Fairfield County, Connecticut members of the Danbury church on January 1, 1802, in which he stated that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution provided "a wall of separation between church and State" that protected them. Although it is often viewed as an extension of metro-New York City, Fairfield County has had much industry in its own right. Bridgeport Machines, Inc., a milling machine manufacturer, was founded in Bridgeport in 1938. From the early to mid-20th century Bridgeport was in the top 50 largest cities by population. Stamford, Connecticut is an example of edge city urbanization, with many large and important companies
Greater Bridgeport together as the "Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk New England City and Town Area". The area contains 25 towns and includes the Greater Bridgeport Region, the Gold Coast, the Lower Naugatuck Valley, and the additional outlying towns of Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Southbury, and Woodbridge. As of the 2000 census, the population of the NECTA was 892,283 A slightly smaller definition known as the "Southwest Service Delivery Area" consists of the Greater Bridgeport Region, the Lower Naugatuck Valley (including Oxford), the Gold Coast, and the town of Milford (20 towns). The MSA associated with Bridgeport is the "Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk MSA" and consists of the entirety