What is the history of New Britain, Connecticut?
New Britain was settled in 1687 and was incorporated as a parish under the name New Britain Society in 1754. Chartered in 1850 as a township and in 1871 as a city, New Britain was separated from the nearby town of Berlin, Connecticut. A consolidation charter was adopted in 1905. During the early part of the 20th century, New Britain was known as the “Hardware Capital of the World,” as well as “Hardware City.” Major manufacturers, such as Stanley WorksThe Stanley Works and Corbin Locks, were headquartered in the city. In 1843 Frederick Trent Stanley established Stanley’s Bolt Manufactory in New Britain to make door bolts and other wrought-iron hardware. In 1857 his cousin Henry Stanley (industrialist)Henry Stanley and founded The Stanley Rule and Level Company in the city. Planes invented by Leonard Bailey and manufctured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, known as “Stanley/Bailey” planes, were prized by woodworkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and remain popular among
