 census1
1844Foundedby Anson Green Phelps, who gave it his name1
1889Became a townset off from Derby, the 168th town in Connecticut1
900The opera houseseats in Ansonia's first big hall, built 18702
5National Registerplaces, all still standing3

Ansonia on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Ansonia, Connecticut in 2026, with downtown, the Ansonia Opera House, the Humphreys House and 34 numbered landmarks

2026

Ansonia today

By KNOWOL

Ansonia as it stands in 2026, with shaded hills around downtown and Derby Hill, streets from Main Street to Pulaski Highway, and a guide of 34 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.4

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Ansonia

The farm that wouldn't sell

Anson Phelps first meant to build his factory village beside his mill at Birmingham, in Derby. A farmer there held land the plan needed, and a 1909 history says the price went from $5,000 to $30,000. Phelps refused to pay and went two miles up the river instead. In 1845 a long line of Irish laborers with picks, shovels, carts and horses began digging the canal for the new village, and workers raised an embankment a mile and a half long to hold the great reservoir. The first contractors quit after spending $10,000, so Almon Farrel and Abraham Hubbell finished it. Derby's 1880 history says people cursed that farmer at the time, but Ansonia could now call him blessed.567

Fire and flood in the young village

Ansonia's first years were hard ones. In 1852 a fire swept away several factories, a loss of $75,000. On a Sunday in November 1853 the Naugatuck rose more than seventeen feet at Derby and the water stood four feet deep in the copper mill. That evening the Ansonia bridge went down the river with a young couple on it. People heard their cries far downstream but couldn't reach them in the dark. In 1854 the newly arrived Ansonia Clock Company burned out, a $120,000 loss that an 1892 history called a heavy blow for so young a village. Thirty years later the Ansonia Water Company's dam broke, and the flood carried off Dana Bartholomew's whole factory for bits, augers and braces.8910

Copper, clocks and the first electric streetcar

Ansonia's nickname, the Copper City, came out of its mills. The copper mill begun in 1844 grew into the Ansonia Brass & Copper Company, and by 1904 its plant covered more than sixteen acres. The Ansonia Clock Company was founded here in 1851 and moved to Brooklyn in 1878, keeping the city's name on its clocks. In April 1888 electric cars started running between Ansonia and Derby, and an 1896 history calls it the first electric road in operation in New England. Its builders thought freight would pay the bills, hauling goods to the Derby docks for the steamboat to New York. After two years they gave freight up and kept carrying passengers.1111213

Through the years

25 moments from 1652 to today.

  1. 1652English colonists first settle along this stretch of the Naugatuck River, then part of Derby.1
  2. 1654Sergeant Edward Wooster and three other families become the first settlers of Derby.14
  3. 1698The house Derby built for its minister is finished. It's now the General David Humphreys House.4
  4. 1748The Jewett Street saltbox is bought for Rev. Richard Mansfield.15
  5. 1752David Humphreys, later Washington's aide-de-camp, is born in the Elm Street house.16
  6. 1844Anson Phelps founds Ansonia, and Almon Farrel lays the foundation of its first copper mill that fall.11
  7. 1845A long line of Irish laborers with picks, shovels, carts and horses starts digging the canal.6
  8. 1846The embankment holding the great reservoir, a mile and a half long, is finished.7
  9. 1846Ansonia gets its own post office, with George Bristol as postmaster.17
  10. 1848Almon Farrel helps start the Farrel Foundry at Ansonia.18
  11. 1851The Ansonia Clock Company is founded here.1
  12. 1852A fire sweeps away several factories, a loss of $75,000.8
  13. 1853A November flood carries off the Ansonia bridge, and a young couple with it.9
  14. 1854The new Ansonia Clock Company burns out, a loss of $120,000.8
  15. 1864Ansonia becomes a borough of Derby and holds its first election on August 1.19
  16. 1866Pierre Lallement, living in Ansonia, applies for a patent on a pedaled bicycle.1
  17. 1869The copper mills are joined into the Ansonia Brass & Copper Company.11
  18. 1870The Ansonia Opera House goes up on Main Street, with seats for 900 people.2
  19. 1884The Ansonia Water Company's dam breaks and the flood sweeps away a whole tool factory.10
  20. 1888Electric streetcars start running between Ansonia and Derby, the first electric road in New England.13
  21. 1889The General Assembly sets Ansonia off from Derby as a town of its own.1
  22. 1892The brownstone Ansonia Library, a gift of Caroline Phelps Stokes, is completed.20
  23. 1893Ansonia is incorporated as a city.1
  24. 1955The August flood from Hurricane Diane sweeps away the Maple Street Bridge.1
  25. 2001A wind-driven fire destroys the Latex Foam plant downtown, where 250 people worked.1

Places to see

The numbers match the landmark guide printed on the 2026 map.

