BRISTOL 



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BRISTOL 



fought the Battle of Hastings (1066). The 

 name is derived from Anglo-Saxon words mean- 

 ing the place at the bridge. It is situated 

 partly in Somersetshire and partly in Glouces- 

 tershire, 118 miles west of London, and in 

 population is the seventh city in England, 

 having 357,059 people in 1911. The original 

 town was built on the triangular piece of land 

 at the junction of the rivers Frome and Avon, 

 but it has now far outgrown those limitations. 

 It is one of the most important ports of Eng- 

 land, and it was from here that John Cabot 

 sailed in 1497 on his voyage to America. It 

 has beautiful suburbs, including Clifton, which 

 is the favorite residential district of the wealthy 

 classes. Here is a famous suspension bridge, 

 at the time of completion the largest in the 

 world, with a single span of 676 feet, and 

 having an elevation of 245 feet above high 

 water. 



The cathedral founded in 1142 is a notable 

 building, and the Church of Saint Mary Red- 

 cliffe, dating from 1293, is the most beautiful 

 parish church in England. The industries in- 

 clude glass works, potteries, soap works, tan- 

 neries, sugar refineries, chemical works, ma- 

 chinery works and shipbuilding yards, and the 

 city is the greatest cattle market in the king- 

 dom. All public utilities are municipally 

 owned, the profits derived from their operation 

 being devoted to the reduction of taxation. 



BRISTOL, CONN., a manufacturing city in 

 Hartford County, named for the great English 

 trade center, Bristol. It is situated in the 

 middle western part of the state, on the Pequa- 

 buck River, whose name recalls the old native 

 Pequot Indian inhabitants. Bristol is one of 

 the old-new cities of Connecticut; it was set- 

 tled about 1728 and received its city charter in 

 1911. It was incorporated as a town in 1785 

 and as a borough in 1893. Before and during 

 the War of Independence it was a stronghold 

 for English sympathizers. If walls could speak, 

 those of "Tory Den," a cave in Chippen's Hill, 

 three miles distant from the center of the 

 town, could tell many stories of Tory plots 

 and planning. The population, mostly Amer- 

 icans, with some Italians and Poles, increased 

 1,560 during the four years from 1910 to 1914, 

 when it reached 15,145. The area is about 

 twenty-eight square miles. 



The surrounding country is hilly. Eighteen 

 miles northeast is the city of Hartford, the 

 state capital; about fifteen miles southwest is 

 Waterbury, and New York is 100 miles south 

 and west. Since 1849 the New York, New 



Haven & Hartford Railway has connected 

 Bristol with all the largest cities of New Eng- 

 land and with New York ;'over forty steam trains 

 enter and leave the city daily. Electric inter- 

 urban lines run to Hartford, Waterbury and 

 Terryville. The town, preeminently a manu- 

 facturing center, containing about fifty indus- 

 tries, is locally known as the Bell City, be- 

 cause of one of its early products. Ball bear- 

 ings, coaster brakes, clocks, fishing rods, woolen 

 and knit goods, engines, brass goods and table- 

 ware are the principal articles made, whose 

 manufacture, together with 'the industry of 

 silver plating, employs nearly 6,000 people. A 

 Federal building, erected in 1909 at a cost of 

 $90,000; an Emergency Hospital, conducted by 

 the Bristol Visiting Nurses' Association, and a 

 public library are among the most important 

 public buildings of the place. Rockwell Park, 

 the largest in the city, is one-half square mile 

 in area. All of the city's elective officers are 

 subject to recall (see RECALL). D.W.N. 



BRISTOL, PA., a manufacturing town in 

 Bucks County, in the southeastern part of the 

 state. It is on the Delaware River and the 

 Pennsylvania Railroad, and is the terminus of 

 the Delaware and Lehigh Canal. It is ten 

 miles northeast of the city limits of Phila- 

 delphia, ten miles southwest of Trenton, N. J., 

 and across the river from Burlington, N. J., 

 with which it is connected by ferry. The 

 population of Bristol in 1910 was 9,256; in 

 1914 it was 10,172. The greater proportion of 

 the inhabitants are American; among the for- 

 eign-born, Italians, Austrians and Greeks pre- 

 dominate. 



Bristol is attractively situated along the 

 river, and is surrounded by a productive agri- 

 cultural country. It has machine shops, rolling 

 and worsted mills and large manufactories of 

 hosiery, cast-iron pipe, carpets and patent 

 leather. The town has two banks, a Federal 

 building, erected in 1913 at a cost of $50,000, 

 and a library. 



The town was originally called Buckingham. 

 It was settled in 1681, the same year William 

 Penn received his charter for the province. 

 Until 1725 it was the seat of government of 

 the county. It was first incorporated as a 

 town in 1720. The present charter is a revised 

 form (1905) of the charter of 1851. E.L.M. 



BRISTOL, R. I., one of the old colonial 

 towns of New^England, a port of entry and an 

 important industrial center of the state. Owing 

 to its charming location, its wide, elm-shaded 

 streets and beautiful residences, Bristol is lo- 



