Pre-Township and Becoming a Township On March 31, 1661, the original settlement of Colchester was founded by
Jeremy Adams on a 340-acre area of land, then known as "Jeremiah's Farme." The land was given to Jeremy by
Uncas,
Sachem of the
Mohegan tribe. When Connecticut's first counties were created in 1666, Colchester stayed under Adams' ownership and was not incorporated into any new county, possibly because of its proximity to both
Hartford and
New London County. It would not formally join a county until 1698. At this time, Colchester was mainly a farming community. In 2009, Colchester adopted a right-to-farm ordinance, recognizing the "significant role" that agriculture played in Colchester's "heritage and future." On October 13, 1698, Michael Taintor II, Samuel Northam and
Nathaniel Foote III applied to officially settle Colchester. Jeremiah's Farme was selected as the main point of reference for the town, with its north boundary as the Twenty Mile River. The southern side is bordered by
Lyme, and the west boundary meets the east bounds of
Middletown and
Haddam. The east and northeast boundary runs to the bounds of
Lebanon and
Norwich. During the initial settlement, the area was also referred to as the Plantation of the Twenty-mile River. On May 11, 1699, the town's principal founders asked the general court of Hartford for assistance, alleging that several persons had hindered the advancement of the settlement by claiming ownership of "considerable tracts of land" within the grant.
The 1700s Nathaniel Foote and his family were some of the first to settle here and finished building their house in 1702. The house began construction in 1699 by Nathaniel Foote III and was then finished by his son Nathaniel Foote IV. The first schoolmaster began operations in 1705, and a schoolhouse was finished in 1711. The cemetery later held people like Reverend John Bulkeley, Dr. John Watrous, Pierpont Bacon, and his wife, Abigail Bacon. In 1708 Colchester re-joined
Hartford county, Several men went into the
revolutionary war, many of them died. One of which was Ephraim Little Jr., son of the 2nd Reverend of Colchester. In 1783 Colchester rejoined
New London County after being within
Hartford County. Several women from the Foote family, including Mary Foote, Abigail Foote, and Jerusha Foote Johnson, all have bed rugs attributed to them.
The 1800s On October 13, 1803, the town of
Marlborough,
Hartford County was created from parts of the towns of Colchester,
Glastonbury,
Hartford County, and
Hebron,
Tolland County. On May 27, 1807, heavy cattle losses were reported because of stray dogs biting them.).) was chosen as president. The bank reportedly began the same day.
The 2000s In July 2005, Colchester was named by CNN's Money Magazine, the 57th best place in the U.S. to live in and is celebrated every year with a festival on the last Saturday of September called 57 Fest. ==Geography==