Editing Naugatuck River Valley

{{Short description|Area in western Connecticut, US}}
{{About||the planning region and council of governments|Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, Connecticut}}
{{no footnotes|date=November 2018}}
The '''Naugatuck River Valley''' is the watershed area of the [[Naugatuck River]] in  the western part of [[Connecticut]]. The Naugatuck Valley straddles parts of [[Litchfield County, Connecticut|Litchfield County]], [[New Haven County, Connecticut|New Haven]], and [[Fairfield County, Connecticut|Fairfield]] counties. The [[Route 8 (Connecticut)|Route 8]] corridor and [[Waterbury Branch]] of the [[Metro-North]] railroad line run along the river valley.  Geographically, it comprises the municipalities located within the [[Naugatuck River]] basin. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the area was one of the main manufacturing centers in [[New England]], and most of the communities around the river were emblematic New England mill towns.

==Subdivisions==
[[Image:naugatuckvalley.png|thumb|right|250px|Map of Connecticut showing the regions of the Naugatuck River Valley. Green is the  Valley, yellow is the Greater Waterbury area, and blue is the Litchfield Hills region.]]Traditionally, the Naugatuck Valley is often subdivided for historical, cultural, geographic, and demographic reasons.

*The [[Upper Naugatuck Valley]], more often referred to as the [[Litchfield Hills|Litchfield (Northwest) Hills]], refers to the area centered on the city of [[Torrington, Connecticut|Torrington]]. The West Branch and East Branch Naugatuck Rivers merge in Torrington to form the main river. The watershed area in the Upper Naugatuck Valley includes parts of the towns of [[Goshen, Connecticut|Goshen]], [[Harwinton, Connecticut|Harwinton]], [[Litchfield, Connecticut|Litchfield]], [[Morris, Connecticut|Morris]], [[New Hartford, Connecticut|New Hartford]], [[Norfolk, Connecticut|Norfolk]], Torrington, [[Winchester, Connecticut|Winchester]].
*The [[Central Naugatuck Valley]], more often referred to as the [[Greater Waterbury]] area, is the region focused on the city of [[Waterbury, Connecticut|Waterbury]]. The towns covered in part by the watershed area are [[Thomaston, Connecticut|Thomaston]], [[Plymouth, Connecticut|Plymouth]], [[Bristol, Connecticut|Bristol]],  [[Bethlehem, Connecticut|Bethlehem]], [[Watertown, Connecticut|Watertown]], [[Woodbury, Connecticut|Woodbury]], [[Wolcott, Connecticut|Wolcott]], Waterbury, [[Middlebury, Connecticut|Middlebury]], [[Cheshire, Connecticut|Cheshire]], [[Prospect, Connecticut|Prospect]], and [[Naugatuck, Connecticut|Naugatuck]], [[Beacon Falls, Connecticut|Beacon Falls]], and [[Oxford, Connecticut|Oxford]]. The last three towns are sometimes also grouped with the lower valley region.
*The [[Lower Naugatuck Valley]] refers to the area focused on the city of [[Derby, Connecticut|Derby]]. The towns within the watershed area of the lower valley are [[Shelton, Connecticut|Shelton]], [[Seymour, Connecticut|Seymour]], [[Woodbridge, Connecticut|Woodbridge]], [[Ansonia, Connecticut|Ansonia]], and Derby. The towns of Beacon Falls, Oxford, and Naugatuck, usually grouped together in the central valley region, are also sometimes assigned to the lower valley region.

==Towns and cities==
The following municipalities are members of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG):
*[[Ansonia, Connecticut|Ansonia]]
*[[Beacon Falls, Connecticut|Beacon Falls]]
*[[Bethlehem, Connecticut|Bethlehem]]
*[[Bristol, Connecticut|Bristol]]
*[[Cheshire, Connecticut|Cheshire]]
*[[Derby, Connecticut|Derby]]
*[[Middlebury, Connecticut|Middlebury]]
*[[Naugatuck, Connecticut|Naugatuck]]
*[[Oxford, Connecticut|Oxford]]
*[[Plymouth, Connecticut|Plymouth]]
*[[Prospect, Connecticut|Prospect]]
*[[Seymour, Connecticut|Seymour]]
*[[Shelton, Connecticut|Shelton]]
*[[Southbury, Connecticut|Southbury]]
*[[Thomaston, Connecticut|Thomaston]]
*[[Waterbury, Connecticut|Waterbury]]
*[[Watertown, Connecticut|Watertown]]
*[[Wolcott, Connecticut|Wolcott]]
*[[Woodbury, Connecticut|Woodbury]]

==See also==
* [[Naugatuck Railroad]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.naugawatshed.org Naugatuck River Watershed Association]
*[http://www.valleycog.org Lower Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments]
*[http://www.cogcnv.org Central Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments]

{{Connecticut}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Naugatuck River Valley| ]]
[[Category:Waterbury, Connecticut]]
[[Category:River valleys of the United States]]
[[Category:Valleys of Connecticut]]
[[Category:Landforms of Litchfield County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Landforms of New Haven County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Landforms of Fairfield County, Connecticut]]