| Simsbury | |
| Official Name: | Town of Simsbury |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Coordinates: | 41.8706°N -72.8253°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | U.S. state |
| Subdivision Name1: | Connecticut |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Hartford |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Capitol Region |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1642 |
| Established Title2: | Named |
| Established Date2: | 1670 |
| Government Type: | Town Manager/Board of Selectmen |
| Leader Title: | Town Manager |
| Leader Name: | Maria Capriola |
| Leader Title1: | Selectmen |
| Leader Name1: | Wendy G. Mackstutis (D), First Selectman Amber Abbuhl (D), Deputy First Selectman Sean P. Askham (R) Eric Wellman (D) Heather Goetz (R) Chris Peterson (D) |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Total Km2: | 88.8 |
| Area Land Km2: | 87.9 |
| Area Water Km2: | 1.0 |
| Elevation M: | 71 |
| Elevation Ft: | 233 |
| Population Total: | 24517 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Eastern |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | Eastern |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Codes |
| Postal Code: | 06070, 06081, 06089, 06092 |
| Area Code: | 860/959 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 09-68940 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0213506 |
Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670.[1] The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 24,517 in the 2020 census.[2]
At the beginning of the 17th century, the area that would become known as Simsbury as of 1670 was inhabited by indigenous peoples. The Wappinger were one of these groups, composed of eighteen bands that were organized not formally as a tribe, but more akin to an association, like the Delaware. These bands lived between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. The Wappingers were one of the Algonquian peoples, a linguistic grouping which includes hundreds of tribes. One of the Wappinger bands, the Massaco, lived near, but mostly west of, what became known as the Farmington River, in the area that would become known as Simsbury and Canton, the latter as of 1806.[3]
In 1633, Windsor was the second town in Connecticut settled by Europeans and the first English settlement (the first European settlement being Huys de Goede Hoop, established by the Dutch in the Hartford area as a frontier settlement for the New Netherland Colony ten years earlier). For some time, the area of Massaco was considered "an appendix to the towne of Windsor." Settlers in Windsor forested and farmed in the area, but did not settle in Massaco permanently for a number of years. In 1642, the General Court of the colony of Connecticut ordered that:
the Governor and Mr. Heynes shall have liberty to dispose of the ground uppon that parte of Tunxis River cauled Mossocowe, to such inhabitants of Wyndsor as they shall see cause.Despite this order, there is no record that any settlements immediately ensued. Five years later the General Court issued another order:
The Court thinks fitt that Massacoe be purchased by the Country, and that ther be a Committee chosen to dispose of yt to such inhabitants of Wyndsor as by the shalbe judged meet to make improuement therof...but there is no record of land grants arising from this order.
In 1643, John Griffin and Michael Humphrey started a tar and turpentine business in Windsor. A few years later, a Massaco Indian named Manahanoose started a fire which destroyed tar belonging to Griffin. The Court ordered the payment of "five hundred fathom of wampum" as compensation. As he was unable to pay this amount, Manahanoose was instead ordered by the Court to either serve Griffin or be exchanged for Black slaves. To avoid this, he instead delivered a deed to the land at Massacoe. The deed was agreed to by Manahanoose as well as other Indians, identified as "the proprietors of Massaco". In 1653, the General Court granted 50acres of meadowland to Lieutenant Aaron Cook, 60acres to John Bissell and 50acres to Thomas Ford, all in Massacoe.
Settlers did not build permanent settlements until the following decade. Aaron Cook built one of the early homes in the area established 1660 as Terry's Plain, and John Griffin also built a home, possibly in 1664—the date associated with a deed to land in Massacoe. The settlement of Massacoe continued in the late 1660s. The General Court awarded a land grant of two hundred acres to John Griffin in 1663. A deed description from 1664 indicates he had become a permanent inhabitant. In 1669, a survey found that there were thirteen permanent residents of Massacoe. One of those residents, John Case, was appointed to the position of constable. This is the first recorded civil office held by residents of the area.
In 1670, John Case, along with Joshua Holcomb & Thomas Barber, presented a petition to the General Court, requesting that Massacoe become a town of the colony of Connecticut. On May 12, 1670, the General Court granted the petition, and ordered that the plantation should be called "Simmsbury". The boundaries at that time were Farmington on the south and Windsor on the east, with the extent of Simsbury running 10miles north of Farmington and 10miles west of Windsor. The northern border, subject to dispute with Massachusetts, was left to be resolved later. This area includes the township Simsbury as well as Granby and Canton, which would later separate from Simsbury in 1786[4] and 1806, respectively.
The precise origin of the name of the town is not known for certain. The town records covering the first ten years after incorporation were accidentally burned in 1680 and 1681. One possibility is that the name of Simsbury comes from the English town of Symondsbury. Holcomb, one of the petitioners, originally came from Symondsbury. Another possibility is that the name was derived from Simon Wolcott's name. He was known familiarly as "Sim", and he was considered one of the prominent men of the town.
