Eighteenth-century Waterbury was bounded by the Common Fence, which ran along
the western and southern borders of the village; its three gates, on what are
now West Main, Bank and Union Streets, were designed primarily to protect crops
from wandering cattle and pigs rather than to keep out human intruders. During
times of war, however, they served as fortification against possible invaders.
In the 18th century, African Americans in Connecticut were not permitted to
leave their town without a written pass.
The fence remained a boundary line until 1800, and portions of it still stood
as late as 1893.