The story
Read it all →How Winchester came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Winchester.
Winchester was incorporated on May 21, 1771, and named after Winchester in England.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Winchester
Winchester dates to 1771, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #22 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 23 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1820.
1771founded
9on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Quick answers
How Winchester began
When was Winchester founded?
1771
Winchester dates its founding to 1771 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.
First census: 1,601 in 1820255 years
How historic is Winchester?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winchester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winchester is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #22 of 155 in Connecticut. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winchester’s overall grade.
Founding era1771, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194038.7% of homes (±8.2) · typical CT town 15.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register9 listings, 39 historic buildings, 37.9 per 10,000 residents · typical CT town 73.3 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%
NewerOlder
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 86%
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 Winchester’s 37.9 sits below most of its state (32% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
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 (±8.2 points). Two sources give 1771.
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 Winchester’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1969. Watch Winchester change.A historic districtThe Winsted Green Historic District takes in 22 historic buildings.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Winchester, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Winchester’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winchester’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Winchester on the map, 1892 to 1969
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winchester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Winsted sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winchester.
On the National Register
9 listings protect 39 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
39
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Solomon Rockwell House
BuildingsDistrictsStructures
Architectural styles listings
Italianate2
Adamesque1
Federal1
Beaux Arts1
Neo-Classical Revival1
Picturesque1
Solomon Rockwell HouseAdamesque
Winsted Green Historic DistrictFederal
Winsted Green National Register Historic DistrictBeaux Arts
Winchester Soldiers' MonumentPicturesque
Moses Camp HouseGreek Revival
Gilbert Clock FactoryBuilding
Winsted Hosiery MillItalianate
West End Commercial DistrictLate Victorian
All 9 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Winchester in 1873
Passages that mention Winchester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Annals and family records of Winchester, Conn.1873 · page 571Read the page →
Read the text
because I don't think that all of these gentlemen who were born here in Winsted — I don't think one of them — appreciates the privileges he has enjoyed as I appreciate those which have been given to me. I found my wife here. She was born in the town of Winchester and borough of Winsted. And, my friends, it is a thing I have never told before, even privately ; but it was in the town of Winchester, twenty-three years ago, that I, with that tremor which some of you have felt, I am sure, and that sinking of heart, plead with a Winchester girl to take pity upon me. (Laughter.) And she, blushing sweetly, herein the town of Winchester, with great diffidence, consented to share
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Annals and family records of Winchester, Conn.1873 · page 492Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Winchester, on the 22d of August, 1868, by a ballot of 366 to 66, voted a subscription of five per cent, on its list, amounting to $116,000, to the stock of the company, and individual citizens of the town made further subscriptions to the amount of $74,900. Winchester was the first town on the line to vote on this test question, the result of which was to determine whether the road should be carried through.
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
Winchester, 1771 to 1926
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1771FoundingWinchester is established
- 1777Born herePhineas Miner is born here
- 19th century
- 1802Post officeThe Winchester post office opens
- 1812Born hereMary A. Swift is born here
- 1823Post officeThe Winstead post office opens
- 1826Post officeThe Winstead post office closes
- 1826Post officeThe Winchester Center post office opens
- 1859Post officeThe Winchester post office closes
- 1892
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1926
Born hereJames J. Casey is born here
By decade
Winchester, decade by decade
Date?
2024
2019
2013
2010
2008People over time
Winchester, census by census
Between 1,601 and 11,524 people in every census since 1820.
19 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winchester’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Winchester
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Winchester had its own post office from 1802 to 1859. Another post office, Winstead, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Winchester
Winstead
Winchester Center
Winsted
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MoorevilleNelsons CornerWinchester CenterWinsted
Gone or out of use
Hatch Landinglocale
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Winchester
Danbury QuarterForest ViewHurlbutOld North RoadSaint JosephWinchester
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Winchester’s history
What year was Winchester founded?
In 1771, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Winchester’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1820 counted 1,601 people here.
How does Winchester rank for history?
Winchester is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #22 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 Winchester?
9 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Solomon Rockwell House (listed 1977, the first), 3 historic districts, the Winsted Green Historic District, the Winsted Green National Register Historic District and the Winsted Water Works, with 23 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 39 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Winchester?
39% of Winchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1955.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.