Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, on the Connecticut River about 16 miles south of Hartford, and the largest city in the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. It was incorporated in 1650 by English settlers as a town under its original Native American name, Mattabeseck, taken from the local Wangunk village, before being renamed in 1653; in 1784 its central settlement was incorporated as a city distinct from the town, and the two were merged into one city in 1923. Originally a sailing port and later an industrial center on the Connecticut River, Middletown is now largely residential, with a downtown along Main Street that serves as a retail and dining district near Wesleyan University; the city had a population of 47,717 at the 2020 census and served as the seat of Middlesex County from 1785 until Connecticut eliminated county government in 1960.