Ansonia, Connecticut

Ansonia has suffered many traumatic losses to its landscape over the years. In the mid-1930s, its original high school burned down. Hurricane Diane brought massive rains that created such an overflow to the Naugatuck River that not only took down the Maple Street Bridge, but destroyed many blocks of houses and a multitude of businesses. The catastrophic event is known as The Great Flood ( August 19, 1955 ) Years after the flood, Main Street began to look run-down and businesses started moving out. Retail shoppers went elsewhere, and malls started popping up in nearby communities,and people didn't have to go downtown anymore. And if that wasn't enough, the Latex Foam Company building-a 284,000 square foot building in the downtown area along the Naugatuck River caught fire in 2001. It took 5 days to extinguish,  even with multiple counties firefighting units. The smoke was thick, and acrid fumes swept over neighboring towns as well for quite some time, and it made national headlines.An extremely resilient small town, for decades the residents fought back adversity and came back stronger. When the high school  burned down, not only did the town build a new one, but hired famed designer  William Lescaze to create the plans.  He was noted for being at the forefront of modernism,  and the school opened in 1936, it was considered very modern and unique. The  revitalization efforts of the downtown area are evident and quite impressive considering everything this small town has gone through. Antique stores and boutiques are still popping up, and even the old Latex Foam Company building, which was an empty lot and vacant for years, is now a Target superstore.