land was then first surveyed in 1697, and divided into four tracts, starting from the Waterbury border, and advancing towards Cheshire in half-mile intervals. Several roads in the town today follow the tier lines as outlined in the original survey, and the old border between Wallingford and Waterbury is seen in the modern-day Straitsville road. The first European settlers in what would become the town of Prospect arrived in 1712, building homes in the "West Rocks" near the then boundary line of Waterbury and Cheshire. In 1775, citizens petitioned both towns to establish their own church, which was denied. It was in 1778 that a separatist church was constructed, which gained the name Columbia church from its official title of "Society of Columbia." In 1797, through an act of the Connecticut General Assembly, the Congregational Church was established, governed by the "Columbia Company," earning the territory the name Columbia Parish until its incorporation as a municipality in 1827. The town was denied the name Columbia, owing to the already incorporated Columbia in Tolland County, and instead it was named Prospect. This name was chosen because of the view from the town green, which before the growth of the trees, one could observe Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River, and even Long Island on clear days. The town's economic history has long been dominated by agriculture, with agricultural production never being eclipsed by manufacturing or services until the onset of suburbanization in the 1950s. The town used to produce wood, charcoal, hay, ice, apples, cider, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, wool, flax, corn, rye, barley, and oats. For some time, the town did have a manufacturing base. From the onset of the industrial revolution, farmers saw manufacturing as a way to supplement their incomes. Manufacturing activities that required water power were often located at the edges of the town, where the steep drops allowed for a large amount of power to be obtained. This led to the highest concentration of industry in the town being located in the Rag Hollow area, near the border of Cheshire. This section of town had factories that made sewing needles, britannia and pewter ware, cutlery, buttons, button hooks, hardware, and wagon wheels. The town was also where the first parlor matches were made in the United States, with the factory of Ives & Judd producing them. Other manufacturing was scattered around the town, often on the