A history of Litchfield,
since 1719
Postcards, papers and photographs of Litchfield from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Originally called Bantam township, Litchfield incorporated in 1719. The town derives its name from Lichfield, in England.
In 1751 it became the county seat of Litchfield County, and at the same time the borough of Litchfield (incorporated in 1879) was laid out. From 1776 to 1780, two depots for military stores and a workshop for the Continental army were maintained in Litchfield. A leaden statue of George III, erected on the Bowling Green in New York City in 1770, was torn down by citizens on July 9, 1776, cut up and then taken to Litchfield, where, in the house of Oliver Wolcott, it was melted into bullets for the Continental Army by Wolcott's daughter and sister.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Litchfield’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
4 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewLitchfield County Jail (1811), 1906: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Litchfield
See all 36 →
Litchfield, decade by decade
![Colorado [Las Animas County - Yuma County] -- Connecticut [Fairfield County - Middlesex County]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/1967/884a233242f724321327-s.jpg)
1990s
CommonsStone fence in2011
CommonsPumpkin patch near2011
CommonsPumpkin patch near2011
CommonsPumpkin patch near2011
CommonsPumpkin patch near2011
CommonsPumpkin patch near2011
CommonsLong Ridge Farm2011
CommonsBarn scene in Suffield, Connecticut2011
CommonsBarn scene in2011
CommonsBarn scene in2011
CommonsBarn near2011
CommonsLitchfield CT lg2010
CommonsLitchfield Connecticut2007
CommonsWMCC22006
CommonsUS-CT-Litchfield2004Nothing in Litchfield is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Litchfield has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Tapping Reeve House and Law School in Litchfield, 0.1 miles away.
Litchfield and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Litchfield County Jail (1811) (1906) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (19), the Library of Congress (3) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.