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History · Plantsville

Plantsville’s post office opened in 1853, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

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

1853first post office
8on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Plantsville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Plantsville began

When was Plantsville founded?

1853

The Plantsville post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,016173 years
Founding year: the first Plantsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Plantsville’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18927 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1992. Watch Plantsville change.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plantsville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Plantsville’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 viewPlantsville Center postcard: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Plantsville on the map, 1892 to 1992

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

Plantsville on the 1892 USGS mapPlantsville on the 1946 USGS mapPlantsville on the 1955 USGS mapPlantsville on the 1968 USGS mapPlantsville on the 1972 USGS mapPlantsville on the 1984 USGS mapPlantsville on the 1992 USGS map1892Meriden 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 Plantsville.

On the National Register

8 listings protect 236 historic buildings

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

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
236
each building in a district counts

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

The story so far

Plantsville, in brief

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

Plantsville is a neighborhood in the town of Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is centered at the merger between South Main Street (road from the Milldale section) and West Main Street (road from the Marion section). As of the 2020 census, Plantsville had a population of 2,016. The Zip Code Tabulation Area for zip code 06479, which is assigned the postal city name Plantsville, includes the entire southwestern corner of the town of Southington, including Marion and Milldale. Beginning in 2015 Plantsville (not including Marion and Milldale) was listed as a census-designated place.

Its first post office opened in 1853.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Plantsville in 1886

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

between Farmington and Plainville, runs nearly through its centre from north to south. The Eight Mile River, rising in Bristol, flows in at the northwest corner of Southington, then taking a southeasterly course joins the Quinnipiac at the village of Plantsville. After this junction the river bears…
The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-18841886 · page 363Read the page →
Read the text

between Farmington and Plainville, runs nearly through its centre from north to south. The Eight Mile River, rising in Bristol, flows in at the northwest corner of Southington, then taking a southeasterly course joins the Quinnipiac at the village of Plantsville. After this junction the river bears a little to the east of south across the Cheshire line, then turning to the east flows through a gorge in a ridge of sandstone into Wallino'ford. The principal tributaries of these streams are Roaring Brook from the west and Misery Brook from the east.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Congregational Church in Plantsville was a colony from the Congregational Church in Southington. The society was organized in September, 1865. The church was organized Dec. 20, 1865, witli sixtythree members, mostly from the church in Southington. Their house of worship was finished in 1867. Th…
The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-18841886 · page 373Read the page →
Read the text

The Congregational Church in Plantsville was a colony from the Congregational Church in Southington. The society was organized in September, 1865. The church was organized Dec. 20, 1865, witli sixtythree members, mostly from the church in Southington. Their house of worship was finished in 1867. The first pastor was the Rev. William R. Eastman, 1866-1876 ; the present pastor, the Rev. L. F. Berry, was installed June 13, 1877. The present membership is three hundred and three.

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.

By decade

Plantsville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Plantsville Center postcard1901–1907Plantsville Center postcardPostcardPlantsville Center 1908 postcardc. 1908Plantsville Center 1908 postcardPostcard
1910s–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
Today10 recent
SouthingtonCT NewHavenAndNorthamptonRailTrail2017SouthingtonCT NewHavenAndNorthamptonRailTrailSouthingtonCT HurwoodCompany2017SouthingtonCT HurwoodCompanySouthingtonCT DrHenrySkeltonHouse2017SouthingtonCT DrHenrySkeltonHouseSouthingtonCT AtwaterManufacturingCompany22017SouthingtonCT AtwaterManufacturingCompany2SouthingtonCT AtwaterManufacturingCompany12017SouthingtonCT AtwaterManufacturingCompany1Plantsville TwichellWard House2010Plantsville TwichellWard HousePlantsville Congregational Church2010Plantsville Congregational ChurchPlantsville Charles Cowles House2010Plantsville Charles Cowles HousePlantsville 100 Church Street2010Plantsville 100 Church StreetConnecticut State Route 102010Connecticut State Route 10
Every building

Plantsville, building by building, 1884

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 sheet.

Plantsville fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 2
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.

Plantsville Center postcard
Retake this viewPlantsville Center postcard, 1901–1907

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Plantsville’s history

What year was Plantsville founded?

The Plantsville post office opened in 1853, 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 (12), 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.