Middlesex

Formed May 1, 1785 (7^th county)

Middlesex County (164,759), Middletown (47,726)

The masonry government building houses the courthouse.  This courthouse was built in 1958 with previous courthouses dating from 1832 and 1893.  Haddam also had a courthouse from 1796.  The current courthouse is located at Court and Dekoven streets.  Sebastian J. Passanesi provided the designs.  Middlesex is named for Middlesex, England.  Middletown is a geographical term for its location.  Middlesex County was the birthplace of 1 Connecticut Governor, Morgan G. Bulkeley.  The county was created on May 1, 1785 from parts of Hartford and New London counties as the 7^th county. 

Middlesex County doesn’t have a unified government as each township governs.  Twelve Superior District Court Judges and Three Probate Judges serve Middlesex County.  It is located in south central Connecticut on the Long Island Sound.  The Connecticut River runs through the middle of the county.  The center of the county is 10.8 miles Southeast of Middletown in Haddam.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Hartford and New London counties and New York (Atlantic Ocean), and New Haven County.  Middletown is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Middletown is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.0% of the county population. 

The area of the county is 369 square miles.  It is 8 out of 8 in the state.  It ranks 6 out of 8 in population in the state.  It has a density of 446.5 persons per square mile making it 4 out of 8 in the state.  Middlesex County has 29.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 91 crosses the extreme northwest corner of the county, from Hartford County, north, to New Haven County, west.  Interstate Highway 95 crosses the south part of the county, east to west, New London County to New Haven County.  United States Highway 1 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from New London County to New Haven County.  The county is shaped like the small letter r.  The county is in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford Metropolitan Statistical Area.