Southington

Samuel Woodruff came in 1698 to hunt and fish in the fertile valley south of Farmington, soon established a homesite there, and was followed by other families from surrounding areas. The organization of a parish apart from Farmington led to the incorporation of Southington as a separate township in 1779. In June 1781 Lieutenant General Count de Rochambeau, leading an auxiliary French army, camped in Marion for several days before joining General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, where the October surrender of British forces ended the Revolutionary War and assured American independence. The Farmington Canal, opened in 1828, enabled Southington industrialists and farmers to ship goods north and south, and in 1847 the towpath along the waterway became the rail bed for the Canal Line Railroad. Southington became an early leader in manufacturing, notably buttons, britannia ware, cement, tinware, and carriage hardware, and the nut and bolt industry established in 1840 by Micah Rugg continues as a vital business in Milldale. Near state highways, Southington remains a flourishing industrial area, and fruit growing is its major agricultural occupation.

Southington, Connecticut · United States