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Farmington is located in the midwestern portion of Hartford County, Connecticut. It is bordered by Avon to the North, Plainville and New Britain to the south, West Hartford and the corner of Newington to the east and Bristol and Burlington to its west. Farmington is 28.7 square miles, and in 1995 its population was at 20,810.
Farmington, as the rest of our Connecticut towns, was originally occupied and owned by the Indians. In this case, the Tunxis. They had named this land "Tunxis-Sepus", meaning bend in the little river. This tribe of Tunxis Indians were members of the larger confederation of Algonquin Indians.
The original land grant was 225 square miles. The first settlers laid out their new land to the east of the Farmington River. Settlers began arriving from Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, CT in the early 1640's. The town was incorporated in December,1645 and the plantation of Tunxis, became the town of Farmington. The first church, which was an off-shoot of the Hartford Church. The settlers who had been followers of Thomas Hooker, stayed on with the Hartford Church until 1652. They then brought in their own minister for their own church, Roger Newton. By 1655 there were approximately 30 heads of household in this primarily farming town.
In the 1830's and 1840's slavery became a large issue in Farmington and the Anti-Slavery Society was set up in 1836. The Amistead slaves were brought up the river to Farmington and were then aided by the Anti-Slavery Society helped them, when possible to return to their homelands.
Today, Farmington is a very busy town, the are restaurants of every type food imaginable, fine shops, museums, playgrounds, walking trails, golf courses, parks, private schools and public schools. Farmington is proud of its heritage. This is evident in their museums and libraries. Be sure to visit the Farmington homepage which lists all of the town's amenities.
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