NEW HARTFORD
In 1732 the Connecticut General Assembly gave Hartford and Windsor permission
to establish seven towns in the colony's Western Lands. New Hartford was given
to 182 Hartford taxpayers who became the new town's proprietors. They
organized and hired surveyors to lay out suitable home lots and highways.
Settlement began in 1734 on Town Hill and West Hill. A meetinghouse was
completed by 1749 at the town's center on Town Hill.
While farming was the main occupation, grist and saw mills soon thrived on the
Windsor (now Farmington) and Nepash (or Nepaug) Rivers. In the early 1800's,
economic interest shifted from agricultural to industrial and population
centers moved from the hilltops to the river valleys.
Major industries sprang up in New Hartford Centre (now Nepaug), Bakerville,
Satan's Kingdom, Kelloggsville (Pine Meadow), and North Village (now New
Hartford Center).
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NEW HARTFORD
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The Greenwoods Company produced cotton duck for the United States military and
for the sails of the Vigilant, defender in the America's Cup races. Others
included the Chapin-Stevens Company, which made planes, levels and rules; and
D. B. Smith Company. Two railroads had lines in town. In 1901 the Greenwoods
Company cotton mills moved to the South. By the time of the Great Depression,
most industries had collapsed and people moved elsewhere, leaving only small,
family-run businesses.
The town changed rapidly: the railroads were removed, several major floods
caused serious damage; two dams with reservoir and three major highways were
built.
Today, new industries have located here, including Waring, Ovation
Instruments, and Hitchcock Chair Company. Marcus H. Holcomb, Governor of
Connecticut 1915-1921, was born here. Elias Howe built the first practical
general purpose sewing machine here, patented in 1846.
Text transcribed from the cast town markers erected under Connecticut's town historical marker program in the 1970s and early 1980s. Presented as a historical record.