Middletown is located in the state of Connecticut and a city that is coextensive with the township of Middletown in Middlesex County. It sits along the central part of Connecticut and the Connecticut River. The area where the present-day Middletown stands were settled in the 1650s by the Puritans and were incorporated in 1651 as a town that was occupied by the Indian village of Mattabeseck. The site was named because of its position that is in between the river mouth and the upstream cities. The city of Middletown was a seaport and shipbuilding center between the 18th and the 19th century that was at the base of the triangular trade of slaves, rum, and molasses with Africa and with the West Indies and later with the Chinese clipper trade.