Stonington (borough), Connecticut
| Stonington | ||
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| Borough | ||
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| Etymology: Same name as the town it's located in | ||
| Nickname(s): The Borough | ||
| Coordinates: 41°20′04″N 71°54′21″W / 41.3344°N 71.9058°WCoordinates: 41°20′04″N 71°54′21″W / 41.3344°N 71.9058°W | ||
| Country | United States | |
| State | Connecticut | |
| Town | Stonington | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 0.7 sq mi (2 km2) | |
| • Land | 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 929 | |
| • Density | 1,300/sq mi (510/km2) | |
| Website | stoningtonboroughct |
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Stonington is a borough and the town center of the town of Stonington in New London County, Connecticut, United States, and known as "The Borough" to locals. The population was 929 at the 2010 census.
The densely built Borough of Stonington occupies a point of land that projects into Little Narragansett Bay. It has two main streets that link Cannon Square and Wadawanuck Square, named for the former Wadawanuck Hotel that brought wealthy visitors in the post-Civil War era. Its colonial, Federal, and outstanding Greek revival domestic architectures have been preserved through the lack of through traffic or modern industry, together with the borough's role as a fashionable summer residence, while the activity of one of Connecticut's last remaining fishing and lobstering fleets keeps it from being simply a quaint, historic village. There is a large community of Portuguese descent.
On August 30, 1775, a tender chased two small private sloops into Stonington Harbor during the American Revolutionary War. The sloops had made it to the dock and discharged their passengers when the tender fired a broadside into the dockside town and stores before sailing out of the harbor again. It returned later in the company of another tender and the HMS Rose. All three ships then bombarded the town throughout the day. The local militia assembled and returned fire, claiming to have killed five or six men aboard the ships.
A more damaging attack occurred between August 9 and 12, 1814 during the War of 1812. British vessels HMS Ramillies, HMS Pactolus, HMS Dispatch, and HMS Terror under the command of Sir Thomas Hardy appeared offshore on August 9, 1814. The British demanded immediate surrender, but Stonington's citizens replied with a note that stated, "We shall defend the place to the last extremity; should it be destroyed, we shall perish in its ruins." For three days, the Royal Navy pounded the town, but the only fatality was that of an elderly woman who was mortally ill. The British sailed off on 12 August after suffering many dead and wounded.
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