[1] The town is located 3 miles (5 km) east of New Haven, and is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region.

The Connecticut Colony granted the town petition for Township in May 1707 and colonists changed the name from Iron Works Village to East Haven.

On August 9, 2013, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B crashed on approach, hitting two houses in an East Haven residential neighborhood near the airport.

During the Paleozoic Era, 450 to 250 million years ago, several tectonic plates collided to form the supercontinent called Pangaea.

East Haven was located in the middle of this collision, and the results can be seen today with the schists, gneisses and granites which are exposed.

[6] When Pangaea was broken up, during the Triassic and Jurassic periods, volcanic activity occurred, depositing basalt or trap rock.

22,000 years ago, the glacier moved south, eroding mountains and pushing through East Haven to deposit large amounts of glacial till to form Long Island.

14,000 years ago the glacier retreated and shaped the coastline, formed Long Island Sound and created Lake Saltonstall.

It also deposited glacial till, soil, sand, rocks and boulders that the ice carried south from the north.

The remaining sections are part of the Central Valley of Connecticut and are covered with clastic sedimentary rock (redbeds, conglomerate, sandstone, brownstone and shale).

Pheasants, grouse, ducks and wild turkeys can be found in East Haven, as well as cardinals, blue jays, warblers, crows, sparrows, parrots, woodpeckers and sea gulls.

Bluefish, bass, flounder, blackfish, sand sharks, eels, lobsters, crabs and clams can be found in Long Island Sound.

The area near Tweed New Haven Airport has an industrial park that includes Town Fair Tire Centers Headquarters and Calabro Cheese Corporation.

Landmarks include the Town Hall, Fire Department Headquarters, Hagaman Memorial Library, the "old" East Haven High School, and other administrative buildings.

Margaret Tucker Park is considered the second East Haven Green, with its location across the street from Town Hall and the Old Stone Church.

[15] Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump won East Haven in the past three elections; receiving 54.25% of the vote in 2016, 52.22% in 2020, and 55.3% in 2024.

[20][21] Although the town has recently voted Republican at the federal level, Democratic mayor Joseph Carfora was reelected to a third term by a large margin in 2023.

[29][30] Police Chief Leonard Gallo, who had been hired in 1998 from New Haven by Mayor Joseph A. Maturo, Jr., appointed Flodquist as the department's public spokesman.

[31][32] Neither the family nor civil rights activists were satisfied with the failure by the state and federal government to prosecute in the Jones case.

[33] Separately, in September 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began investigating the East Haven Police for racial profiling and harassment of Latinos following the "unwarranted arrest" of Father Paul Manship, a Catholic priest who was trying to study complaints by Latino parishioners that they were victims of police discrimination.

[3] That year the police arrested Mayor April Capone Almon and her assistant for allegedly interfering with a ticketing action at the beach.

The DOJ investigation later reported having found that records related to Capone Almon's arrest and that of Manship had been altered numerous times.

[32] With civil and criminal investigations underway, DOJ issued a preliminary report to the city in 2010, saying that the police appeared to have a pattern of discrimination and harassment against Latinos.

Mayor April Capone Almon put Police Chief Leonard Gallo (in office since 1998) on administrative leave until the investigation was concluded.

"[3] Its report concluded that "EHPD has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against Latinos, a violation of the Constitution and federal law.

In October 2012, Officer Jason Zullo pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice under a deal that will require him to serve one or two years in jail.

[39] On October 23, 2012, the Associated Press reported that the city had reached a settlement with the DOJ on its "claims that officers engaged in a pattern of discrimination and abuse toward Latinos.

"[38] The settlement will require actions in seven major areas to improve conditions, including policy and training related to search and seizure, management and supervision of officers, civilian control and resolution of complaints, racial sensitivity training, community outreach and development of trust with all residents.

Retail services dominate three stretches of roads in East Haven; Main Street and U.S. 1 in the center of town and State Route 80 in the Foxon Section.

The library occupied several locations in the center of town before a gift from Isaac Hagaman allowed for a permanent building to be built.