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Note: Information here has been gathered from the following sources: the sesquicentennial booklet, Bethany in 1982, Alice Bunton's Bethany's Old Houses and Community Buildings, the annual town reports, and Municipal Historian Robert H. Brinton.

Before 1638 – Two Native American tribes inhabit the Bethany area. West of the north-south line running along Pole Hill Road are the Naugatucks of the Paugusset Tribe. East of that line are the Mattabessitts of the Wangunk Tribe.

1638 – April 24: English Congregational (i.e. Puritan) settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony arrive in New Haven area then called Quinnipiac by the Indians.

November 24: Land around New Haven harbor purchased from Sachem Momauguin of the Quinnipiac tribe.

December 11: Land north of New Haven including eastern Bethany purchased from Montawese and Sawseunck, of the Wangunk Tribe living in the North Haven area; for the next 146 years, eastern Bethany is part of the Town of New Haven.

1639 – Settlers from New Haven arrive in Milford area, then called Wepawaug. An area extending 20 miles north is considered within Milford town boundaries; this includes western Bethany.

1643 – New Haven Colony is organized as a state including the towns of New Haven, Milford, Guilford, Branford, Stamford and Southold, Long Island. It is an independent colony without a royal charter, organized by the Congregational Church.

1649 – Execution of King Charles I by a Puritan Court appointed by Parliament.

1650 – Richard Sperry, Ralph Lines, and other settlers from New Haven take up residence in what is now southeast Woodbridge.

1660 – The monarchy is restored in England; Charles II becomes King; the Puritan regicides are prosecuted.

1661 – Two of the regicides, Edward Whalley and William Goffe are hidden in New Haven and the surrounding area for the next three years. One of their hiding places is Judges’ Cave on West Rock; another is Hatchet Harbor in Woodbridge. According to Ezra Stiles they used Holmes Fort in Bethany as a lookout point.

1662 – Connecticut Colony is established in Hartford by royal charter of Charles II, taking its name from the Indian name of the Connecticut River: Quonektacat, meaning long river.

1664 – Alexander Bryan of Milford buys Lebanon Swamp (Bethany Bog) in Bethany from Nehantond, a Naugatuck Indian, for 30 shillings; he sells it to New Haven ten years later. Nehantond seems to be the earliest landowner of record in Bethany area.

1665 – Union of New Haven Colony and Connecticut Colony is completed with capitals in both Hartford and New Haven.

1666 – New Haven County is organized.

1672 – New Haven and Milford agree on a common boundary that runs through the Bethany area. Holmes Fort and Beacon Cap are mentioned in the description.

1673 – New Haven and Milford dispute the ownership of the Three Brothers, a clump of three chestnut trees on the Milford-New Haven boundary and now located in northern Bethany at the Naugatuck-Prospect-Bethany boundary point. “The area in dispute was supposed to be haunted by evil spirits. The quarrel was carried to the Governor of the Colony of Connecticut for adjustment, but a satisfactory decision was not rendered. The townsfolk thereupon agreed to settle their differences by physical combat. Elimination contests were held to determine the town championships in 1673, and the two champions battled beneath the “Three Brothers” from ten o’clock until sundown. The contest was even. Both towns agreed to include the chestnuts in their land descriptions.”

1674 – Settlers from Farmington purchase land at Mattatuck from the Tunxis Indians; this area later becomes Waterbury and Naugatuck.

1675 – Center of New Haven is fortified against Indian attack during King Phillip’s War (1675-76); a log palisade is built but the town is not attacked. This war resulted in the extermination of Indian tribal life in Southern New England.

1686 – A County Road is laid out between Waterbury and New Haven through Bethany area.

1687 – King James II sends armed men to Hartford to seize the 1662 Charter of Connecticut, which is hidden in the Charter Oak; government under the old charter is restored two years later.

1700 – Proprietors in Milford purchase from the Paugusset Indians a tract of land in western Bethany between Bladen’s Brook and Lebanon Brook (now called Hockanum Brook). This tract is known as the Two-Bit Purchase – two bits being the price of a share in the purchase. Two bits was a quarter (2/8th) of a Piece of Eight, also called a Spanish dollar. The Indians signing the agreement are Conquepotana, Ahanataway, Rasquenoot, Waurarrunton, Wonountacun, Pequit, Suckatash, Durquin, and Windham, all early Bethany landowners and perhaps residents.

