Humaston Brook State Park in Northfield, Connecticut, preserves Northfield Pond, locally called Knife Shop Pond, and a gorge along Humaston Brook, a tributary of the Naugatuck River. The site reflects Northfield’s industrial past: the brook was dammed in 1854 to power a carriage factory, and in 1858 J. Howard Catlin and his brother Franklin acquired the factory and water rights for their knife business. The Northfield Knife Company became one of the nation’s leading knife makers and one of Litchfield’s largest 19th-century employers. The park still contains factory foundations below the dam, and preservation began with land purchases in 1920 and state acquisition in 1926.