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History · Falls Village

Falls Village’s post office opened in 1828, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and old-book passages.

1828first post office
2on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Falls Village’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Falls Village began

When was Falls Village founded?

1828

The Falls Village post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 383198 years
Founding year: the first Falls Village post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Falls Village’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.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1969. Watch Falls Village change.Old housesHalf of Falls Village’s homes were built before 1938.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1904, drew every building in Falls Village.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Falls Village’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOn the Housatonic River, at Falls Villa…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Falls Village on the map, 1892 to 1969

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

Falls Village on the 1892 USGS mapFalls Village on the 1903 USGS mapFalls Village on the 1956 USGS mapFalls Village on the 1969 USGS map1892Cornwall 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 Falls Village.

The story so far

Falls Village, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Falls Village yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Falls Village is a village and census-designated place in the town of Canaan in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, Falls Village had a population of 383. Because Falls Village is the town center and principal constituent village in Canaan, the entire town is often referred to as "Falls Village". That usage also avoids confusion of the town with Canaan Village in the town of North Canaan, Connecticut, just to the north. Falls Village derives its name from a waterfall, known as Great Falls, on the Housatonic River within the village. The Falls Village post office is assigned ZIP code 06031, which encompasses the entire town of Canaan.

Its first post office opened in 1828. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 538 to 383 (-29%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Falls Village in 1881

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

mained there three years, till the firm of Belden & Hunt was dissolved, when he formed a copartnership with Edmund Belden, under the firm-name of Belden & Miner, and began business at Falls Village, where he continued to do business till the spring of 1853, when they dissolved partnership. In 1845,…
History of Litchfield county, Connecticut1881 · page 270Read the page →
Read the text

mained there three years, till the firm of Belden & Hunt was dissolved, when he formed a copartnership with Edmund Belden, under the firm-name of Belden & Miner, and began business at Falls Village, where he continued to do business till the spring of 1853, when they dissolved partnership. In 1845, Mr. Miner became the agent for the Housatonic Railroad at this place, and held that position until 1855. In the spring

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

Falls Village, 1870 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870In the archiveOn the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alternate Title: The valley of the Hous…
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1980In the archiveBlue Bridge, Appalachian Trail
By decade

Falls Village, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s3 items
On the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alternate Title: The valley of the Housatonic. 6309c. 1870On the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alt…On the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alternate Title: The valley of the Housatonic. 6309c. 1870On the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alt…Mrs. E.C. Cowdrey, milliner1870Mrs. E.C. Cowdrey, milliner
1980s1 item
Blue Bridge, Appalachian Trail1980Blue Bridge, Appalachian Trail
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
Today2 recent
StPatricksChurch FallsVillage Connecticut 617sm2010StPatricksChurch FallsVillage Connecticut 617smFallsVillage DMHuntLibrary 6192010FallsVillage DMHuntLibrary 619
Every building

Falls Village, building by building, 1884–1904

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Falls Village fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

On the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alternate Title: The valley of the Housatonic. 6309
Retake this viewOn the Housatonic River, at Falls Village, (Conn.)Alternate Title: The valley of the Housatonic. 6309, c. 1870

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 72 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
72
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Falls Village

Nobody well known was born in Falls Village itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Seth MacFarlaneAmerican writer, actor, and producer · b. 1973
John BrownAmerican abolitionist · b. 1800
Asaph HallAmerican astronomer · b. 1829
Ralph NaderAmerican lawyer and activist · b. 1934
Eunice Newton FooteAmerican scientist, inventor and women's rights… · b. 1819
John SedgwickAmerican military officer · b. 1813
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Canaan5 historic placesA+Salisbury8 historic placesA+

Questions about Falls Village’s history

What year was Falls Village founded?

The Falls Village post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.