1702 – Proprietors in Milford purchase from the Paugusset Indians a tract of land in northwestern Bethany between Lebanon Brook and the Waterbury line. This tract is known as the One-Bit Purchase. The Indian sellers were the same eight who signed the Two-Bit Purchase.

1709 – Ebenezer Johnson of Milford buys a tract of land in Nyumphs (later to become part of Bethany) from an Indian named Chetrenasut; in exchange Johnson gives Chetrenasut a squaw named Sarah and ₤3,10s.

1711 – Land is eastern Bethany area is surveyed and divided by lot among the proprietors in New Haven.

1717 – Samuel Downs settles in the valley south of Mad Mare’s Hill.

1721 – Stephen Perkins and others petition unsuccessfully for a separate parish in the Woodbridge-Bethany area.

1722 – William Thompson surveys the County Highway to Waterbury through Bethany; the route generally follows present-day Amity Road.

1728 – Waterbury, at its own request, is transferred from Hartford County to New Haven County.

1734 – Settlers in area northwest of New Haven, now Woodbridge but then called Chestnut Hill, receive winter preaching privileges because of the difficulty of traveling to New Haven.

1738 – Amity Parish is incorporated by the General Assembly of the Connecticut Colony. The Parish territory includes most of the present townships of Bethany and Woodbridge. Amity Parish includes the Two-Bit Purchase but not the One-Bit Purchase.

1742 – Amity Parish Congregational Meetinghouse is built on what is now the Woodbridge Town Green; Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge is the first minister.

1750 – First schoolhouse in the northern half of Amity Parish is built at Rocky Corner near the intersection of Old Amity and Meyers roads.

1754 – French and Indian War begins. It ends in 1763. The graves of Bethany veterans of this war are in the Old Bethany Burying Ground on Meyers Road.

1755 – Timothy Peck and others ask the General Assembly to draw an east-west line dividing Amity Parish into two parts, and also ask that the north part receive privileges of winter preaching; first meetings are held in the schoolhouse at Rocky Corner.

1762 – The Amity Parish is subdivided and the northern part is incorporated by the General Assembly as the Bethany Parish; it is named for the Biblical village on the Mount of Olives where Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44).

1763 – The Bethany Congregational Church is organized and Rev. Stephen Hawley begins his 41-year pastorate.

1769 – Bethany Parish annexes 'One-Bit Purchase' from Milford.

1769 – Construction begun on First Meeting House of Congregational Church erected on old Bethany Green (corner of Dayton and Amity Roads). Completed in 1773.

1776 – Representatives of Connecticut Colony sign the Declaration of Independence and Connecticut becomes one of the thirteen states of the United States.

1779 – On July 5th, New Haven is attacked and plundered by a large force of British soldiers from New York; they leave on July 6th when militiamen from outlying towns, including Bethany, begin to gather.

1780 – The Ebenezer Dayton House in Bethany is robbed just after midnight on March 14th by a small party of Tories from Gunntown, led by a British officer from Long Island.

1781 – Second schoolhouse is built, for the North District, on Litchfield Turnpike north of Cheshire Road. Replaced by Gate School on opposite side of road in 1880.

1783 – Revolutionary War ends.

1784 – By act of the General Assembly, Amity Parish and Bethany Parish are incorporated as the Town of Woodbridge, named for Benjamin Woodbridge, first Congregational minister in Amity Parish; land for the new town is taken both from New Haven and Milford. Bethany Parish is part of Woodbridge for the next 48 years.

1785 – Reverend Bela Hubbard, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in New Haven, begins missionary work in Bethany. A predecessor to the present Episcopal Church was built on Church Corner at the intersection of Carrington and Tuttle roads. The interior is never finished and the structure is torn down in 1803.

1789 – Beecher Schoolhouse is built on Sperry Road. This was the first of three schools on this site.

1795 – Connecticut Western Reserve Lands are sold for $1,200,000. Bethany schools receive a share of proceeds.

1797 – The Straits Turnpike Company is incorporated to build and maintain a road from Litchfield to New Haven passing through Bethany Parish. This road is later renamed Litchfield Turnpike.

1798 – Oxford is set off from Derby as a town; Oxford includes Nyumphs.

1798 – Bethany Union Library is founded.

1799 – First legal society of the Episcopal Church is organized.

1800 – First buggy appears on the Bethany Grand List, owned by Isaac Sperry of Litchfield Turnpike.

1800 – Downs Schoolhouse is built on Downs Road. Demolished in 1900, and a new schoolhouse built on other side of the road.

1807 – The Wheeler-Beecher House, also known as the Hoadley House, is built on Amity Road; designed by David Hoadley of Waterbury.

1809 – Present Christ Episcopal Church is erected on Amity Road; designed by David Hoadley. Completed in 1810.

1818 – New Connecticut Constitution is passed; Congregational Church is disestablished, and no longer receives direct town support.

1831 – The First Church of Christ Congregational in Bethany Center is completed; original Congregational Meetinghouse on old Bethany Green (built 1769-1773) is torn down; and the Green is sold. This move brings the church to the geographical center of Bethany Parish.

1832 – By act of the General Assembly, Bethany Parish is separated from Woodbridge and incorporated as the Town of Bethany. Reuben Judd becomes first selectman of the new town.

1833 – A family of Bethany Indians resettled in Derby by the selectmen is wiped out by smallpox; there are in all six men, three women, and three children; only the children survive the epidemic. The family, named Mack, support themselves by making baskets and by hunting. They are among the last survivors of the Paugusset Indians living in the area

1834 – Center Schoolhouse is built on Amity Road.

1839 – Bethany annexes the Nyumphs area of Oxford; this later becomes the eastern part of Beacon Falls.

1840 – The Methodist Episcopal Church is built on Litchfield Turnpike.

1840 – The town’s population (which includes Straitsville and Beacon Falls) is at its peak and is not surpassed until the 1940s. It is the beginning of a long decline to the low point of 411 people in 1920.

1840 – Bethany Census: 1,170.

1844 – The area and population of Bethany is reduced when the Straitsville area becomes part of the new Town of Naugatuck by act of the General Assembly.

1848 – The Canal Railroad begins service from New Haven through Mt. Carmel and Cheshire to Plainville. This brings the railroad within two miles of Bethany’s east boundary.

1849 – Naugatuck Valley Railroad begins service. The station for Beacon Falls on the west side of the Naugatuck River is as close as Bethany ever comes to a railroad. Train service to Beacon Falls, Naugatuck, and Waterbury ends the prosperity of the Litchfield Turnpike.

1850 – Bethany Census: 914.

1854 – Bethany Probate Court is established.

1854 – Straits Turnpike Company is dissolved.

1858 – First Woodbridge-Bethany Agricultural Society Fair held in Woodbridge. Some held on Fair Grounds in Bethany on present Fairwood Road. Continued until about 1890.

1858 – Episcopal Church carriage shed is built.

1860 – Bethany Census: 974.

1865 – A part of Bethany is annexed by Woodbridge when Bladen’s Brook becomes southwest boundary between the two towns.

1866 – Bethany Town Meeting on October 11th passes an ordinance forbidding Edward Malley of New Haven to hunt or fish within its boundaries.

1870 – Bethany Census: 1,135.

1871 – Bethany's area and population again reduced when Beacon Falls is incorporated as a town by act of the General Assembly.

1874 – Bethany begins publishing Annual Town Reports.

1875 – Hartford is made sole capital city of Connecticut.

1875 – Interior of Episcopal Church is remodeled.

1877 – Smith School is built on Carrington Road. This is the third school to serve the Northeast District.

1880 – Bethany Census: 637.

1888 – Lake Watrous is built on the West River by the New Haven Water Company; part of the lake is in Bethany, although the greater part is in Woodbridge.

1890 – Bethany Census: 550.

1892 – Lake Chamberlain is built on the Sargent River by the New Haven Water Company; it is first called the Sargent River Dam.

1894 – Bethany Lake is built on the West River by the New Haven Water Company; when the dam is filled, an earlier dam called the Nailworks Dam is inundated.

1898 – Tyler Davidson founds the Davidson Telephone Exchange System in Bethany. Cedars from Lebanon Swamp are used as telephone poles.

1900 – First record of an automobile seen in Bethany.

1900 – Bethany Census: 517.

1905 – First book on Bethany, Bethany and its Hills, by Eliza J. Lines is published in New Haven. Parts of the book had appeared earlier in the New Haven Register.

1907 – Davidson Telephone Exchange taken over by Southern New England Telephone Company.

1907 – Stagecoach service on the Litchfield Turnpike discontinued.

1910 – Chestnut blight begins to destroy the large stands of chestnut trees that had been a major source of timber and trim for Bethany houses and barns.

