Best Web Design in West Haven, CT (2026)

Web Design for West Haven, Connecticut

West Haven is a working-class shoreline city just west of New Haven with 3.5 miles of public beach, roughly a quarter of all the publicly accessible shoreline in Connecticut. Settled in 1648 but not chartered as a city until 1961, it bills itself as 'Connecticut's Youngest City' despite being one of the state's oldest settlements. Its Savin Rock district was once a seaside amusement park so popular that people called it the Coney Island of Connecticut.

AppWT works with West Haven, CT businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About West Haven

Also known as. Connecticut's Youngest City. Connecticut's Coney Island (the Savin Rock district). Westies (residents' demonym).

History. Settled in 1648 as 'West Farms,' part of the original New Haven Colony. Became the separate parish of West Haven in 1719, though it remained officially part of New Haven until 1822. During the Revolution, British troops came ashore at West Haven on July 5, 1779, on their way to raid New Haven Harbor. West Haven and North Milford incorporated together as the town of Orange in 1822. West Haven split from Orange to become its own town in 1921. It was chartered as a city in 1961, making it the most recently incorporated (youngest) city in Connecticut.

Local economy. The University of New Haven, home of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, sits in the city's Allingtown section. Yale University purchased the former Bayer pharmaceutical campus (about 137 acres) in West Haven in 2007 and developed it into its West Campus research center. Lender's Bagels traces to Polish immigrant Harry Lender, who started his bagel bakery in the area in 1927 (per the city's history).

Culture and community. Savin Rock Amusement Park drew crowds from the late 1800s until it closed in the 1960s. The Savin Rock Festival, first held on July 24, 1982, still serves the fried seafood, split hot dogs, and frozen custard that made old Savin Rock famous. Chick's Drive-In, known for Savin Rock-style split grilled hot dogs, lobster rolls, and fried seafood, was a shoreline institution until it closed in 2015. Jimmies of Savin Rock is a longtime shoreline eatery tied to the split-hot-dog tradition.

What makes West Haven distinct. Since 2020, residents of the West Shore neighborhood have reported a persistent, unexplained low humming noise. Despite being one of Connecticut's oldest settlements (1648), West Haven is the state's most recently chartered city (1961). Residents are known as 'Westies.'

West Haven Landmarks and Local Life

• Savin Rock and its shoreline boardwalk; the adjacent Old Grove Park dates to about 1870.
• Bradley Point Park - a waterfront veterans memorial park that opened in 1984
• The University of New Haven campus in Allingtown.
• 3.5 miles of public beach along Long Island Sound - about a quarter of Connecticut's publicly accessible shoreline