The story
Read it all →How Tolland came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Tolland.
Tolland was first settled in 1750 when it was part of neighboring Granville. Tolland was officially incorporated in 1810.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Tolland
Tolland dates to 1750
Most of Tolland was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1850.
1750founded
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Quick answers
How Tolland began
When was Tolland founded?
1750
Tolland dates its founding to 1750 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
First census: 594 in 18502020 census: 471276 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1811.The full story ↓
What stands out about Tolland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · People over time
Tolland, census by census
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1860 and 1960, then grew 4-fold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tolland’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Tolland on the map, 1888 to 1997
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tolland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Sandisfield 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 Tolland.
Timeline
Tolland, 1750 to 1943
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1750FoundingTolland is established
- 1777Born hereGamaliel S. Olds is born here
- 1796
Born hereJohn Easton Mills is born here - 19th century
- 1811Post officeThe Tolland post office opens
- 1860CensusPopulation peaks at 596
- 1888
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1912
In the archiveRichards standard atlas of Hampden County, Massachusetts - based upon, and carefully comp… - 1937
In the archiveLand Utilization Town of Tolland - DPLA - d7d11dd8eb319c7f876d18205bd507b5 - 1943Post officeThe Tolland post office closes
From the old history books
What they wrote about Tolland in 1902
Passages that mention Tolland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
"Our county and its people"1902Read the page →
Read the text
1750. These, so far as present records and obtainable information tend to show, were the first settlers in the west parish of (iraiiville. a part of the old plantation of Bedford, and now known as the town of Tolland. It was full three-score years after their settlement was made that Tolland became a town, and many of the founders never lived to see the change in jurisdiction. They came about the middle of the eighteenth century to a rugged wilderness country, drawn by the ever restless spirit of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"Our county and its people"1902Read the page →
Read the text
it enacted, &c., "That the West parishvin (Jranville, in the county of Hampshire, as known by its present Ijounds, be and hereby is incorporated and established as a separate town by the name of Tolland, with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the requisitions of other towns, according to the constitution and laws of this commonwealth."
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
Tolland, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1910s–1930s6 items
1912Richards standard atlas of Hampden County, Massachuse…Map1937Land Utilization Town of Tolland - DPLA - d7d11dd8eb3…
1937Roads and Buildings Town of Tolland - DPLA - 3ba1e5f5…
1937Roads and Waterways Town of Tolland - DPLA - acdc87cd…
1937Soil Classification Town of Tolland - DPLA - b7e31129…
1937Topography Town of Tolland - DPLA - 872052836e967d19a…1940s–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 albumThen & 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.
Retake this viewLand Utilization Town of Tolland - DPLA - d7d11dd8eb319c7f876d18205bd507b5, 1937
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tolland’s page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Tolland
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Tolland had its own post office from 1811 to 1943.
Tolland
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Camp Spruce HillSkylandTolland Center
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tolland
South QuarterTolland
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Tolland’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Tolland’s history
What year was Tolland founded?
In 1750, according to Wikidata. Tolland’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1850 counted 594 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.