In 1675, rumors of unrest among the indigenous peoples began to surface. The rumors proved accurate, and King Philip's War, a war between a number of tribes and the New England settlers, began in the summer. The war extended through parts of four colonies, with Simsbury on the western edge of the conflict. At the time, it was seen as a frontier settlement. The conflict was largely over by August 1676, although it did not formally end until a treaty was signed in 1678.
The colony of Connecticut formed a Council of War. In the days leading up to the war, they ordered settlers to keep night watches and to work in the fields in armed groups of at least six. By the time of the colony's General Court meeting of October 14, 1675, the situation was considered serious enough that the court ordered the residents of Simsbury to move to safety in Windsor. The order read:
In March 1676, the town of Simsbury was first pillaged, then burned to the ground. This destruction has been described as the most extensive of any event of any Indian War in New England. The settlers remained in Windsor until the spring of 1677, during which most moved back to Simsbury, though some never returned.
In 1707, Daniel Hayes, then aged twenty-two, was captured by indigenous people and carried to Canada. The capture was witnessed and a rescue party was raised, but the group did not catch up with the captors. Hayes was tied up each night and bound to saplings. It took thirty days to reach Canada, where Hayes was forced to run the gauntlet. Near the end of the gauntlet, he hid in a wigwam to avoid an attempted blow by a club. The woman in the wigwam declared that the house was sacred and, having lost a husband and son to a war, adopted Hayes as her son. He remained for several years, attending to the woman. Eventually, he was sold to a Frenchman, who learned that Hayes had skill as a weaver and put him to work in that business. Hayes managed to earn enough to buy his freedom after two years. He then returned to Simsbury, settled down on a farm and married. He became a prominent figure in civil affairs, as well as the church at Salmon Brook (now Granby).
On Tuesday, December 20, 1859, the two-story Patent Safety Fuse factory located near the center of town exploded, killing seven women and one man. The blast also injured several other people, including the factory owner. The factory made cord fast-burning fuses used for blasting, which resulted in the explosion. Two days later, on Thursday, December 22, 1859, the New York Times ran a story about the explosion.[5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 88.8km2, of which 87.9km2 is land and 1sqkm, or 1.09%, is water.
Simsbury lies in the northern end of the Farmington Valley. The east side of Simsbury is flanked by Talcott Mountain, which is part of the Metacomet Ridge, a mountainous trap rock ridgeline that stretches from Long Island Sound to near the Vermont border. Notable features of the Metacomet Ridge in Simsbury include Heublein Tower, Talcott Mountain State Park, Penwood State Park, and the Tariffville Gorge of the Farmington River. The 51adj=midNaNadj=mid Metacomet Trail traverses the ridge. At the western foot of the mountain, the Pinchot Sycamore, the largest tree in Connecticut, grows near the Farmington River. Simsbury also has some patches of old-growth forest; Belden Forest, a 40-acre site with public hiking trails near the center of town was inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network in October 2019.[6]
The town is often considered a bedroom community for the nearby city of Hartford, Connecticut, which is a 20 to 25 minute drive from Simsbury Center; however, many residents also commute to other towns and cities within the west-central Connecticut region.
After the complete destruction of the town in 1676 during King Philip's War, there were three late 17th to early 18th century nucleated resettlement communities: East Weatogue (also called East Simsbury), Simsbury Center, and Terry's Plain.
There are four census-designated places in Simsbury: Simsbury Center, Tariffville, Weatogue, and West Simsbury.
See also: List of Connecticut locations by per capita income. As of the census of 2000, there were 23,234 people, 8,527 households, and 6,591 families residing in the town. The population density was 685.7sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 8,739 housing units at an average density of 257.9sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 95.3% White, 1.17% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.12% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.54% of the population. The five largest percentages of reported ethnicity, expressed as percentage out of total residents, were Irish (23.0%), English (17.4%), German (15.6%), Italian (13.7%), and Polish (7.6%).
There were 8,527 households, out of which 41.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.1% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.7% were non-families. 19.4% of all households had someone living alone, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.12.
29.5% of the population was under the age of 18, 3.6% were from 18 to 24, 27.7% were from 25 to 44, 26.6% were from 45 to 64, and 12.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years old. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
In 2018, the median household income was $119,588 and the per capita income for the town was $60,453. About 1.0% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.
According to Simsbury's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,the top employers in the city are:
| Employer |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simsbury Board of Education | 651 | |
| 2 | Wings Media Group | 500-999 | |
| 3 | Everest Global Svc | 500-999 | |
| 4 | Chubb | 250-499 | |
| 5 | Keller Williams Realty | 250-499 | |
| 6 | Hoffman Auto Group | 250-499 | |
| 7 | McLean Home Care | 250-499 | |
| 8 | The Hartford | ||
| 9 | Ensign-Bickford Company | ||
| 10 | Stop & Shop |