Marker Front:
On the boundary where Waterbury and Cheshire met, homes were built as early as 1712. Schools were opened and, in 1778, a separatist church. The Congregational Church, "Columbia Parish," was established in 1797 by Act of the Legislature. The governing body was "Columbia Company." Its work included laying taxes, assuring support for church and school, electing constables, school officials, road surveyors, grave diggers and a tavern keeper. In May, 1827, nearly the same area was incorporated as the Town of Prospect, the town with an extended view, at an elevation of over eight hundred feet. Farming was the chief occupation, aided by industry that varied from mills for grinding grain, apple cultivation, and lumbering to the manufacture of farm tools, matches, buttons and other items of practical and household use.
Marker Reverse:
Noted and notorious men from Prospect included Peter Gilkey, counterfeiter; Julius Hotchkiss, who became the first Mayor of Waterbury, a Representative in Congress, and Lieutenant Governor; Benjamin Dutton Beecher, an inventor of harvesting machinery and a screw-propelled steamboat; and also C. L. Mortison, known as "Mort" for his cartoons and as "Lester Green" for his tall stories that made the name of Prospect known widely around the country. Men who lived in the area that was to become Prospect served in colonial wars and in the Revolution. They served as well as Civil War and World War I soldiers are listed on the monument in the center of the Green. World War II, Korean and Vietnam War soldiers are named on the honor roll in the Town Hall. Those who lie in unmarked graves are honored by a stone monument placed in the cemetery.
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