A hill town of seven villages on the Farmington River, where Lambert Hitchcock made chairs in Riverton, the Lighthouse settlement glowed above the old stage road, and Barkhamsted Hollow now lies under Hartford's reservoir.

Litchfield County · Record checked October 8, 2026

3,647Population2020 census1
1779Incorporatednamed for Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire1
3,000+Centennial crowdthree or four thousand came in 18792
1940Saville Damthe year the dam was finished3
9National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Barkhamsted on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Barkhamsted, Connecticut in 2026, with Riverton, Pleasant Valley, the Barkhamsted Reservoir and 27 numbered landmarks

2026

Barkhamsted today

By KNOWOL

Shaded hills, the Barkhamsted Reservoir, Lake McDonough and the West Branch Farmington River drawn to their true shape, with Riverton, Pleasant Valley and Barkhamsted Center and a guide of 27 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.5

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Barkhamsted

The Lighthouse on the stage road

Barkhamsted's oldest story starts with a marriage. An 1879 history tells how James Chaugham, a Narragansett man born on Block Island, married Molly Barber of Wethersfield around 1740, after her family stopped the match she wanted. They made a home on a rugged terrace above the West Branch, and their descendants grew into a small village of Native, Black and white families. When the river trail became a stage road, southbound coach drivers called its lights the Lighthouse, a sign New Hartford was near. The village was empty by the 1860s. About 1869 a townsman counted fifty graves in its burying ground, marked with rough, unhewn stones. In 1879 a writer said the town was little known to fame except for its lighthouse.6789

From Hitchcocksville to Riverton

Riverton grew up around one man's chair shop. Lambert Hitchcock, a native of Cheshire, came in 1819 and set up a cabinet and chair factory by the river. By 1837 the village had more than 20 houses, two stores, the chair factory and a Union church founded on July 4, 1829. It was called Hitchcocksville then, and the name was changed because mail kept going astray to Hotchkissville, a village in Woodbury. Hitchcock moved to Unionville about 1842. D. H. Stephens & Co. later made rules in his old buildings, and the town's centennial history bragged that they, like the Golden Rule, never varied from the standard of right. The Eagle Scythe Company ran here too, managed for twenty years by Lorrin A. Cooke, who was elected Governor of Connecticut in 1896.10111213

The Hollow under the water

On September 10, 1879, Barkhamsted turned one hundred and threw a party. William Wallace Lee, who said he was never ashamed to be a Barkhamsted boy, mailed about seventy-five letters to sons of the town all over the country. A procession formed at Barkhamsted Hollow with drum corps, a hundred mounted riders and ladies dressed as in 1779, and marched to the Center, where three or four thousand people gathered. In 1897 the town dedicated a 23-foot granite shaft naming 130 of its Revolutionary soldiers. Then Hartford needed water. Work on the dam began in 1933 and ended in 1940, and the reservoir covered all of the Hollow and most of the old Center. The Center Schoolhouse of 1821 was moved to Center Hill Road in 1980 and is a museum today.914215316

Through the years

23 moments from 1732 to today.

  1. 1732Hartford and Windsor split the western lands, and the Barkhamsted township falls to Windsor.17
  2. About 1740James Chaugham, a Narragansett man from Block Island, marries Molly Barber of Wethersfield.6
  3. 1759Captain Israel Jones of Enfield settles on his farm in Barkhamsted.18
  4. 1774Barkhamsted's first military company is called for duty in October.18
  5. 1779Barkhamsted is incorporated as a town.1
  6. 1784An Episcopal church begins in the Hollow and lasts until 1834.19
  7. 1790A bridge is built across the river at what becomes Riverton.20
  8. 1811The inn that's now the Old Riverton Inn is built facing the bridge.21
  9. 1819Lambert Hitchcock of Cheshire opens a cabinet and chair factory in Riverton.10
  10. 1821The Center Schoolhouse is built at Barkhamsted Center.16
  11. 1829The Union Church in Hitchcocksville is founded on July 4.11
  12. About 1830A post office opens and the name Pleasant Valley comes into use.12
  13. 1842The Congregational society in Riverton is organized.22
  14. 1860sThe Lighthouse settlement above the West Branch is abandoned.7
  15. 1869Lorrin A. Cooke comes to Riverton to manage the Eagle Scythe Company.13
  16. 1879Three or four thousand people celebrate the town's hundredth birthday at the Center on September 10.9
  17. 1896Lorrin A. Cooke of Riverton is elected Governor of Connecticut.13
  18. 1897A granite monument to Barkhamsted's soldiers is dedicated before about 2,500 people.15
  19. 1927The American Legion gives the state the land for American Legion State Forest.23
  20. 1933Work begins on the Barkhamsted Reservoir and its dam.3
  21. 1935Governor Wilbur Cross dedicates the stone museum the CCC built in Peoples State Forest.24
  22. 1940The dam, named for engineer Caleb Saville, is finished.3
  23. 1980The Center Schoolhouse is moved to Center Hill Road and becomes a museum.16

Places to see

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

  • 6Peoples Forest MuseumPeoples State Forest. Stone museum the CCC built.Visit their website
  • 8Old School House MuseumBarkhamsted Center. The 1821 Center Schoolhouse.Visit their website
  • 11Union Church/Saint Paul's ChurchRiverton. Granite church built in 1829.
  • 12Barkhamsted Center Historic DistrictCenter Hill Road. What's left of the old center.
  • 15Saville DamEast Branch Farmington River. Holds back Hartford's water supply.
  • 16Old Riverton InnEast River Road, Riverton. Taking in travelers since 1811.
  • 19Barkhamsted LighthousePeoples State Forest. Site of the old Lighthouse village.
  • 20Barkhamsted Town HallPleasant Valley. The town's civic center today.
  • 21Riverton Historic DistrictRiverton. Hitchcock's old chair-making village.
  • 25American Legion Forest CCC ShelterWest River Road. Log shelter from the 1930s.

