Southington is a beautiful small town in Hartford County, Connecticut. The town also includes Plantsville, Marion, and Milldale, all of which have their own post offices and distinct architecture. It is situated in a valley between two mountains on its east and west sides. The west ridge of Southington is rich in geological formations. This includes North Hamlin Brook, Roaring Brook, and Soltys Pond.
While Southington became a town in 1779, its roots date back much further. Southington’s first white settler, Samuel Woodruff, moved from Farmington to the area then called Panthorne, which was settled in 1698 and was occupied by the Tunxis or Sepores Indians. With time, the settlement grew, prospered, and was called “South Farmington” and later, Southington. Marion is one of Southington’s most historic neighborhoods. During the American Revolutionary War, it was the site of an encampment by the great French general, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau.
Southington was initially a small, rural farming community. During the early 1900s, Southington developed into a manufacturing center, although it had a tiny population of just a few thousand people. Several products were invented there, including the first cement that hardened underwater, the break-neck rat trap, and a new process for tinware. During World War II, the War Department selected the town to be featured in a defense booklet entitled Southington, CT-Microcosm of America.
Below are some stunning historical photos of Southington by Charles Fenno Jacobs, Connecticut, from the early 1940s.
