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History · Terryville

Terryville’s post office opened in 1831, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1881 on.

1831first post office
1on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Terryville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Terryville began

When was Terryville founded?

1831

The Terryville post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 5,202195 years
Founding year: the first Terryville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Terryville’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Terryville’s homes were built before 1953.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of Terryville.
★ What stands out · The story so far

Terryville, in brief

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

Terryville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is the largest village within the town of Plymouth. As of the 2020 census, Terryville had a population of 5,202. The village is named for Eli Terry Jr., the son of the well-known clockmaker Eli Terry Sr.. Terryville is also home to the Lock Museum of America. There is a water wheel located in downtown Terryville that is dedicated to the son of Eli Terry Sr.

Its first post office opened in 1831. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,387 to 5,202 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Terryville, 1845 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845Born hereDorence Atwater is born here
  3. 1881In the archiveTerryville
  4. 1894In the archiveTerryville, Ct., Litchfield Co
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901In the archiveTerryville streetcar terminal postcard
  7. 1904Born herePete Appleton is born here
  8. 1923Born hereTed Knight is born here
By decade

Terryville, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s6 items
Terryville1881TerryvilleTerryville.Alternate Title: Studies for the stereoscope, views of Bristol and vicinity1881–1888Terryville.Alternate Title: Studies for the stereosco…Terryville, Ct., Litchfield Co1894Terryville, Ct., Litchfield CoTerryville, Ct., Litchfield Co1894Terryville, Ct., Litchfield CoTerryville streetcar terminal postcard1901–1907Terryville streetcar terminal postcardPostcardPostcardTerryvilleCTProspectStSchool1906c. 1906PostcardTerryvilleCTProspectStSchool1906Postcard
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
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.

Terryville
Retake this viewTerryville, 1881

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Terryville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
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

3 famous people were born in Terryville

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

See all →
Ted KnightAmerican actor · b. 1923
Dorence AtwaterAmerican diplomat and American Civil War prison… · b. 1845
Pete AppletonAmerican baseball player · b. 1904
Help out

Finish Terryville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTerryville: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Plymouth3 historic placesABristol17 historic placesA−

Questions about Terryville’s history

What year was Terryville founded?

The Terryville post office opened in 1831, 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 (6) and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.