Sibling Cities

Over the summer, while visiting downtown Guilford, I noticed the sign on the Guilford Green that talks about East Guilford -- a town that was once a part of Guilford proper, but separated off to become its own, new town. Guilford was founded in 1639, and East Guilford -- now Madison -- separated off in 1703, with North Guilford and North Bristol (now North Madison) following after.

Since first spotting the sign, I've been curious about other relationships between bordering towns. Was North Branford originally part of Branford? Were East Haven, West Haven, and North Haven all sections of New Haven? Or did these towns start as their own, unique districts, sharing only similar names?

Shoreline Connecticut natives are sure to know the answers to these questions without much research -- I'm sure it must be covered in Connecticut history classes in school! So if you know those relationships, shout out in the comments. If you've only got guesses, share those, too. I'll dig up the history and follow up!