Brookfield, CT and America at 250: What Community Means

Celebrate America 250 in Brookfield, CT. As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026, Brookfield, Connecticut offers a view into our nation's past and future through the lens of community. Despite its colonial churches, cultural heritage, and subsequent growth, this small town speaks broadly to what it means to build and sustain a community in America.

Settling on a name and a Town Center

Incorporated in 1789, Brookfield grew from a settlement known as Newbury and was once part of Danbury Township. While its name was meant to resolve a quarrel among Puritan parishes and preserve religious peace, Brookfield's settlement and organization into a town center mirror American and colonial patterns.

Cultural and Industrial Hub

Brookfield has long been an example of Amrican cultural ingenuity - home to the longest running chamber music organization in the country, as well as Inventor Ebenezer Scofield. It also evolved into a manufacturing center, highlighting the nation's shift from agrarian roots to a complex industrial society.

Evolving Community

Like much of the United States, Brookfield has a history of civic engagement.

This suburban but civic-minded community considers the challenges of sustaining a diverse and inclusive community across the next two and a half centuries.

Relevance to the 250th Anniversary

Brookfield's example challenges all of us to consider what it means to find common ground and sustain it amid our differences. It provides opportunities to explore the local stories of resilience and adaptation that underpin the American experience. Celebrating America’s 250th provides us the opportunity to share and learn from the history that shaped our era.