Separated from Danbury in 1855, Bethel was settled as early as 1700. Studies of the town's unique and colorful past have been somewhat neglected until recently. With Bethel, town historian Patrick Wild brings to life the people, places, industries, and institutions of the independent town from the 1860s through the 1950s.

Bethel, Connecticut, was settled as early as 1700 in the rolling hills of northern Fairfield County. Rooted in hat manufacturing, the town offered many residents employment in the factories of Hickocks, Judds and Benedicts. Bethel is also the birthplace of celebrated showman P. T. Barnum, who became an international celebrity yet never forgot his hometown.

Bethel, Connecticut, until 1855, when the town of Bethel was incorporated, is a history of Bethel as a part of Danbury and is accordingly incomplete, since the records were burned by the British during the Revolutionary War in the raid on Danbury.

Benj Hoyt's Book
A Diary written in BETHEL, 1830

Selected Letters of P.T. Barnum
Signed by the author -
A. H. Saxon

Seal - Bethel Historical Society
Pewter Medallion

Memories of a Danbury, Connecticut man who was born in 1778, heard first hand accounts about the burning of Danbury by the British, saw the New Hampshire troops stationed there during the winter of '79, and remembers the return of the French troops from Yorktown, as well as recollections of his school days in the Bethel parish.

As the author, A. H. Saxon,  indicates, P.T. Barnum has the paradoxical distinction of being one of America's best known, least understood phenomena.  As the reader moves through his letters from 1810 to 1891, one will discover a man who was full of ideas, a humorist, a social critic and a very
complicated man.

 Three copies remaining

The Meeting House, pictured at the top of the seal, was copied from an old wood cut.  The structure was built in 1760.
 
The hat factory depicted in the seal once stood on P.T. Barnum Square.  At that time, hatmaking was the Town's principal occupation.
 
The cows and rail fence are a reminder of the "milking yard" where the first settlers went to milk their cows.  

P.T. Barnum Fountain
Pewter Medallion

P.T. Barnum House c: 1790
Pewter Medallion

P.T. Barnum Statue
Pewter Medallion

Each P.T. Barnum Pewter Medallion is $10..........Buy the set of 3 for $25

P.T. Barnum Fountain, presented by P.T. Barnum to Bethel in 1881, was an 18-foot high baroque Triton with a basin that was 30 feet in diameter.  It was disassembled and moved away in 1924.

 

 

P.T. Barnum House c: 1790
P.T. Barnum was born in this house July 5, 1810.  A fire in the 1840's destroyed the front portion of the home, leaving only the kitchen and woodhouse.  The house was renovated and Barnum's mother continued to reside there until her death on March 14, 1868.  The P.T. Barnum house continues to
stand today.

P.T. Barnum Statue -  Commissioned by the Bethel Historical Society, working with sculptor David Gesualdi, the statue depicts Barnum stepping out, hat held high, to meet his next challenge.  The statue was dedicated to the Town of Bethel on September 26, 2010 and stands in front of the Bethel Public Library.

P.T. Barnum Pewter Medallion Set of 3 $25.00

 

Click for larger Image

Note Cards
Set of 6 Note Cards, 2 of each picture $10.00