1910 – Bethany Census: 495.

1914 – First Bethany Town Hall built on Amity Road at Bethany Center.

1915 – First road paved in Bethany – Amity Road.

1915 – New Naugatuck Reservoir is built on Hill Brook by the Naugatuck Water Company; it is at first called the Long Hill Dam.

1915 – Bethany Grange #188 organized.

1917 – Bethany Grange Town Development Assoc. Inc. held Bethany Fairs until 1923 at Town Hall.

1918 – First road in Bethany is paved.

1918 – Five airplanes are spotted flying over the town on July 4th. These are the first seen in the skies over Bethany.

1920 – First tractor appears on the Bethany Grand List – an International 8-16, owned by Clifford Whitlock and used at his farm on Litchfield Turnpike.

1920 – First airplane lands at or near the site of the future Bethany Airport, one mile north of Bethany Center.

1920 – The population reaches its low point and begins to grow again.

1920 – Bethany Census: 411.

1923 – Bethany Field, later known as Bethany Airport, is opened; it is among the earliest in New England.

1924 – Bethany Agricultural Association, Inc. holds Fair.

1930 – Bethany Library Association is incorporated.

1930 – Bethany Census: 480.

1931 – Amity Road is widened, straightened and repaved.

1931 – The Center Schoolhouse is moved a short distance east, away from Amity Road.

1931 – Congregational Church is moved to the west, away from Amity Road.

1931 – Catherine Edmondson receives Certificate from Connecticut State Board of Education for Perfect Attendance for eight years.

1932 – Bethany Centennial celebration is held.

1932 – Troop I, Boy Scouts of America, is chartered in town.

1934 – Bethany Volunteer Firemen’s Association is founded.

1934 – The Bethany Community School on Peck Road is completed. This four-classroom building houses grades one through eight and replaces the four remaining one-room schools in town.

1934 – Bethany Baseball Club is organized.

1936 – Clark Memorial Library dedicated by the Bethany Library Association; it is a bequest of Noyes Clark.

1939 – State Police Barracks Troop “I” on Amity Road opened.

1940 – Bethany Census: 706.

1941 – Bethany Athletic Association incorporated. Originated as the Bethany Baseball Club. The association leased Peck Pond and furnished funds for its development.

1943 – The Amity Rangers, Connecticut State Guard, under Capt. Willis Thompson was organized.

1943 – Wooden Honor Roll erected in front of Town Hall to acknowledge Bethany’s World War II servicemen.

1944 – Wallace S. Saxton elected first selectman, defeating incumbent First Selectman William L. Wooding. Wooding, who was first elected in 1924, resigns from his new position of third selectman.

1947 – Charter for Bethany Public Health Nursing Agency is drawn.

1948 – Board of Finance established.

1949 – First addition to original Community school completed. Two classrooms and an office added to the northern end of the building.

1950 – 'Amity Star' published by George Vaill for Bethany and Woodbridge (later Orange and Prospect also) began, ended in 1953.

1950 – Peck Pond purchased by the Town and Athletic Association.

1950 – Bethany Census: 1,318.

1951 – Center Schoolhouse moved to the athletic field on Munson Road.

1952 – Lions Club organized.

1952 – Zoning adopted.

1952 – Bethany Volunteer Fire Department's new station completed on Amity Road.

1952 – Vault, bathrooms and office constructed for Town Hall addition. This is the first time the Town Hall has running water and a place to store its land records. These records were previously stored in the attic of the barn at the John Hinman house.

1952 – Bronze plaque replaces earlier wooden honor roll in front of Town Hall.

1953 – Regional High School District #5 established to serve towns of Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge.

1953 – First woman elected to Board of Selectmen - Elizabeth Fox.

1953 – Stanley H. Downs elected first selectman to replace retiring First Selectman Wallace S. Saxton.

1953 – Second addition to original Community School completed. Gym, lobby and kitchen added to the southern end of building and basement of the existing structure divided into two classrooms.

1953 – Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge join to form the Amity Regional High School District No. 5. The district governs grades seven through twelve.

1954 – The senior high school is built on Newton Road in Woodbridge. Earlier Bethany students had been sent to public high schools in neighboring towns as tuition students for grades nine through twelve.

1955 – Traffic light installed in front of Town Hall at Bethany Center. This was the town’s first traffic light.

1955 – Methodist Episcopal Church on Litchfield Turnpike is torn down after being inactive for many years.

