New Milford Revisited

Covering 64 square miles, New Milford is the largest municipality in Connecticut and the southernmost town in Litchfield County. Earliest residents settled around the present-day Village Green, making it the epicenter of town. In the early 1900s, a great fire obliterated a good portion of the downtown buildings, but businesses were quickly resurrected. Establishments such as the Robertson Bleachery, Eastern Lounge, and New Milford Foundry & Machine helped the town rise from the ashes. The 20th century also saw the demise of the tobacco industry that had dominated the area for decades, as several businesses, mostly located in the West Street area, rose to prominence. In later years, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Maggi Company (which would merge with Nestle), Scovill Manufacturing, Century Brass, and New Milford Hospital all thrived as the town prospered. New Milford’s iconic bandstand has been the scene of numerous concerts, including one in 1960 conducted by longtime resident Maestro Leopold Stokowski, and the structure has graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. It is no surprise that Fredric March, Vladimir Horowitz, Joan Rivers, Diane von Furstenberg, Eartha Kitt, and Ruth and Skitch Henderson have all chosen New Milford as home.