History · Brookfield

Brookfield dates to 1788, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #145 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it

Most of Brookfield was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 67 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1820.

1788founded

1on the National Register

4%homes built before 1940

4old photos & papers

4famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Brookfield’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Brookfield began

When was Brookfield founded?

1788

Brookfield dates its founding to 1788 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,159 in 1820238 years

How historic is Brookfield?

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Brookfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookfield is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #145 of 155 in Connecticut. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brookfield’s overall grade.

Founding era1788, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19403.7% of homes (±1.8) · typical CT town 15.1% · U.S. 8.4%C National Register1 listing, 67 historic buildings, 37.8 per 10,000 residents · typical CT town 73.3 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%

NewerOlder

Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 6%

Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Brookfield’s 37.8 sits below most of its state (32% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 67 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1788.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Brookfield’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1984. Watch Brookfield change.A historic districtThe Brookfield Center Historic District takes in 67 historic buildings.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brookfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brookfield’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewCurtis School 1883: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Brookfield, census by census

Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

19 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brookfield’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Brookfield on the map, 1892 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brookfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1892Danbury sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brookfield.

The story

How Brookfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brookfield.

Read it all →

Early people who lived in Brookfield were subsistence farmers, gatherers, and hunters. The main food sources were corn, beans, squash and wild foods found in the rocky, heavily forested foothills of the Berkshire Mountains of Brookfield and New Milford. Such wild foods that were harvested were white oak acorns, American chestnuts, shag bark hickory nuts, may apples, beach nuts and Solomon's seal. The hunted animals that were taken from the forest and rivers were deer, passenger pigeon, turkey, bass, trout, crawfish, squirrel, rabbit and others. In the 18th century the community was called "Newbury", a name that came from the three towns from which its land was taken—New Milford, Newtown, and Danbury.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Brookfield in 1887

Passages that mention Brookfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Sect. 5. Be it further enacted, That the said town of North Brookfield shall be holden to pay their proportion of all state, town and county taxes assessed on the inhabitants of the said town of Brookfield, until a new valuation shall be made of the said Towns. Provided, That the said town of North… — **History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts**1887 · page 263Read the page →
Read the text
Sect. 5. Be it further enacted, That the said town of North Brookfield shall be holden to pay their proportion of all state, town and county taxes assessed on the inhabitants of the said town of Brookfield, until a new valuation shall be made of the said Towns. Provided, That the said town of North Brookfield shall be holden, until the further order of the Legislature to pay to the town of Brookfield such proportion of any of the expenses of maintaining the bridges and causeways over the rivers in the town of Brook-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

and Francis Stone to the said Calvin and Francis' southwest corner ; Thence northwardly on the most westwardly lines of said Calvin and Francis Stone's land, to the line dividing the Town of New Braintree from the Town of Brookfield — the lands of said Calvin and Francis Stone' and part of Whitney … — **History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts**1887 · page 262Read the page →
Read the text
and Francis Stone to the said Calvin and Francis' southwest corner ; Thence northwardly on the most westwardly lines of said Calvin and Francis Stone's land, to the line dividing the Town of New Braintree from the Town of Brookfield — the lands of said Calvin and Francis Stone' and part of Whitney hill (so called) having been set to the said town of Brookfield from New Braintree, more than twenty years ago, in consideration of territory taken from said Second Parish and annexed to the town of New Braintree, and has since been considered a portion
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.

Timeline

Brookfield, 1788 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1788
FoundingBrookfield is established
19th century
1800Post officeThe Brookfield post office opens
1831Born hereSamuel E. Merwin is born here
1844Born hereAlbert Elijah Dunning is born here
1866Born hereJoseph Collins is born here
1883In the archiveCurtis School 1883
1890In the archiveBrookfield Junction Depot
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1893Post officeThe Brookfield Center post office opens
20th century
1922In the archiveLucia Ruggles Holman Tomlinson home (The Introduction of Christianity Into the Hawaiian I…
1976In the archiveBrookfield Bicentennial celebration
1988Born hereScott Lutrus is born here
1988Post officeThe Brookfield Center post office closes
21st century
2020CensusPopulation peaks at 17,528

By decade

Brookfield, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1920s3 items

1883Curtis School 1883

1890Brookfield Junction Depot

Lucia Ruggles Holman Tomlinson home (The Introduction of Christianity Into the Hawaiian Islands, 1922)

1922Lucia Ruggles Holman Tomlinson home (The Introduction…

1930s–1960snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

1970s1 item

1976Brookfield Bicentennial celebration

1980s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewCurtis School 1883, 1883

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brookfield’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 listing protects 67 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1991

Brookfield Center Historic District

Districts

Architectural styles listings

Dutch Colonial1

Post Medieval English1

Federal1

Greek Revival1

Gothic Revival1

Italianate1

Brookfield Center Historic DistrictDutch Colonial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Brookfield

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Joseph CollinsAmerican neurologist · b. 1866

Albert Elijah DunningAmerican theologian · b. 1844

Samuel E. MerwinAmerican politician · b. 1831

Scott LutrusAmerican football player · b. 1988

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Brookfield’s post office has been open since 1800. Another post office, Brookfield Center, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Brookfield

1800–today

Brookfield Center

1893–1988

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Brookfield CenterCandlewood OrchardsCandlewood ShoresObtuse Hill

Gone or out of use

Brookfield JunctionlocaleJoyce Cornerlocale

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brookfield

CentralLaure HillUnited Jewish Center

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

New Fairfield2 historic placesB⁺Candlewood OrchardsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Candlewood ShoresIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Bridgewater2 historic placesA New Milford12 historic placesA⁻Newtown10 historic placesA Danbury12 historic placesA⁻Bethel3 historic placesB Candlewood Lake ClubIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brookfield’s history

What year was Brookfield founded?

In 1788, according to Wikidata. Brookfield’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1820 counted 1,159 people here.

How does Brookfield rank for history?

Brookfield is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #145 of 155 in Connecticut. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Brookfield?

One place: the Brookfield Center Historic District (listed 1991).

How old are the homes in Brookfield?

4% of Brookfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.

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