Southbury is a town of approximately 16,000 residents. It is about 40 square miles in area and is midway between Danbury and Waterbury on Interstate 84. It is in New Haven County, 18 miles from New Haven, 41 miles from Hartford and 83 miles from New York City. The town is bounded on the west by the Housatonic River, with Lake Zoar and Lake Lillinonah. The Pomperaug River runs through the town.

Founded in 1673 by religious dissenters from Stratford, the town originally was known as the Pomperaug Plantation. Its main street was once an old Pomperaug Indian trail and many of the town’s first homes were built on the road. In 1787, Southbury was incorporated as a town. Bullet Hill School, which celebrated its bicentennial in 1989 and still stands on Main Street North, is one of the oldest school buildings in the United States. It was used until 1942 and is now maintained by the town and the Southbury Historical Society. Its name is believed to have been derived from a hill where bullets were cast for guns during the Revolutionary War.

Southbury has a traditional New England town meeting form of government and functions under a Town Charter, revised in 1997. The executive authority rests in a six-member Board of Selectmen, with financial control shared with a Board of Finance. Numerous boards and commissions are made up of volunteers, some of whom are elected while others are appointed. These commissions determine town policy in areas of planning, zoning, inland wetlands, economic development, conservation and parks and recreation.