As one of the original 13 colonies, there’s a lot of history in Connecticut. We’ve got charming downtown areas steeped in the grandeur of age. There are plenty of Revolutionary War and colonial era homes and museums. Most of our early towns have at least one building that is several hundred years old. But when it comes to age, there’s one town that tops all the rest. Windsor was first settled by Europeans in 1633, making it the oldest city in Connecticut and one of the oldest towns in America.
Like much of Connecticut, Windsor’s land was originally resided in by Native Americans. The Pequot and Mohegan nations were the primary tribes that made up the population.
Snapshots of The Past/Flickr The Podunk tribe was having territorial squabbles with the Pequot. A group of European settlers from Massachusetts was invited in to the area to serve as an unbiased arbitrator. In return for their services, they were given the area that is now Windsor.
This original group of settlers was displaced as a group came in from other areas of Massachusetts. Confusingly enough, the town was named Dorchester after the Massachusetts town these new settlers came from.
Magicpiano/Wikimedia Commons In 1637, the town was incorporated as a town. It was renamed Windsor after the famed city in England that houses Windsor Castle.
Windsor was notable for being part of the country’s earliest “highway” system in the 1600s. It was certainly nothing like the intricate system developed in the 1950s. However, it did connect Windsor with Hartford and several other early colonial towns.
halserad/Flickr
As European settlements grew and the nation developed, the demand for tobacco became insatiable. By the 1900s, Windsor was one of the leading tobacco growers in the nation.
Carol M. Highsmith Collection/Library of Congress There were once 12 tobacco farms in Windsor alone, with thousands of acres dedicated to the cash crop. You can still see many of the old barns that were used to dry tobacco if you drive through Windsor’s rural areas.
The area would also become filled with various textile mills, which were prolific in New England.
Jack Delano/Library of Congress
Today, a tour of Windsor will take you past many old buildings, many from the city’s earliest years.
Chrissypan/Wikimedia Commons The Captain Nathaniel Hayden House (pictured) was built way back in 1763. It is now a private residence. Capt. Nathaniel Hayden House, 128 Hayden Station Rd, Windsor, CT 06095, USA
What other historic towns in Connecticut would you like to learn more about? Drop us your suggestions in the comments!
As one of the original 13 colonies, there’s a lot of history in Connecticut. We’ve got charming downtown areas steeped in the grandeur of age. There are plenty of Revolutionary War and colonial era homes and museums. Most of our early towns have at least one building that is several hundred years old. But when it comes to age, there’s one town that tops all the rest. Windsor was first settled by Europeans in 1633, making it the oldest city in Connecticut and one of the oldest towns in America.
As one of the original 13 colonies, there’s a lot of history in Connecticut. We’ve got charming downtown areas steeped in the grandeur of age. There are plenty of Revolutionary War and colonial era homes and museums. Most of our early towns have at least one building that is several hundred years old. But when it comes to age, there’s one town that tops all the rest. Windsor was first settled by Europeans in 1633, making it the oldest city in Connecticut and one of the oldest towns in America.
Snapshots of The Past/Flickr
The Podunk tribe was having territorial squabbles with the Pequot. A group of European settlers from Massachusetts was invited in to the area to serve as an unbiased arbitrator. In return for their services, they were given the area that is now Windsor.
Magicpiano/Wikimedia Commons
In 1637, the town was incorporated as a town. It was renamed Windsor after the famed city in England that houses Windsor Castle.
halserad/Flickr
Carol M. Highsmith Collection/Library of Congress
There were once 12 tobacco farms in Windsor alone, with thousands of acres dedicated to the cash crop. You can still see many of the old barns that were used to dry tobacco if you drive through Windsor’s rural areas.
Jack Delano/Library of Congress
Chrissypan/Wikimedia Commons
The Captain Nathaniel Hayden House (pictured) was built way back in 1763. It is now a private residence.
Capt. Nathaniel Hayden House, 128 Hayden Station Rd, Windsor, CT 06095, USA
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Address: Windsor, CT, USA
