The old north parish of Farmington, called Northington, which became a town in 1830 where the canal crossed the Albany turnpike, and later made safety fuse and grew tobacco below Talcott Mountain.

Hartford County · Record checked October 8, 2026

18,932Population2020 census1
1830Became a townfrom Northington, the north parish of Farmington1
1,025First count as a townpeople living in Avon in 18302
1852The fuse worksR. Andrews & Co. starts making safety fuse3
2National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Avon on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Avon, Connecticut in 2026, with Avon Center, the Farmington River, Talcott Mountain and 34 numbered landmarks

2026

Avon today

By KNOWOL

Shaded hills from Talcott Mountain down to the Farmington River, every street, the old village names like Avon Center, West Avon and Alsop Corner, and a guide of 34 numbered landmarks with the two National Register sites marked.5

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Avon

The canal that was going to make Avon

In 1828 the canal from New Haven to Northampton came through East Avon, right where it crossed the Albany turnpike from Hartford. People expected a boom. In 1830 Francis Woodford built a large three-story hotel near the canal and turnpike, a long store went up stocked with dry goods and groceries, and the village soon had three hotels, harness, carriage and blacksmith shops. A writer in 1895 said there had been a steady stream of vehicles from morning till night. It was in that hopeful moment that the leading men got Northington made a town, and they called it Avon. A few years later the canal failed, the turnpikes gave way to railroads, and the traffic went elsewhere. Avon Street still runs east and west because it was once the turnpike.671

The fire and the vote of 44 to 37

Northington argued for years about where its new meetinghouse should go. In May 1817 the parish took in the new lots called Lovely Street and Whortleberry Hill, which pulled its people westward. That December the old meetinghouse near the Farmington River burned down, and an 1886 history says people supposed it was set on purpose. In 1818 a vote of 44 to 37 put the new church in West Avon, and the minority left to form their own society in East Avon. They parted with kind words, and within a year the two congregations, fewer than a thousand people, had raised more than $15,000 for their churches. The meetinghouse that's now the Avon Congregational Church, designed by David Hoadley, was finished in 1819.891011

Safety fuse and tobacco

Avon never got the mills its founders hoped for, but it found its own work. In 1852 Albert Franklin Andrews, who was born in Avon in 1824, started a safety fuse company here with his father Romeo and his brother, using machinery for the Endless Safety Fuse he had invented. By 1902 it was the Climax Fuse Company, the principal industry in Avon, and it later joined the Simsbury fuse makers. Out in the fields, Chester R. Woodford bought the Webster farm in 1841 and became the first tobacco grower in town. He helped start the Avon Creamery and served as its president. Yung Wing, the Yale graduate who founded the Chinese Educational Mission, lived in Avon too. His wife was an Avon native, a granddaughter of East Avon's first pastor.3121314

Through the years

22 moments from 12,400 years ago to today.

  1. 12,400 years agoNomadic people camp beside the Farmington River, among the first people in southern New England.1
  2. 1645European settlers arrive in what is then the northern part of Farmington.1
  3. 1747Deacon Ebenezer Miller, who served in Jonathan Edwards' church in Northampton, settles near Cider Brook.15
  4. 1750The parish of Northington is set up in the north part of Farmington.1
  5. 1791The Avon Free Public Library is founded.1
  6. 1810Daniel Wadsworth of Hartford builds his first tower on Talcott Mountain.16
  7. 1817In May the new lots called Lovely Street and Whortleberry Hill join the parish.8
  8. 1817In December the old Northington meetinghouse burns to the ground.9
  9. 1818A vote of 44 to 37 on where to rebuild splits the parish, and East Avon forms its own society.9
  10. 1819The meetinghouse that's now the Avon Congregational Church is finished, designed by David Hoadley.11
  11. 1828The Farmington Canal opens through the village.1
  12. 1830Northington becomes the town of Avon, and Francis Woodford builds a three-story hotel by the canal.6
  13. 1840Wadsworth's second tower goes up. Wind and fire claim the two towers in turn.16
  14. 1841Chester R. Woodford buys the Webster farm and becomes Avon's first tobacco grower.13
  15. 1845The part of Burlington east of the Farmington River is added to Avon.17
  16. 1852Albert F. Andrews, his father and brother start making safety fuse at Avon.3
  17. 1865The Gothic Revival Pine Grove School is built.18
  18. 1867Bartlett's Tower rises on the highest point of the ridge.16
  19. 1919Chester Randolph Woodford of Avon, born in 1814, is the oldest living member of the General Assembly.19
  20. 1938The New England hurricane takes part of the church steeple, since restored.11
  21. 1960sAvon turns down Interstate 291 along its southern edge.1
  22. 1980The Pine Grove Historic District joins the National Register.18

Places to see

The numbers match the landmark guide printed on the 2026 map.

