[3] The area that was to become Beacon Falls was first inhabited by tribal communities of Paugusetts and Paugusucks and was originally known as Nyumps.

[4] Early history texts indicate that a former Native American slave called Toby bought much of the land that was to become the town on September 7, 1693, for 10 pounds and a barrel of cider.

[7] The history of Beacon Falls is tied to the series of manufacturing concerns that operated in the town's impressive brick factory buildings on North Main Street, adjacent to the Naugatuck River.

This followed the invention and 1844 patent, by Connecticut native Charles Goodyear, of a chemical process called Vulcanization to convert natural rubber into a durable, flexible, waterproof material.

In the 1850s the American Hard Rubber Company built a brick factory in Beacon Falls, utilizing water power from the Naugatuck River.

The 1898 inception of the Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company lay in the decision of George Lewis, President of the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Co. of Naugatuck, Connecticut, and his son Tracy S. Lewis, Secretary and Treasurer of that company, to resign and start a new business together.

It made major civic efforts to enhance the town and the lives of its employees, including building a movie theater, with an assembly room and dance hall for public use, sponsoring a musical band that gave daily performances, and commissioning the influential landscape architectural firm Olmsted Brothers to create an overall design for company lands and buildings.

The "Depot Street Bridge," spanning the Naugatuck River across from the old brick factory, is also on the National Register of Historical Places (#07000108).

Built in 1935 of riveted steel, it was designed by engineers from the Public Works Administration and the Connecticut Highway Department.

A second major historical Beacon Falls business, where many town residents worked over the years, was the Homer D. Bronson Company.

Now named HDB Inc., its present-day website states that it has been "a leader in the engineered hinge and metal stamping markets since 1839."

On May 15, 2018, one of the four EF1 tornadoes that struck Connecticut had a 9.1 mile path that started in Beacon Falls and caused serious damage to homes and infrastructure.

The racial makeup (population) of the town was 91.2% White, 1.4% African American, 1.2% Asian, and 0.8% from two or more races, while 5.0% identified as either Hispanic or Latino.

The Beacon Falls train station provides commuter rail service to Bridgeport, Stamford, and Grand Central Terminal in New York City via the Waterbury Branch on the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line.