Southwestern Connecticut was originally comprised of two main settlements - Fairfield and Stratford. These large towns were ultimately divided by church parishes, which gradually became their own towns. The Ripton Parish was split from Stratford in 1789, forming the town of Huntington, which was changed to Shelton in the 1860s. The town of Monroe was formed from Huntington/Shelton in 1823 and in the 1860s, the village of Shelton began to grow until it was finally incorporated as the City of Shelton in 1915, encompassing whatever remained of Huntington.