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Connecticut Towns by Year Established

Incorporated Towns | Incorporated Boroughs and Cities | Postal stations | Unique CT Place Names

Connecticut is currently divided into 169 "towns" with distinct geographical boundaries. Each of these towns may contain incorporated cities or boroughs, as well as villages, post offices, and railroad depots without a distinct government. For example:

Within the Town of Stonington, there is a borough of Stonington but the better-known Mystic is a village within Stonington without a separate governmental entity.
Stafford Springs is a post office in the Town of Stafford.
Winsted is a city within the Town of Winchester.

In other cases, the governments of once-incorporated cities and boroughs have subsequently been consolidated with the town they fall within. For example:

The Town of Vernon and the City of Rockville consolidated on July 1, 1965
The City of Willimantic consolidated with the Town of Windham July 1, 1983.

Connecticut never had strong county governments, and since 1960 the names and boundaries of its eight counties have existed only as geographical names used to define parts of the state.

To see the list of Towns in order by County, click on 'County'; to see it in order by Year Established, click on 'Year'.

*Town name*	*County*	*Year Established*	*Parent Town*	*History of incorporation*
Windsor	Hartford	1633	----	Settled, Sept. 26, 1633; named, Feb., 1637
Wethersfield	Hartford	1634	----	Settled, 1634; named, 1637; inc., May, 1822
Deep River	Middlesex	1635	----	Settled, 1635 as Saybrook; united with Connecticut, Dec., 1644; name changed to Deep River, July 1, 1947
Hartford	Hartford	1635	----	Settled in 1635; inc., 1784; city inc., May, 1784. Town and city consolidated, April, 1896
New Haven	New Haven	1638	----	Settled, April, 1638; named, Aug., 1640; Inc., 1784; town and city consolidated, Nov., 1895
Fairfield	Fairfield	1639	----	Settled, 1639; named 1645; included in Connecticut Colony, May, 1685
Milford	New Haven	1639	----	Settled in 1639, under New Haven; named, Nov. 24, 1640; united with Connecticut Colony, 1664. Inc. as a city, June 15, 1959. Town and city consolidated, 1959
Stratford	Fairfield	1639	----	Settled, 1639
Stamford	Fairfield	1641	----	Settled, 1641, under New Haven jurisdiction; named Town of Stamford in 1642; submitted to Connecticut, Oct., 1662; in 1893, the City of Stamford, comprising central portion of Town of Stamford, was incorporated. Henceforth, City of Stamford became a composite part of Town of Stamford, resulting in two separate governments--the Town of Stamford and City of Stamford. Town and City of Stamford were consolidated on April 15, 1949 and named City of Stamford
Guilford	New Haven	1643	----	Settled, 1639; named, July 6, 1643
Farmington	Hartford	1645	----	Inc. and named, Dec., 1645. The Town of Farmington, Borough of Unionville and Borough of Farmington were consolidated in 1947
New London	New London	1646	----	Settled, 1646; named, March 11, 1658. Inc., Jan., 1784. Town and city are co-extensive
Middletown	Middlesex	1651	----	Town inc., Sept. 11, 1651, named, Nov. 1653; city inc., 1784, town and city consolidated, 1923
Norwalk	Fairfield	1651	----	Sept. 11, 1651. Town and city consolidated, Oct., 1913
Norwich	New London	1662	----	Settled, 1659; accepted as legal township, May, 1662; city inc., May, 1784; town and city consolidated, Jan. 1, 1952
Stonington	New London	1662	----	Settled, 1649; named, 1666
Greenwich	Fairfield	1665	Stamford	Settled, 1640, submitted to Connecticut, Oct. 6, 1656
Killingworth	Middlesex	1667		Named, May, 1667
Lyme	New London	1667	Saybrook	Named, May, 1667; set off from Saybrook, now Deep River, in 1665
Haddam	Middlesex	1668	----	Oct. 8, 1668
Simsbury	Hartford	1670	----	Named, May, 1670