  • 5Ansonia LibrarySouth Cliff Street. Brownstone gift of Caroline Phelps Stokes.Visit their website
  • 7Ansonia City HallDowntown. Where John F. Kennedy spoke in 1960.
  • 12Richard Mansfield HouseJewett Street. Rev. Richard Mansfield's saltbox house.
  • 13Ansonia Police DepartmentMain Street. In the old Farrel Corporation headquarters.
  • 15General David Humphreys HouseElm Street. Built for Derby's minister in 1698.Visit their website
  • 16Ansonia Nature and Recreation CenterHilltop. Open fields and woods on Hilltop.Visit their website
  • 17United States Post Office-Ansonia MainMain Street. Limestone post office of 1914.
  • 22Ansonia StationDowntown. Metro-North's Waterbury Branch stop.
  • 26Ansonia Opera HouseMain Street. Italianate hall of about 1870.
  • 32Upper Main Street Historic DistrictDowntown. Brick business blocks from 1870 to 1900.

On the National Register

All 5 places in Ansonia on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.3

  • Gen. David Humphreys House

    Built in the 1690s · Listed 1972 · 37 Elm Street

    David Humphreys was born here in 1752. He was Washington's aide-de-camp, became the first United States ambassador to a foreign country, and brought merino sheep to Connecticut. The house is now a museum and the headquarters of the Derby Historical Society.16

    Visit their website

  • Richard Mansfield House

    Built about 1700 · Listed 1971 · 35 Jewett Street

    A saltbox bought in 1748 for Rev. Richard Mansfield, who started a Church of England mission in Derby. He fled during the Revolution for his Loyalist leanings, then came back and served the local Episcopal church until his death in 1820. The house was moved across the street in 1926.15

  • Upper Main Street Historic District

    Built 1870 to 1900 · Listed 1982 · 36-100 and 85-117 Main Street

    A row of brick business blocks that shows how fast Ansonia's downtown grew, most of it built before the split from Derby in 1889. Its landmark is the Italianate Ansonia Opera House of about 1870, with the granite-fronted Savings Bank of Ansonia across the street.21

  • Ansonia Library

    Built 1892 · Listed 1985 · 53 South Cliff Street

    Caroline Phelps Stokes gave this Richardsonian Romanesque library in memory of her parents and her grandfather Anson Phelps, the city's namesake. George Keller designed it in brownstone with a clock tower, and it went to the city four years after it was finished.20

    Visit their website

  • US Post Office-Ansonia Main

    Built 1914 · Listed 1985 · 237 Main Street

    A limestone Classical Revival post office with four Ionic columns, designed by Oscar Wenderoth of the Treasury's architect's office. It's one of the finest buildings downtown.22

In their words

“Ansonia has steadily grown in wealth, population and enterprise until she now vies with any manufacturing village in the state.”

The history of the old town of Derby, 18806

“Eagle like, she has spread her wings in all directions.”

The history of the old town of Derby, 1880, on the young village6

“That's the name; it suits me exactly.”

Anson G. Phelps at Doctor Beardsley's dinner table, as told in The history of the old town of Derby, 18807

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Ansonia, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on the Ansonia Opera House, Internet Archive
  3. National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  4. Map of Ansonia, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  5. The brass industry in Connecticut (1909), on the farm Phelps would not buy, Internet Archive
  6. The history of the old town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880 (1880), on the founding of Ansonia, Internet Archive
  7. The history of the old town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880 (1880), on naming Ansonia and the reservoir, Internet Archive
  8. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on the fires of 1852 and 1854, Internet Archive
  9. History of Seymour, Connecticut (1879), on the flood that took the Ansonia bridge, Internet Archive
  10. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on Dana Bartholomew and the 1884 dam break, Internet Archive
  11. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on the Ansonia Brass & Copper Company, Internet Archive
  12. Connecticut as a colony and as a state (1904), on the Ansonia brass and copper plant, Internet Archive
  13. Souvenir history of Derby and Shelton, Connecticut (1896), on the electric railway, Internet Archive
  14. Genealogical and family history of the state of Connecticut (1911), on Sergeant Edward Wooster, Internet Archive
  15. Richard Mansfield House, Wikipedia
  16. David Humphreys House, Wikipedia
  17. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on the Ansonia post office, Internet Archive
  18. The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut (1896), on Almon Farrel, Internet Archive
  19. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on the Borough of Ansonia, Internet Archive
  20. Ansonia Library, Wikipedia
  21. Upper Main Street Historic District (Ansonia, Connecticut), Wikipedia
  22. United States Post Office-Ansonia Main, Wikipedia