  • 4Avon Old FarmsOld Farms Road. Private boarding school for boys.Visit their website
  • 7Pine Grove SchoolNear Pine Grove. Public school near the historic district.
  • 9Avon History MuseumAvon Center. A good place to start.Visit their website
  • 10Avon Free Public LibraryWest Avon. Founded in 1791, before the town.Visit their website
  • 15Avon Congregational ChurchAvon Center. David Hoadley's meetinghouse of 1819.Visit their website
  • 19Town GreenAvon Center. Heart of the old canal village.
  • 29Talcott Mountain State ParkThe ridge, northeast. Where Wadsworth built his towers.Visit their website
  • 30Pine Grove Historic DistrictWest Avon and Harris Roads. Farmsteads from 1789 to 1856.
  • 32Fisher Meadows Recreation AreaEast side of town. Meadows along the Farmington River.
  • 34Horse Guard State Park Scenic ReserveNorth of West Avon. Named for a cavalry unit of 1788.

On the National Register

All 2 places in Avon on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Pine Grove Historic District

    Built 1789 to 1865 · Listed 1980 · West Avon and Harris Roads

    Five farmhouses built between 1789 and 1856 and the Gothic Revival Pine Grove School of 1865 stand together along West Avon Road. The oldest is the Isaac Woodford house of 1789, and the farms tell the story of Avon's shift to cash crops like tobacco.18

  • Avon Congregational Church

    Built 1819 · Listed 1972 · 6 West Main Street, at Routes 44 and 202

    Built after the parish's first meetinghouse burned in 1817, it's judged one of the finest works of the architect David Hoadley. It came through a fire in 1876 and lost part of its steeple, since restored, in the 1938 hurricane.11

    Visit their website

In their words

“Avon street is a pleasant, quiet place, formerly part of the old Albany turnpike.”

The Connecticut quarterly, 18957

“It was at this time of stir and hopefulness in the community that the prominent men moved successfully for the incorporation of the town.”

The memorial history of Hartford County, 18866

“The northeastern corner of the town is remarkable for the beauty of its natural scenery.”

The memorial history of Hartford County, 1886, on Talcott Mountain16

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Avon, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. Connecticut historical collections, John Warner Barber (1837), on Avon, Internet Archive
  3. Commemorative biographical record of New Haven County, Connecticut (1902), on Albert Franklin Andrews, Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. Map of Avon, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  6. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884 (1886), on the canal and the incorporation of Avon, Internet Archive
  7. The Connecticut quarterly (1895), on Avon street and the canal, Internet Archive
  8. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884 (1886), on Lovely Street and Whortleberry Hill, Internet Archive
  9. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884 (1886), on the 1817 fire and the 1818 vote, Internet Archive
  10. Connecticut historical collections, John Warner Barber (1836), on central Avon and the old meetinghouse, Internet Archive
  11. Avon Congregational Church, Wikipedia
  12. History of Connecticut in monographic form (1925), on the Climax Fuse Company, Internet Archive
  13. Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut (1901), on Chester R. Woodford, Internet Archive
  14. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884 (1886), on Yung Wing and Rev. Bela Kellogg, Internet Archive
  15. Genealogical and family history of the state of Connecticut (1911), on Deacon Ebenezer Miller, Internet Archive
  16. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884 (1886), on the Talcott Mountain towers, Internet Archive
  17. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884 (1886), on Avon's boundaries, Internet Archive
  18. Pine Grove Historic District (Avon, Connecticut), Wikipedia
  19. The one hundredth anniversary of the first meeting of the General Assembly (1919), on Chester Randolph Woodford, Internet Archive