Welcome to Bristol ...
The city of Bristol is located in Hartford County<1>.
Google driving directions from your current location to Bristol (Patience, this may take a moment).
The location of Bristol has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (the GNIS).<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Bristol, you might consider that their post office opened in 1812.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Bristol has a population of 59,920 people<3> (see below for details).
Bristol is 410 feet [125 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Bristol lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Bristol: 860 & 959<5>
The ZIP codes for Bristol: 06010-06011<6>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Bristol had an population of 59,920 people. This is a decrease of 0.92% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 0.24% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Bristol had a population of 60,477 people (or 6.76% of the total population of Hartford County). This makes Bristol the county's 7th most populous community.
The population of Bristol represents 1.69% of the total population of Connecticut (which has 3,574,097 people), making it the state's 23rd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 60,477 people, the population of Bristol has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (with a count of 60,062 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Bristol.
Communities Also Named Bristol ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 44 communities that are also named Bristol - they are located in Arkansas, California (2), Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois (2), Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Louisiana (2), Maine, Manitoba, Maryland (2), Michigan (3), Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada (2), New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New York, Nova Scotia, Ohio (2), Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia (2), Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bristol.
Websites for Bristol ...
Official Website: www.ci.bristol.ct.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.bristol-chamber.org/
Communities near Bristol ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bristol.
- Hartford
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
- Hartford is located in Hartford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 121,535 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartford <7>
- Hartford
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Waterbury
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterbury
- Waterbury is located in New Haven County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 106,826 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterbury <7>
- Waterbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - New Britain
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Britain
- New Britain is located in Hartford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72,198 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Britain <7>
- New Britain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Britain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Britain
- New Britain is located in Hartford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72,198 people
- West Hartford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Hartford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hartford
- West Hartford is located in Hartford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62,868 people
- Hamden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south) - Meriden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
- Meriden is located in New Haven County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58,981 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meriden <7>
- Meriden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bristol. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bristol.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bristol. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bristol.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bristol. Our list includes 19 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Bristol.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bristol ...
Looking for more information about Bristol? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Bristol, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Bristol.
Adding Bristol to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Bristol in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Bristol was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
From that list, the Bristol post office opened in 1812.
We also found Bristol in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Bristol.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Bristol: www.ci.bristol.ct.us/
The official website for State of Connecticut: https://portal.ct.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Connecticut's counties, including Hartford, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Bristol. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bristol - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 860 code has been Overlayed with the 959 area code. New phone numbers in the Bristol area will be assigned with one of these codes: 860 or 959. As a result, placing a call in the Bristol area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Bristol). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Bristol or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Bristol includes: 06010 & 06011. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |