Bethel, Fairfield Co. CT Research

TOWN RESOURCES

The town of Bethel is located in northern Fairfield County, sixty miles northeast of New York City and fifty miles southwest of Hartford. Bordered on the east by Newtown, on the west by Danbury, on the north by Brookfield, and on the south by Redding, Bethel encompasses an area of about 17 square miles. Bethel was established out of a portion of Danbury in 1855 and is in close proximity to both the urban centers of New York, Boston, Harford and New Haven and the rural areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and the Hudson Valley. The Town of Bethel is governed by a Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Town Meetings. Today Bethel is home to approximately 18,000 residents.

Vital Records

Bethel Town Clerk
1 School Street, Town Hall
PO Box 3, Bethel, CT 06801
(203) 794-8505
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 4:40 pm

Connecticut State Library

CT State Records at LDS Family History Centers

Probate & Land Records

Bethel Probate Office Daniel O'Grady, Attorney
Town Hall, 5 Library Place
PO Box 144, Bethel, CT 06801
(203) 794-8508

Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm EST (and by appointment.)
Probate Records: 1859 - Present
Note: Earlier records may be found at the Danbury Probate Office.

The Connecticut State Library has received most Probate records prior to 1850.
Pre-1850 records are also available on microfilm.
Land Records are recorded and indexed by the town clerk of each town and may be reviewed at town halls.
The Connecticut State Library has microfilm of copies of deeds, mortgages, releases and related records to about 1900. Grantor and grantee indexes are available, but there is no statewide index.

Cemeteries

Center Cemetery

Congregational Cemetery

Elmwood Cemetery

St. Mary's Cemetery

Stony Hill Cemetery

Wolfpits Cemetery

The Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions (1600's to 1930's) is available through The Connecticut State Library

The Association of Gravestone Studies, 30 Elm Street, Worcester MA 01609; phone (508) 831-7753

Churches

Church of Bethel
239 Greenwood Ave., Bethel, CT. 06801 (203) 791-8015

St. Mary Roman Catholic Church
24 Dodgingtown Rd.,Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 744-5777

St. Thomas Episcopal Church
95 Greenwood Ave., Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 743-1494

The Bethel United Methodist Church
141 Greenwood Ave., Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 743-6835

The First Congregational Church of Bethel
46 Main St., Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 743-1877

The Saints Peter and Paul Eastern Orthodox
Dodgingtown Rd, Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 791-9994

Walnut Hill Community Church
156 Walnut Hill Rd, Bethel, CT (203) 796-7373‎

The Danbury-Bethel Seventh Day Adventist Church
Dodgingtown Road and Old Hawleyville Rd., Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 743-2112

Seventh-Day Adventist Church
67 Turkey Plain Rd, Bethel, CT (203) 743-2112

Libraries

Bethel Public Library
189 Greenwood Ave., Bethel, CT 06801
(203) 744-0170

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 9:30 am to 8 pm; Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm; Sunday, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm; (Closed Sunday mid-June through mid-September)

Historical Societies Bethel Historical Society
40 Main Street, Bethel, CT 06810
(203) 794-1050

Connecticut Society of Genealogists
PO Box 435

Glastonbury, CT 06033-0435
(860) 569-00002

Newspapers

The News-Times 333 Main St., Danbury, CT 06810
(203) 744-5100
The Connecticut Post 410 State Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604
(203) 330-6456

Sources:

1. Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co. (1881)
2. Morrison, Betty Jean. Connecting to Connecticut. East Hartford: CT Society of Genealogists (1995)
3. Lindberg, Marcia Wiswall. Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research. 3rd Edition. Boston: NEHGS (1993)

If you have questions, comments or contributions to this collective effort,
please E-mail Fairfield Co. CC, M. Mead
© Copyright 1996 to 2019. Created 15 Mar 1999. Updated Sunday, December 23, 2018.