Suffield dates to 1682, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #43 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
12 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 168 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1796.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Suffield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Suffield is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Suffield’s overall grade.
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 Suffield’s 117 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 184 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1682.
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 (±3.1 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Suffield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Originally known as Southfield—pronounced "Suffield," on May 20, 1674, the committee for the settling of the town petitioned:
...that the name of the place may be Suffield, it being the southernmost town that either at present is, or like to be in that Countrey, and neere adjoining to the south border of our Patent in those parts. [sic]
The petition was granted by the Massachusetts Bay court on June 8, 1674. Suffield was incorporated as a town in March 1682.
Also, on early 17th and 18th century maps, Suffield was alternatively spelled as Suthfield.
Suffield and the surrounding area were part of the Equivalent Lands compromise with Massachusetts in 1715–1716.
Passages that mention Suffield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Suffield, Connecticut, October 12, 13 and 14, 1920, with sketches from its past and some record of its last half century and of its present1921 · page 140Read the page →
Read the text
First Baptist Church Until 1769 these Congregational Societies of Suffield and West Suffield were of the Church of the Standing Order under which the ecclesiastical and civic affairs were identical. All persons were taxed for the church as well as for state. The civil power collected the taxes for the church by restraint and, under the laws of both Massachusetts and Connecticut, no person could form
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
Suffield, decade by decade
5 decades in the archive, from the 1770s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1682, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Suffield’s post office opened in 1796, and the census of 1850 counted 2,962 people here.
How does Suffield rank for history?
Suffield is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Suffield?
12 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Hatheway House (listed 1975, the first), 3 historic districts, the Hastings Hill Historic District, the Suffield Historic District and the Hilltop Farm, with 168 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 184 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Suffield?
15% of Suffield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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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