Wallingford	New Haven	1670	New Haven	Named, May, 1670. Town and borough consolidated, Jan. 1, 1958
Woodbury	Litchfield	1673	----	Named, May, 1673
Suffield	Hartford	1674	----	May, 1674, by Massachusetts; annexed to Connecticut, May, 1749
Derby	New Haven	1675	----	Named, May, 1675. Town inc., May 13, 1775. City inc., June 7, 1893. Town and city consolidated, June 7, 1893
Enfield	Hartford	1683	----	Named and inc., by Massachusetts, 1683; annexed to Conn., May, 1749
Branford	New Haven	1685	New Haven	Named, 1653; settled 1639~1644 under New Haven jurisdiction; named 1653; set off from New Haven 1685
Waterbury	New Haven	1686	----	Town inc., May, 1686; city inc., 1853; town and city consolidated, 1902
Danbury	Fairfield	1687	----	Settled, 1685; named, Oct., 1687, Inc., town, May, 1702; city, 1889. Town and city consolidated, Jan. 1, 1965
Preston	New London	1687	----	Oct., 1687
Glastonbury	Hartford	1690	Wethersfield	May, 1693; taken from Wethersfield
Woodstock	Windham	1690	----	Settled, 1686; named New Roxbury; name changed, March, 1690, to Woodstock. Annexed to Conn., May, 1749
Windham	Windham	1692	----	Town inc., May, 1692. City of Willimantic inc., Jan. 1893. Town of Windham and City of Willimantic consolidated July 1, 1983
Colchester	New London	1698	----	1698; named, Oct., 1699
Plainfield	Windham	1699	----	as Quinabaug, May, 1699; named Plainfield, Oct., 1700
Lebanon	New London	1700	----	Oct., 1700
Mansfield	Tolland	1702	Windham	Oct., 1702; taken from Windham
Canterbury	Windham	1703	Plainfield	Oct., 1703; taken from Plainfield
Groton	New London	1705	New London	May 10, 1705; taken from New London
Durham	Middlesex	1708	----	Settled, 1699; named, May 1704; Inc., Oct. 1708
Hebron	Tolland	1708	----	May 26, 1708
Killingly	Windham	1708	----	May, 1708
Ridgefield	Fairfield	1709	----	Settled, 1708; inc., Oct., 1709; town and borough consolidated, May 11, 1921
Newtown	Fairfield	1711	----	Oct., 1711
Coventry	Tolland	1712	----	May, 1712
New Milford	Litchfield	1712	----	Oct., 1712
Pomfret	Windham	1713	----	Named and inc., May, 1713
Ashford	Windham	1714	----	Oct., 1714
Tolland	Tolland	1715	----	Named, May 1715. Inc., May, 1722
Litchfield	Litchfield	1719	----	May, 1719
Stafford	Tolland	1719	----	Settled, 1719
Bolton	Tolland	1720		Oct., 1720
Voluntown	New London	1721	----	May, 1721
Willington	Tolland	1727	----	May, 1727
East Haddam	Middlesex	1734	Haddam	May, 1734; taken from Haddam
Somers	Tolland	1734	Enfield	Named, July, 1734; annexed to Connecticut, May, 1749
Union	Tolland	1734	----	Oct., 1734
Harwinton	Litchfield	1737	----	Oct., 1737
New Hartford	Litchfield	1738	----	Oct., 1738
Canaan	Litchfield	1739	----	Oct., 1739
Goshen	Litchfield	1739	----	Oct., 1739
Kent	Litchfield	1739	----	Oct., 1739
Sharon	Litchfield	1739	----	Oct., 1739
Cornwall	Litchfield	1740	----	May, 1740
New Fairfield	Fairfield	1740	----	May 1740
Torrington	Litchfield	1740	----	Inc. as a town, Oct. 1740; inc. as a city, Oct. 1, 1923. Town and city consolidated, 1923
Salisbury	Litchfield	1741	----	Oct., 1741
Norfolk	Litchfield	1758	----	Oct., 1758
Hartland	Hartford	1761	----	May, 1761
East Hampton	Middlesex	1767	Middletown	Inc., as Chatham, Oct., 1767; taken from Middletown
Redding	Fairfield	1767	Fairfield	May, 1767; taken from Fairfield
East Windsor	Hartford	1768	Windsor	May, 1768; taken from Windsor
Winchester	Litchfield	1771	----	May, 1771
Barkhamsted	Litchfield	1779	----	Oct., 1779
Colebrook	Litchfield	1779	----	Oct., 1779
Southington	Hartford	1779	Farmington	Oct., 1779; taken from Farmington. Town and borough consolidated, 1947
Washington	Litchfield	1779	Woodbury, Litchfield, Kent, New Milford	Jan., 1779; taken from Woodbury, Litchfield, Kent and New Milford
Cheshire	New Haven	1780	Wallingford	May, 1780; taken from Wallingford
Watertown	Litchfield	1780	Waterbury	May, 1780; taken from Waterbury