1956 – First four-room annex (#1) for the Community School completed.

1957 – Yale Observatory built on Hilldale Road.

1957 – Bethany adopts subdivision regulations.

1959 – Bethany Memorial Scholarship Fund established.

1960 – Second four-room annex (#2) for the Community School completed.

1960 – Park and Recreation Commission created by Town.

1960 – Bethany Town Court is discontinued.

1960 – Bethany Census: 2,384.

1961 – Bethany Volunteer Ambulance Corp., an affiliate of the Bethany Volunteer Fire Department, is organized.

1962 – Bethany adopts its first Town Plan of development.

1962 – Conservation Commission established.

1963 – Amity Regional Junior High School on Luke Hill Road in Bethany opened.

1963 – First Church of Christ, Congregational celebrates its 200th birthday.

1963 – Gordon V. Carrington becomes first selectman following the death of First Selectman Stanley H. Downs.

1964 – Road Department started; Edward Hinman appointed first full-time Road Foreman.

1964 – First Annual Memorial Day Parade organized by 4-H 'Cook and Sew' Club under leadership of Marion Sandell.

1965 – New Connecticut Constitution is passed; Bethany loses its town representative in the General Assembly.

1965 – Six-room annex (#3) for the Community School completed. First kindergarten classes held.

1965 – Industrial Development Commission formed.

1965 – Bethany Airport closes.

1966 – First golf course in Bethany opened at Woodhaven Country Club.

1966 – Thirty-two acre former Nettleton property purchased by town as a site for the Community School North Campus.

1966 – Building Code established in town. Frederick “Fritz” Johnson is the first Building Official.

1967 – One hundred-twelve acre former Bethany Airport property purchased by Town for industrial park.

1967 – 'Cook and Sew' 4-H Club organizes young people groups for first Rid Litter Day.

1968 – Bethany Conservation Trust is organized and incorporated. The 27-acre Ida Carrington Lowell property off Cedar Road is donated by Mrs. Marion Jenkins to be used as a nature sanctuary.

1969 – Joined with Orange and Woodbridge in construction of a regional dog pound.

1969 – Athletic field on Munson Road completed.

1970 – North Campus of Bethany Community School completed.

1970 – Bethany Census: 3,857.

1971 – Elizabeth Mendell donates 125 acres to Bethany Conservation Trust.

1971 – Town switches from 3-person elected Board of Assessors to one appointed professional assessor. Lawrence Larson is chosen for the position.

1972 – Hinman Fire Station built on the corner of Bear Hill and Hinman roads.

1972 – Alice Bice Bunton’s book, Bethany's Old Houses and Community Buildings, published by the Bethany Library Association.

1972 – Municipal Agent for the Elderly position established.

1972 – First Resident State Trooper assigned to the Town of Bethany.

1973 – Inland Wetlands Commission established.

1974 – Senior citizens provided with a room at the Community School South Campus and a hot lunch program.

1975 – Center School moved to permanent home on Community School grounds.

1975 – House numbers are introduced to town.

1975 – Children’s Room completed at the Clark Memorial Library.

1975 – Town Seal, designed by Betsy Seaton, adopted.

1975 – Use of the South Campus at the Bethany Community School discontinued for educational purposes.

1976 – Bethany observes U.S. Bicentennial. Restoration of Center Schoolhouse began.

1976 – Barone fieldhouse built at the Munson Road athletic field.

1976 – The Wheeler-Beecher or Hoadley House on Amity Road becomes the first structure in Bethany to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1976 – Second traffic light installed in Bethany at the intersection of Carrington and Cheshire Roads.

1977 – First woman elected as Town Clerk - Alice Bice Bunton.

1977 – New Town Hall on Peck Road opened.

1977 – Original Town Hall renamed the Stanley Downs Memorial Building at the annual town meeting.

1978 – South addition to Center Firehouse built.

1978 – Hazel Lounsbury Hoppe’s book, Bethany Yesterday: The One Room School, published by the Bethany Historical Preservation Trust.

1980 – First woman Town Treasurer - Alice Bice Bunton.

1980 – Town sells the Stanley Downs Memorial Building to Christ Episcopal Church.

1980 – Bethany Census: 4,330.

1982 – Bethany celebrates its 150th birthday.

1982 – Center Schoolhouse Committee is formed to oversee the old Center Schoolhouse.

1984 – 911 system instituted.

