Separated from Danbury in 1855, Bethel was settled as early as 1700. Studies of the town's unique and colorful past have been somewhat neglected until recently, however, as many assumed that existing histories of Danbury were all that was needed to document the area's beginnings. With Bethel, town historian Patrick Wild brings to life the people, places, industries, and institutions of the independent town from the 1860s through the 1950s for the first time through a remarkable series of vintage photographs. The hat-making industry was critical to the Bethel economy, and the arrival of the...