This area, formerly Northington or the North Parish of Farmington, was settled in 1645 on land that had belonged to the Tunxis Indians. It prospered as a farming community and, in 1830, after the construction and opening of the Farmington Canal, Avon was incorporated as a separate town with a population of 1,025. Named after the Avon River in England, it gained considerable importance during the early to mid-nineteenth century as a transportation and commercial center because the Albany Turnpike (Route 44) was a heavily traveled thoroughfare and met the canal here. The brownstone buildings that house the Town Hall were built from local material by the Climax Fuse Company in 1907 and continued to be used for the manufacture of safety fuses until 1968. Many homes now dot Avon's hillsides, which once rang to the call of the canalmen.