East Hartford	Hartford	1783	Hartford	Oct., 1783; taken from Hartford
Woodbridge	New Haven	1784	New Haven, Milford	Jan., 1784; taken from New Haven and Milford
Berlin	Hartford	1785	Farmington, Wethersfield, Middletown	May, 1785; taken from Farmington, Wethersfield and Middletown
Bristol	Hartford	1785	Farmington	May, 1785; taken from Farmington. Town and city co-extensive, 1911
East Haven	New Haven	1785	New Haven	May, 1785; taken from New Haven
Thompson	Windham	1785	Killingly	May, 1785; taken from Killingly
Bozrah	New London	1786	Norwich	May, 1786; taken from Norwich
Brooklyn	Windham	1786	Pomfret, Canterbury	May, 1786; taken from Pomfret and Canterbury
Ellington	Tolland	1786	East Windsor	May, 1786; taken from East Windsor
Franklin	New London	1786	Norwich	May, 1786; taken from Norwich
Granby	Hartford	1786	Simsbury	Oct., 1786; taken from Simsbury
Hamden	New Haven	1786	New Haven	May, 1786; taken from New Haven
Hampton	Windham	1786	Windham, Pomfret, Brooklyn, Canterbury,	Oct., 1786; taken from Windham, Pomfret, Brooklyn, Canterbury and Mansfield
Lisbon	New London	1786	Norwich	May, 1786; taken from Norwich
Montville	New London	1786	New London	Oct. 12, 1786; taken from New London
North Haven	New Haven	1786	New Haven	Oct., 1786; taken from New Haven
Warren	Litchfield	1786	Kent	May, 1786; taken from Kent
Bethlehem	Litchfield	1787	Woodbury	May, 1787; taken from Woodbury, and known as "North Purchase."
Southbury	New Haven	1787	Woodbury	May, 1787; taken from Woodbury
Weston	Fairfield	1787	Fairfield	Oct., 1787; taken from Fairfield, Inc., 1845, the town was divided and Easton was taken from Weston
Brookfield	Fairfield	1788	Danbury, New Milford, Newtown	May, 1788; taken from Danbury, New Milford and Newtown
Shelton	Fairfield	1789	Stratford	Jan., 1789; taken from Stratford; city inc., 1915; town and city of Shelton, co-extensive
Sterling	Windham	1794	Voluntown	May 4, 1794; taken from Voluntown
Plymouth	Litchfield	1795	Watertown	May, 1795; taken from Watertown
Roxbury	Litchfield	1796	Woodbury	Oct., 1796; taken from Woodbury
Wolcott	New Haven	1796	Waterbury, Southington	May, 1796; taken from Waterbury and Southington
Trumbull	Fairfield	1797	Stratford	Oct., 1797; taken from Stratford
Oxford	New Haven	1798	Derby, Southbury	Oct., 1798; taken from Derby and Southbury
New Canaan	Fairfield	1801	Norwalk, Stamford	May, 1801; taken from Norwalk and Stamford
Waterford	New London	1801	New London	Oct., 1801; taken from New London
Sherman	Fairfield	1802	New Fairfield	Oct., 1802; taken from New Fairfield
Wilton	Fairfield	1802	Norwalk	May, 1802; taken from Norwalk
Marlborough	Hartford	1803	Colchester, Glastonbury, Hebron	Oct., 1803; taken from Colchester, Glastonbury and Hebron
Columbia	Tolland	1804	Lebanon	May, 1804; taken from Lebanon
Burlington	Hartford	1806	Bristol	May, 1806; taken from Bristol
Canton	Hartford	1806	Simsbury	May, 1806; taken from Simsbury
Meriden	New Haven	1806	Wallingford	May, 1806; taken from Wallingford. City inc., May, 1867. Town and city consolidated, Jan. 1, 1922
Middlebury	New Haven	1807	Waterbury, Woodbury, Southbury	Oct., 1807; taken from Waterbury, Woodbury and Southbury
North Stonington	New London	1807	Stonington	May, 1807; taken from Stonington
Vernon	Tolland	1808	Bolton	Town inc., Oct., 1808; taken from Bolton. City of Rockville inc., Jan., 1889. Town of Vernon and City of Rockville consolidated, July 1, 1965
Griswold	New London	1815	Preston	Oct., 1815; taken from Preston
Salem	New London	1819	Colchester, Lyme, Montville	May 5, 1819; taken from Colchester, Lyme and Montville
Darien	Fairfield	1820	Stamford	May, 1820; taken from Stamford
Bridgeport	Fairfield	1821	Stratford, Fairfield	May, 1821; taken from Stratford and Fairfield; city inc., May, 1836; town and city consolidated, 1836
Chaplin	Windham	1822	Windham, Hampton, Mansfield	1822; taken from Windham, Mansfield and Hampton