1985 – First Selectman Gordon Carrington wins re-election for a record-setting 12th term. Carrington becomes longest serving first selectman in town history. Other long-time first selectmen were Samuel R. Woodward (22 years) and William L. Wooding (20 years).

1986 – John E. Ford, III becomes first selectman after death of Gordon Carrington.

1986 – Second Resident State Trooper added fro the Town of Bethany.

1989 – Old transfer station in Beacon Falls is closed; Town begins curbside pickup of trash.

1989 – Bethany begins recycling program.

1989 – Addition to Hinman Fire Station completed.

1990 – Position of Municipal Historian is created. Robert H. Brinton is selected as town historian.

1990 – Granite war memorial, carved by Peter Horbick, dedicated.

1990 – Bethany Census: 4,730.

1991 – District Animal Control, encompassing the towns of Bethany, Orange, Prospect and Woodbridge, established.

1992 – Bethany is assigned its own zip code – 06524.

1993 – Bethany Historical Society is incorporated.

1994 – The Christ Episcopal Church deeds the Stanley Downs Memorial Building and surrounding property to the Bethany Historical Society.

1994 – East addition to Center Firehouse completed.

1995 – Work begins on renovating the Stanley Downs Memorial Building. This is completed in 1996.

1995 – 110-acre Spykman Preserve conservation easement donated by the Harter and Winer families to the Bethany Land Trust.

1995 – New Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge and major renovations to the Amity Junior High Schools in Bethany and Orange completed.

1996 – New Town Garage is completed.

1996 – East Wing addition to the Clark Memorial Library is dedicated.

1997 – The Town purchases the 55-acre former Bethany West property, now known as Veterans Memorial Park.

1997 – Hazel Lounsbury Hoppe’s book, Bethany Pebbles and Flowers, is published by the Bethany Historical Society.

1998 – “C” wing addition to Community School is dedicated.

1998 – Senior Citizen van put into operation.

1998 – Episcopal Church carriage shed, the last of its kind in Connecticut, is restored.

1999 – The Town purchases the 94-acre former Monument Stables property, now part of Veterans Memorial Park.

1999 – Hockanum Lake at Veterans Memorial Park is opened for swimming.

1999 – Craig A. Stahl elected first selectman to replace retiring First Selectman John Ford. Stahl is the first non-incumbent candidate to win the top post since Stanley Downs’ first election in 1953.

1999 – Town purchases the 15-acre former Brinsmade property to add to the Old Airport tract.

1999 – Pole Hill Park improved with a parking area and fire access road to the skating pond.

1999 – First annual Family Day event held at the Town Hall Field.

2000 – The renovated Lakeview Lodge is dedicated.

2000 – Town acquires an agricultural easement over a portion of Clover Nook Farm on Fairwood Road.

2000 – Bethany adopts its revised Town Plan of Conservation and Development.

2000 – First annual Summer Sparkler event held at Veterans Memorial Park.

2000 – Local Tax Relief for the Elderly adopted.

2000 – Bethany Census: 5,040.

2001 – A gazebo is built on the Town Hall Field, donated by the Lions Club.

2001 – Footbridge built by the Bethany Veterans of Foreign Wars at Veterans Memorial Park.

2001 – “Historic Bethany Center” signs erected on Amity Road.

2002 – Third traffic light installed in Bethany at the intersection of Amity and Cheshire roads.

2002 to 2003 – The Amity school district sets the state record for the most budget referenda for a single fiscal year.  Between May 2002 and June 2003, Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge hold 17 budget referenda.  In conjunction with the November 2002 state election, May 2003 town election as well as 2 votes on the next year's Amity budget, Bethany conducts a total of 21 election events over a 14 month period!

2003– Derrylyn Gorski elected first selectman.  Gorski is the first female First Selectman as well as first Democrat to serve as Bethany's chief elected official since Tyler D. Davidson left office in 1924.

2004 – Ernie and Mary Russell donate the Russell Homestead to the Bethany Historical Society.

2007 – The new Bethany Firehouse at the Old Airport Property is opened and dedicated.

2007 – Bethany celebrates its 175th birthday.

2007 – Bethany named Connecticut's #1 Small Town by Connecticut Magazine.

2010 – Bethany Census: 5,563.

2011 – Bethany's Probate Court closes after state-mandated consolidation with Hamden.  Guy Yale is the 10th and last Probate Judge for the District of Bethany, ending a 157 year independent court in town.

2020 - Bethany Census: 5,297