Colchester is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 15,555 at the 2020 census. In 2010 Colchester became the first town in Connecticut, and the 36th in the country, to be certified with the National Wildlife Federation as a Community Wildlife Habitat.
The villages of Westchester and North Westchester are located within Colchester. The town center village, which was previously incorporated as a borough, is a census-designated place, with a population of 4,700 at the 2020 census.
The Colchester area was part of the Mohegan territory at the time of European settlement. Several members of the Paugussett tribe currently reside in Colchester, where the tribe (which also has a heritage property in Trumbull) has a larger more recently acquired second reservation.
The Colchester Historical Society operates a local history museum in town.
History
Pre-Township and Becoming a Township
On March 31, 1661, the original settlement of Colchester, was founded by Jeremy Adams upon a 340-acre area of land known as "Jerimiah's Farme". The land was given to Jeremy, by Uncas, Sachem of the Mohegan tribe.
Colchester's land stayed under the ownership of Jeremy Adams and was not incorporated into any new county in 1666 (when Connecticut's first counties were created) this is likely because of the closeness between both Hartford County and New London County. Colchester was mainly a farming community with Jeremy Adams raising cattle within the town. The abundance of farms in early Colchester is the reason Colchester is "A Right To Farm Community" in the present day. Colchester stayed as a farming community not within a county's borders until 1698.
On October 13, 1698, Michael Taintor II, Samuel Northam and Nathaniel Foote III applied to go forth and settle the Town. Jerimiah'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. The west boundary meets the east bounds of Middletown and Haddam. The east and northeast boundary run 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, Nathaniel Foote, Samuel Northam and Michael Taintor asked the general court of Hartford for assistance with persons hindering the advancement of the settlement (Saybrook residents specifically), to be transferred under the jurisdiction of the New London colony, and for the Town to be recognized as Colchester. On May 11, 1699 the town name was named and incorporated into the colony of New London. After Colchester Officially became a town the land was divided among the original settlers and their ancestors. The town is said to be named after Colchester, a borough and port in Essex, England, where many colonists had emigrated from, most notably, where Nathaniel's grandfather Nathaniel Foote was born.
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. On November 29, 1703, a saw and grist mill were voted to be built by Israel and Samual Wyatt if they promised to maintain the mill for the town's use. The first schoolmaster began operations in 1705, and a schoolhouse was finished in 1711. In 1707 or earlier, a cemetery was built behind where Bacon Academy would later be built. 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, and a second religious meeting house was built. On December 31, 1712, at a legal town meeting held in Colchester, Capt Gilbert Wyatt and Mr. Darnell Clark were Chosen, Selectmen. On December 28, 1713, Samuel Northam, Thomas Day, and Ebenezer Colman were chosen for a school committee ensuing year.