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Farmington's Heritage
 History of Farmington
Part 2
Part 1: The
Tunxis Indians and the Settlers
Part 3:
The
Revolutionary War
Part 4: The
Freedom Trail
The Farming Town Prospers:
From Log Huts to 'the Village of Beautiful
Homes'
The first homes of the settlers in Farmington were rough-hewn log huts, but
as the town became more established the huts gave way to wooden frame houses. A
rare surviving example of this type of Colonial house, with post-and-beam
construction and a large central chimney, is the Stanley Whitman House on High
Street, built around 1720.
Stanley Whitman
House
For the first 100 years in Farmington, the main occupation was farming. The
settlers shared the meadowland, raising corn, rye, wheat barley and other crops,
and they pastured their cattle and sheep in the hills above the village. By
1700, the self-reliant community included carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors,
shoemakers, tanners, weavers, and coopers.
A sawmill was built on the brook at Diamond Glen about 1650, followed soon after
by a gin still. In 1673, a gristmill was constructed by the Farmington River,
and then a fulling mill for processing homespun wool.
Millstream dam at Diamond Glen
The settlers formed a church congregation in 1652, and the first services were
held in townspeople's homes. By 1672, the Congregational Church had built a
meetinghouse, which was the center of community life. The meetinghouse was used
not only for church, but for town meetings, school programs and other events.
Fines were levied for those who didn't attend church. One Sabbath breaker was
Seth North, who was known as "Sinner North" and "Mr. Sinner."
Steeple of Congregational Church
The present Congregational Church, known for its graceful spire, was built in
1771. The spire, which can be seen above the treetops for miles around, has
become a symbol of Farmington. "In Farmington stands a meeting house," Edmund Sinnot wrote, "that has a spire regarded by many as the most beautiful in New
England."
View of Farmington from Round Hill,
by John Warner Barber,
"Historical
Collections of Connecticut"
The church and spire were built by Capt.
Woodruff, a self-taught carpenter and architect. Woodruff built several houses
in town, including one at 4 High Street that became a tavern after the Revolutionary War,
and another at 66 Main Street, which was once a meeting place for abolitionists.
Congregational Church,
seen from Meadows
The first school in Farmington was most likely
established about the same time as the church. Puritan codes required one
teacher for every settlement of fifty households -- so children could
learn to "write plainly and read distinctly" -- and a schoolhouse when a
settlement grew to 100 houses. There's a record of a teacher named John James in
Farmington in 1685; he received a salary of thirty pounds, with the stipulation
that he also fill in for the minister at the pulpit when necessary.
Old
Stone Schoolhouse, Coppermine Road
The town continued to grow, and by 1772 there were numerous "little red
schoolhouses" in town, each named after their districts, including: East
District, Middle District, Union District, Great Plain District, Scott's Swamp
District, Extreme District, and Lovely District.
In 1774, Farmington's population was the tenth
largest in the colonies, after Boston, Newport, New York, Philadelphia,
Charlestown, Salem, Baltimore, New Haven and Norwich. The town claimed the third
largest grand list in Connecticut, exceeding that of Hartford or Middletown. It
was considered to be the "mother town" with seven daughters -- seven
parishes that chose to incorporate as separate communities.
Southington left in 1779, followed by
Berlin and Bristol in 1785, Burlington in 1806, Avon in
1830, New Britain in 1850, and Plainville in 1869.
Map of Farmington and surrounding towns, at Main Library
As the number of industries grew in Farmington in the late 1700s, the
town became increasingly prosperous. Factories manufactured linen,
hats, leather goods, muskets, and buttons. There were several
clockmakers in town, as well as cabinetmakers, silversmiths,
goldsmiths, candle makers, weavers, and carriage builders.
After the Revolutionary War, the town became a trading center, selling
Yankee wares in the South and importing goods from as far away as
China. Townspeople began wearing silks and satins, buying luxuries
such as pianos and phaetons -- light horse-drawn carriages -- and
spending money on fine new homes.
There was more time for recreation, and the Puritan rules of the past
were forgotten. Not everyone was pleased with the changes. Deacon
Richards lamented, "The halcyon days of New England are past."
George Washington, who traveled through town in 1780 and 1781, is said
to have called Farmington "the village of pretty houses." And when
the French army, commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, camped in
town in 1781, an officer wrote, "This town contains some of the
handsomest houses and best people in America."
Oldgate, Main Street, Farmington,
built ca. 1790
Many of the homes built from the mid-eighteenth century to the
mid-nineteenth century can be seen today in
a walk down Farmington village's Main Street. The houses, built by
the town's founding families, have survived modernization and
development in part because the railroad and trolley passed the town
by. Sarah Porter, who founded Miss Porter's School, saw to it in the
late 1800s that no railroad or trolley tracks ran in front of her
school. Many of the historic buildings on Main Street are now part
of the school.
In 1906, "Farmington, Connecticut, The Village of Beautiful Homes" was
published, celebrating the history and beauty of the community, with
photographs of "every home in the town."
"Farmington,
Connecticut,
The Village of Beautiful Homes," 1906
History of Farmington, Part 3
Back to History of Farmington, Part 1
History of Farmington, Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4,
and photos by Brooke E. Martin.
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008
Sources for the history are listed here.
The Farmington Historical Society, P.O. Box 1645, Farmington, CT 06034
Site graphics, Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008
Copying any portion of this site without
permission is expressly forbidden.
Please
send inquiries about permission to the
Web site manager.
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