Brookfield, Connecticut

Brookfield, Connecticut
Town
Brookfield Town Hall
Seal
Motto:  "Pro Patria"
Fairfield County and Connecticut  Western Connecticut Planning Region and Connecticut
Show Brookfield Show Connecticut Show the United States
Coordinates: 41°28′07″N 73°23′31″W / 41.46861°N 73.39194°W / 41.46861; -73.39194
Country	United States
U.S. state	Connecticut
County	Fairfield
Region	Western CT
Incorporated	1788
Government
• Type	Select board-town meeting
• First selectman	Stephen C. Dunn (D)
• Selectman	Robert D. Belden (I)
• Selectwoman	Tara S. Carr (R)
Area
• Total	20.4 sq mi (52.8 km2)
• Land	19.8 sq mi (51.3 km2)
• Water	0.6 sq mi (1.6 km2)
Elevation	459 ft (140 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	17,528
• Density	806.5/sq mi (311.4/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	06804
Area code(s)	203/475
FIPS code	09-08980
GNIS feature ID	0213399
Website	www.brookfieldct.gov

Brookfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, situated within the southern foothills of the Berkshire Mountains.^[1] The population was 17,528 at the 2020 census.^[2] The town is located 55 miles (89 km) northeast of New York City, making it part of the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA combined statistical area.^[3] The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. In July 2013, Money magazine ranked Brookfield the 26th-best place to live in the United States, and the best place to live in Connecticut.^[4]

Colonists settled in what is now known as Brookfield in 1710, led by John Muirwood and other colonial founders including Hawley, Peck and Merwin. They bartered for the land from the Wyantenuck and the Potatuck Nations who were ruled under the Sachems Waramaug and Pocono. Sachem Pocono's village was in an enormous palisade along the Still River. Colonists first established the area as the Parish of Newbury, incorporating parts of neighboring Newtown and Danbury. The parish later was renamed and incorporated as the town of Brookfield in 1788, named for Rev. Thomas Brooks, the first minister of the parish's Congregational church.