Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to East Hampton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
East Hampton, ConnecticutPhoto: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
AHistory
History · East Hampton

East Hampton dates to 1767, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #40 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 203 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1790.

1767founded
5on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Hampton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How East Hampton began

When was East Hampton founded?

1767

East Hampton dates its founding to 1767 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 3,230 in 1790259 years

How historic is East Hampton?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1804.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives East Hampton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Hampton is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #40 of 155 in Connecticut. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Hampton’s overall grade.
Founding era1767, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194013.6% of homes (±3.2) · typical CT town 15.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register5 listings, 204 historic buildings, 158 per 10,000 residents · typical CT town 73.3 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 75%

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 East Hampton’s 158 sits above most of its state (68% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 204 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1767.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).

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 East Hampton’s past

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

A historic districtThe Belltown Historic District takes in 145 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s East Hampton, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1830 and 1850, then grew 8-fold.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 204 historic buildings

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
204
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Comstock's Bridge
Comstock's Bridge, built 1873Middle Haddam Historic District, built 1730Belltown Historic DistrictRapallo ViaductMiddle Haddam School, built 1930
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Federal2
Greek Revival2
Queen Anne2
Covered Bridge1
Colonial1
High Victorian Gothic1
Comstock's BridgeCovered Bridge · Built 1873
Middle Haddam Historic DistrictFederal · Built 1730
Belltown Historic DistrictModern
Rapallo ViaductStructure
Middle Haddam SchoolBuilt 1930

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

Help out

Start East Hampton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how East Hampton’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 view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

East Hampton’s post office has been open since 1822. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Middle Haddam
1804–today
Westchester
1818–1822
East Hampton
1822–today
Cobalt
1851–today
Cobaltville
1851–1851
Wopowag
1920–1945
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CobaltCobalt LandingLake PocotopaugMiddle HaddamSkinnervilleWopowog
Gone or out of use
Camp JenkinslocaleLindquist Airportairport
12cemeteries and burying grounds inside East Hampton
East HamptonHallHog HillLakeviewNorthSaint PatricksSeldomSkinnervilleTartiaUnion HillWallYoung Street

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

The story

How East Hampton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Hampton.

Read it all →

The first European-derived settlers of the area arrived in 1739 by sea from Eastham, Massachusetts. They traveled up the Connecticut River to Middle Haddam parish between the two adjacent towns of Middletown and Haddam. Led by Isaac Smith, some of these settlers went on to the hills near Lake Pocotopaug, the present-day location of East Hampton. In 1746, the settlers named their community Easthampton parish after their former home of Eastham. In 1767, the community was separated from Middletown incorporated by the Connecticut General Assembly as the township of Chatham, after Chatham, Medway due to the important shipbuilding industries that both places had in common. An iron forge at the outlet of Lake Pocotopaug was one of the earliest in Connecticut. The forge supplied the local needs and the shipbuilding industry on the banks of the Connecticut River. Shipbuilding up the Connecticut …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

East Hampton, 1730 to 2000

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1730BuiltMiddle Haddam Historic District is built
  3. 1767
    FoundingEast Hampton is established
  4. 1799Born hereJoseph Dart is born here
  5. 19th century
  6. 1804Post officeThe Middle Haddam post office opens
  7. 1807Born hereAbner C. Harding is born here
  8. 1818Post officeThe Westchester post office opens
  9. 1821Born hereAdonijah Welch is born here
  10. 1822Post officeThe Westchester post office closes
  11. 1822Post officeThe East Hampton post office opens
  12. 1873BuiltComstock's Bridge is built
  13. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut - Middlesex County - East Hampton - E…
  14. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  15. 20th century
  16. 1907In the archivePostcardEastHamptonCTMainStLookingNorth1907
  17. 1930BuiltMiddle Haddam School is built
  18. 1968In the archiveBevin Brothers Bell Shop
  19. 1987Born hereErin Brady is born here
  20. 21st century
  21. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 13,352
By decade

East Hampton, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s3 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut - Middlesex County - East Hampton - ED 4-11, ED 4-1218801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut -…PostcardEastHamptonCTMainStLookingNorth19071907PostcardEastHamptonCTMainStLookingNorth1907PostcardPostcardEastHamptonCTFactory19081908PostcardEastHamptonCTFactory1908Postcard
1910s–1950snothing 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
1960s1 item
Bevin Brothers Bell Shop1968Bevin Brothers Bell Shop
1970s–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
Today13 recent
Congregational Church of2024Congregational Church ofAir Line State Park Trail tunnel under CT Route 662024Air Line State Park Trail tunnel under CT Route 66Air Line State Park Trail cut2024Air Line State Park Trail cutAir Line State Park Trail bridge over Pine Brook2024Air Line State Park Trail bridge over Pine BrookThe East Hampton Bank and Trust Co2023The East Hampton Bank and Trust CoCongregational Church2023Congregational ChurchCT Route 1962023CT Route 196Air Line State Park Trail bridge over Pocotopaug Creek2023Air Line State Park Trail bridge over Pocotopaug CreekAir Line cut in East Hampton, June 20212021Air Line cut in East Hampton, June 2021EastHamptonCT MiddleHaddamSchool2019EastHamptonCT MiddleHaddamSchoolRalphSmithHouseMiddleHaddamCT2010RalphSmithHouseMiddleHaddamCTE Hampton CT lg2010E Hampton CT lgEast Hampton sign2005East Hampton sign
On the map

East Hampton on the map, 1893 to 1984

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

East Hampton on the 1893 USGS mapEast Hampton on the 1945 USGS mapEast Hampton on the 1952 USGS mapEast Hampton on the 1971 USGS mapEast Hampton on the 1984 USGS map1893Middletown 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 East Hampton.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut - Middlesex County - East Hampton - ED 4-11, ED 4-12
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut - Middlesex County - East Hampton - ED 4-11, ED 4-12, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

East Hampton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000180018501900195020003,646 in 1830Low: 1,525

Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1850, then grew 8-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

7 famous people were born in East Hampton

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

See all →
Erin BradyAmerican beauty pageant titleholder · b. 1987
Adonijah WelchAmerican politician · b. 1821
Abner C. HardingUnion Army general · b. 1807
Joseph DartAmerican jurist, businessperson and inventor · b. 1799
Elizabeth Eunice Smith MarcyAmerican author, activist, and social reformer · b. 1821
M
Melissa ZiobronPolitician
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Portland6 historic placesA−East Haddam13 historic placesAMiddletown35 historic placesAColchester8 historic placesA−Marlborough2 historic placesB−Haddam5 historic placesAGlastonbury12 historic placesA−

Questions about East Hampton’s history

What year was East Hampton founded?

In 1767, according to Wikidata. East Hampton’s post office opened in 1804, and the first U.S. census counted 3,230 people here in 1790.

How does East Hampton rank for history?

East Hampton is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #40 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 East Hampton?

5 listings: 1 building, 2 historic districts, the Middle Haddam Historic District and the Belltown Historic District, with 203 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 204 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in East Hampton?

14% of East Hampton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.