Prehistorically, the mountains at Satan’s Kingdom blocked water flow, creating a lake that extended northwest for several miles, until geological forces later drove water through the rock to form the gorge first carved by the Tunxis River, later named the Farmington River. This river gorge, known for its towering cliffs, has been called Satan’s Kingdom since at least the 1820s. The name’s origin is debated: one story links it to a Native American tribe leader nicknamed “Satan,” while another possible reason is that in the mid 1800s the area was a settlement of people who adopted an Indian lifestyle and was inhabited by Native Americans and many of society’s outcasts, including outlaws and ex-slaves. In the 1870s, trains of the Central New England Railroad operated through the rugged hills of northwestern Connecticut, running from Hartford northwest to Tariffville and East Granby, then south through Simsbury, Canton, and Collinsville before turning north into the gorge and continuing west alongside the old Albany Turnpike, now Route 44, to Millerton on the Connecticut-New York border. The New Haven and Northampton Railroad, known as the Canal Line, also ran on the west side of Satan’s Kingdom on a branch completed in 1850 from Plainville to New Hartford, and remains of railroad tracks and bridges can still be found on both sides of the river downstream of the Route 44 Bridge. In 1994, fourteen miles of the west branch of the Farmington River received National Wild and Scenic River status, the first such designation for a river in Connecticut and one of only a few in New England. Congress created the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1968 to protect outstanding rivers from harmful effects of federally assisted projects such as new dams, hydroelectric facilities, and bridges, and the Farmington River qualified because of its natural beauty, historic sites, recreational opportunities, rare wildlife, and outstanding fisheries.

Photo: Alan M. Perrie

Photo: Alan M. Perrie

Photo: Alan M. Perrie

Photo: Alan M. Perrie