Orange	New Haven	1822	Milford, New Haven	May, 1822, taken from Milford and New Haven
Manchester	Hartford	1823	East Hartford	May, 1823; taken from East Hartford
Monroe	Fairfield	1823	Huntington	May, 1823; taken from Huntington (now Shelton)
Madison	New Haven	1826	Guilford	May, 1826, taken from Guilford
Prospect	New Haven	1827	Cheshire, Waterbury	May, 1827; taken from Cheshire and Waterbury
Avon	Hartford	1830	Farmington	May, 1830; taken from Farmington
North Branford	New Haven	1831	Branford	May, 1831; taken from Branford
Bethany	New Haven	1832	Woodbridge	May, 1832; taken from Woodbridge
Bloomfield	Hartford	1835	Windsor, Farmington, Simsbury	May, 1835; taken from Windsor
Westport	Fairfield	1835	Fairfield, Norwalk, Weston	May 28, 1835; taken from Fairfield, Norwalk and Weston
Chester	Middlesex	1836	Saybrook	May, 1836; taken from Saybrook, now Chester
Ledyard	New London	1836	Groton	June, 1836; taken from Groton
Clinton	Middlesex	1838	Killingworth	May, 1838; taken from Killingworth
East Lyme	New London	1839	Lyme, Waterford	May, 1839; taken from Lyme and Waterford
Westbrook	Middlesex	1840	Saybrook	May, 1840; taken from Saybrook (Deep River)
Portland	Middlesex	1841	Chatham	May, 1841; taken from Chatham
Rocky Hill	Hartford	1843	Wethersfield	May, 1843; taken from Wethersfield
Naugatuck	New Haven	1844	Waterbury, Bethany, Oxford	May, 1844; taken from Waterbury, Bethany and Oxford. Borough and town consolidated, 1895
Easton	Fairfield	1845	Weston	May, 1845; taken from Weston
South Windsor	Hartford	1845	East Windsor	May, 1845; taken from East Windsor
Eastford	Windham	1847	Ashford	May, 1847; taken from Ashford
Andover	Tolland	1848	Coventry, Hebron	May 18, 1848; taken from Hebron and Coventry
New Britain	Hartford	1850	Berlin	May, 1850; taken from Berlin. City inc., 1871. Town and City consolidated, April, 1905
Seymour	New Haven	1850	Derby	May, 1850; taken from Derby
Cromwell	Middlesex	1851	Middletown	May, 1851; taken from Middletown
Essex	Middlesex	1852	Saybrook	Sept. 13, 1852, as Old Saybrook; taken from Saybrook. Name changed, July 8, 1854 to Essex
Old Saybrook	Middlesex	1854	Old Saybrook (i.e., the modern Essex)	July 8, 1854
West Hartford	Hartford	1854	Hartford	May, 1854; taken from Hartford
Windsor Locks	Hartford	1854	Windsor	May, 1854; taken from Windsor
Bethel	Fairfield	1855	Danbury	May, 1855; taken from Danbury
Old Lyme	New London	1855	Lyme	off from Saybrook, February 13, 1665; Inc., May, 1855, as South Lyme; taken from Lyme; name changed in 1857
Putnam	Windham	1855	Thompson, Pomfret, Killingly	Town inc., May, 1855; taken from Thompson, Pomfret and Killingly. City inc., Jan., 1895. Town and city consolidated, Nov. 8, 1983. The city is a Special Service Dist.
Bridgewater	Litchfield	1856	New Milford	May, 1856; taken from New Milford
Scotland	Windham	1857	Windham	May, 1857; taken from Windham
East Granby	Hartford	1858	Granby, Windsor Locks	June, 1858; taken from Granby and Windsor Locks
North Canaan	Litchfield	1858	Canaan	May, 1858; taken from Canaan
Morris	Litchfield	1859	Litchfield	June, 1859; taken from Litchfield
Sprague	New London	1861	Lisbon, Franklin	May, 1861; acquired from Lisbon and Franklin
Middlefield	Middlesex	1866	Middletown	June, 1866; taken from Middletown
Plainville	Hartford	1869	Farmington	July, 1869; taken from Farmington
Beacon Falls	New Haven	1871	Bethany, Seymour, Oxford, Naugatuck	June, 1871, taken from Bethany, Oxford, Seymour and Naugatuck
Newington	Hartford	1871	Wethersfield	July 10, 1871; taken from Wethersfield
Thomaston	Litchfield	1875	Plymouth	July, 1875; taken from Plymouth
Ansonia	New Haven	1889	Derby	April, 1889; taken from Derby
West Haven	New Haven	1921	Orange	June 24, 1921; taken from Orange; inc. as a city, June 27, 1961

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Connecticut Towns by Year Established