In 1718, Sutton's first town meeting was held here, where many working mills once dotted the landscape. The district was originally comprised of eight 40-acre farm settlements. The Eight Lots school was built circa 1800 and officially closed in 1918, with Ruth Putnam as the school's last teacher. In 1921, Arthur Merrill created the country's first scientifically monitored fish hatchery. The six ponds connecting West Sutton and the Eight Lots area to Singletary Lake are called the Merrill Pond System.