Crownbrook

Bishop Street was settled with small wooden houses by the mid-19th century, when Little Brook still flowed through the neighborhood above ground. Seven frame houses were built on School Lane, later Bishop Street, before 1860. After the Waterbury Clock Company built its factory at North Elm and Cherry in 1873, the neighborhood blossomed.

By the end of the century, there were more than 40 houses in the area for new Irish and German families. The Hill Street area was still covered with woods and open fields in the 1920s, although the new triple-deckers built to house increasing numbers of immigrants would soon fill both areas.

Among the newcomers were Swedish, Polish, French, Jewish and Italian families. They worked as gardeners, clerks, masons, laborers, dressmakers and employees in the nearby factories. New community organizations were established to meet the needs of the diverse population, such as the Swedish Baptist Tabernacle on Bishop Street, the Pearl Street Neighborhood House and the AME Zion Church.