Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Standish Hall · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Litchfield was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and old-book passages.
The Litchfield post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Litchfield’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Litchfield.
The first post office at Litchfield opened in 1914, and moved in 1941. The name honors pioneer Thomas Litch.
The United States Bureau of Land Management maintains a wild horse and burro corral near Litchfield. The hay barn at the facility was set on fire by members of the Earth Liberation Front on October 15, 2001.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Litchfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
munication of town with town. Turnpike Companies were •organized in all parts of the State, and turnpike stock was regarded by capitalists as a safe, profitable and permanent investment. The Litchfield and New Milford Turnpike Company was incorporated in October, 1797 ; the Litchfield and Harwinton Company, in October, 1798 ; and the Litchfield and Canaan Company, in May, 1799. Then followed Straits' Turnpike, from Litchfield to New Haven, the Litchfield and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
" Not many years after the County of Litchfield hegan to be settled by the English, a strange Indian came one clay into an Inn in the Town of Litchfield, in the dusk of the evening, and requested the hostess to furnish him with some drink and supper. At the same time, he observed, that he could pay for neither, as he had had no success in hunting ; but promised payment as soon as he should meet with better fortune. The hostess refused him both the drink and the supper ; called him a lazy, drunken, good for nothing fellow ; and told
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Colony, made Indian purchases and began a settlement at Weatogue, in Salisbury, as early as 1720. After the sale of the township in 1737, the population increased rapidly, — coming in from the towns of Lebanon, Litchfield, and many other places, so that it was duly organized in 1741, and settled its minister, Rev. Jonathan Lee, in 1744.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Litchfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Litchfield.
The Litchfield post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