On the National Register

All 9 places in Barkhamsted on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Beaver Meadow Complex Prehistoric Archeological District

    Listed 1988 · Peoples State Forest

    Eight sites around Beaver Meadow, a big swamp in the middle of the forest, have given up stone tools, points and old hearths dated from the Archaic to the Woodland period. The finds suggest long seasonal stays in the uplands, not just hunting camps.25

  • Lighthouse Archeological Site

    Listed 1991 · Peoples State Forest

    The remains of the Lighthouse, an 18th and 19th century village of Native American, African American and white families begun by James Chaugham and Molly Barber. Digs have found the foundations of ten buildings, four charcoal kilns, a well and a small cemetery.7

  • Barkhamsted Center Historic District

    Listed 1999 · 119 and 131 Center Hill Road; 2, 5, 6 and 8 Old Town Hall Road

    The surviving piece of the original town center, most of which went under the Barkhamsted Reservoir. It keeps a church and parsonage, the old town hall, a former tavern and the 1821 Center Schoolhouse, now a museum.16

  • Riverton Historic District

    Listed 2007 · Riverton village, along the Still River, the Farmington River and East River Road

    Most of the 19th century mill village of Riverton, which grew after the 1790 bridge and was powered mainly by Lambert Hitchcock's chair factory. It's home to the Riverton Fair, the last fair of the year in Connecticut.20

  • Old Riverton Inn

    Built about 1811 · Listed 1992 · 436 East River Road

    Built to serve travelers at the only bridge for miles, probably by Jesse Ives, and still taking in guests. It housed migrant workers for twelve years in the early 1900s, its only break from inn keeping.21

  • William Moore Jr. House

    Built about 1820 · Listed 1999 · 5 Mountain Road

    A brick Federal house built by the son of one of Riverton's early chair makers. Both Moores may have supplied parts or chairs sold under Lambert Hitchcock's name.26

  • Union Church/St. Paul's Church

    Built 1829 · Listed 1985 · 3 Robertsville Road

    A granite Greek Revival church with tall Gothic windows, built to be shared by several congregations. It became St. Paul's Episcopal Church in 1880, later a Hitchcock museum, and now a glass blowing studio.27

  • American Legion Forest CCC Shelter

    Listed 1986 · West River Road, American Legion State Forest

    A three-sided log shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps crew of Camp White, here from 1933 to 1941. It's the only one of four such shelters in the area still standing.23

  • Peoples Forest Museum

    Built 1935 · Listed 1986 · Greenwood Road, Peoples State Forest

    A rustic stone building with chestnut paneling, built by a CCC crew and dedicated by Governor Wilbur Cross in 1935. It closed in the early 1950s and reopened as a nature museum in 1992.24

    Visit their website

In their words

“Little known to fame except for its lighthouse.”

An account of the centennial in Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 18819

“One who never was ashamed to say he was a Barkhamsted boy.”

William Wallace Lee, signing his letter about the centennial, 187914

“Like the Golden Rule, are never known to vary from the standard of right.”

Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1881, on the rules made in Riverton10

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Barkhamsted, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on the centennial crowd, Internet Archive
  3. Connecticut Historical Society Annual Report (catalogued 1890; the 1959 volume), on Caleb Saville, Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. Map of Barkhamsted, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  6. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on James Chaugham and Molly Barber, Internet Archive
  7. Barkhamsted Lighthouse, Wikipedia
  8. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on the Lighthouse burying ground, Internet Archive
  9. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on the procession from the Hollow, Internet Archive
  10. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on Lambert Hitchcock and Stephens' rules, Internet Archive
  11. Connecticut historical collections (1837), on Hitchcocksville, Internet Archive
  12. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on Moose Plain, Pleasant Valley and Riverton, Internet Archive
  13. Year-book of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (1904), on Lorrin A. Cooke, Internet Archive
  14. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on William Wallace Lee's circular, Internet Archive
  15. The Connecticut quarterly (catalogued 1895), on the Barkhamsted soldiers' monument, Internet Archive
  16. Barkhamsted Center Historic District, Wikipedia
  17. Connecticut as a corporate colony (1906), on the western lands, Internet Archive
  18. History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut (1918), on Captain Israel Jones, Internet Archive
  19. The story of a country parish: a history of Saint Andrew's, North Bloomfield (1924), Internet Archive
  20. Riverton Historic District (Barkhamsted, Connecticut), Wikipedia
  21. Old Riverton Inn, Wikipedia
  22. Barkhamsted, Conn., and Its Centennial, 1879 (1881), on the old meetinghouse, Internet Archive
  23. American Legion Forest CCC Shelter, Wikipedia
  24. Peoples State Forest Nature Museum, Wikipedia
  25. Beaver Meadow Complex Prehistoric Archeological District, Wikipedia
  26. William Moore Jr. House, Wikipedia
  27. Union Church/St. Paul's Church, Wikipedia