Prospect is a town in the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Waterbury to its north, and is on the north-eastern fringes of the New York metropolitan area. The population was estimated to be 9,401 in 2020. Prospect is part of the Waterbury NECTA and of the historical New Haven County. Prospect is also a member of the regional health district Chesprocott, along with Cheshire and Wolcott. Prospect was incorporated as a town in 1827 from the South Farms part of Waterbury and the West Rocks part of Cheshire. Prospect is an exurban town, with residents often traveling to other major cities and employment centers across the state. Prospect is known locally as being "The Best Small Town in Connecticut," with the phrase posted on the town's trucks and website. The name originates from an early 1990s article in Connecticut Magazine which ranked Prospect as the worst small town in the entire state. The measurement was done based on its school system, economy, the cost of living, crime rate and cultural resources. In response to this, the town's long-time mayor Robert Chatfield, removed the magazine from the library, and declared Prospect "The Best Small Town in Connecticut," and ordered it placed on town vehicles and bumper stickers. History It is believed that the Native Americans who lived in the area now known as Prospect first arrived to the area between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. Little is known of their time living here, with only a few arrowheads, stone tools, and utensils being found in the town. What is known is that the town rested near the border zone of the Quinnipiac and Tunxis peoples, and it was known that the area served as a hunting and fishing ground for both tribes. There is no known evidence for any indigenous permanent settlement within the town prior to white European settlers permanently occupying the town. The portion of the town that was located in Waterbury also briefly had an indigenous reservation of between 1731 and 1778. The reservation was located on today's Bronson road, and did not have a large population, with a total of four inhabitants in 1774. The first land record inside the town comes from a 1694 land record of John Moss, Jr., who owned to of land on "ye Tenn Mile river alongside an irremovable hill." The