Situated within Fairfield County in Connecticut, United States, the city of Stamford is a bustling city with a population of around 122,643. As of 2010, it is the 4th biggest city in the state of Connecticut and the 8th largest city in New England. The city of Stamford is a part of the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Metro area.
The Metro-North Railroad is a commuter rail system utilized for metropolitan NYC, travels via the New Haven Line through Stamford. These trains provide faster travel into Stamford City. Within an hour drive of the city of Stamford are a total of six major airports including the Newark Liberty International Airport, that is situated inside the state of New Jersey and the John F. Kennedy International Airport, which is located inside New York.
The area all-around current-day Stamford was once called Rippowam by the native area residents. The very first European settlers likewise utilized this name until it was later switched to Stamford, a name which is derived from a township in Lincolnshire, England. On July 1, the year 1640, Chief Ponus and Captain Turner of the New Haven Colony signed the deed to Stamford. Because of the city's proximity to New York, the primary industry of the city of Stamford in the 18th century become merchandising by water.
Though it wasn't as popular as the Salem witch trial, the city of Stamford had its own witch trial in the year 1692. Though the accusations were not as fanatical as those that were thrown around within Salem, they grew to prominence through hysterics and gossip.
During the late 19th century, New York inhabitants started to build summer homes along the seashore. A few even moved there permanently and commuted to Manhattan City by train, although this practice did not become commonplace until much later. During the year 1893 Stamford was incorporated.
Located in Stamford, there are some company head office, such as many Fortune 1000, Courant 100 and Fortune 500 companies. Among the biggest headquarters which are located in Stamford are World Wrestling Entertainment, Pitney Bowes and Tasty Bite. What's more, the city is home to the Norther American Headquarters of UBS. The Royal Bank of Scotland runs its North American operations from Stamford, including its RBS Greenwich Capital subsidiary.
Due to the high rental costs in the city, some huge companies such as MeadWestvaco, Xerox, International Paper, GE Capital, NBC and Clairol have transferred their offices outside of the city of Stamford.
There are several university campuses situated within the city of Stamford, such as the University of Bridgeport, the Sacred Heart University and the University of Connecticut. The University of Connecticut's campus was opened during the year 1998 in a large, recently renovated building downtown, that was the huge Bloomingdales store former home. The two other university campuses are located within the River Bend Executive Center, which is the leading communication and information center of Fairfield County. All these campuses are commuter campuses.