A farm town east of Norwich, incorporated in 1687, whose three old villages, Preston City on its hill, Poquetanuck at the head of its cove and the Long Society around its plain meetinghouse, still stand much as their builders left them.

New London County · Record checked October 11, 2026

4,788Population2020 census1
1687Incorporatednamed for Preston in Lancashire, England1
1698First churchorganized November 16, Rev. Salmon Treat pastor2
200Hall Brothers' millworkers in 1884, making flannels and yacht cloth3
4National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Preston on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Preston, Connecticut in 2026, with Preston City, Poquetanuck, Long Society and a guide of 23 numbered landmarks

2026

Preston today

By KNOWOL

Shaded land from Happyland in the southwest to Preston City in the northeast, every street and the town line, Poquetanuck by its cove, and a guide of 23 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.5

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Preston

The galley from Poquetanuck

Poquetanuck sits at the head of a cove that runs about three miles up from the Thames, and a 1905 magazine called it the largest cove along the river, apart from two on the far shore. In April 1782 Capt. Jacob Meech of Preston, who also kept a tavern north of Preston City, sailed a galley out of Poquetanuck into Fire Island Inlet on Long Island and took three British coasting vessels. British galleys showed up and took the prizes back, so his crew sank their own galley and escaped over land. Part of the village still lay in Norwich then; it was set off to Preston in 1786. Later the Lucas brothers ran a mill here, the old Brewster mill bought in 1856, making ladies' dress goods.678910

Hall Brothers' mill

Hallville grew up around one mill seat on Indiantown Brook. A fulling mill stood there by 1752, and an 1898 book says a Mr. Kennedy ran a cloth mill on the site long before the Halls came. For years it was the Old Kimball Factory, carding wool for local customers. Joseph Hall Sr., a weaver born in England, built a woolen mill here, and his sons Joseph, Benjamin and George ran it as Hall Brothers. It burned on June 3, 1873, and came back as a mill that scoured California wool. The brothers invented Hall's Patent Wool Scouring Machine, and in 1884 the factory employed 200 people making flannels and yacht cloths. The mill burned again in 1943, but the dam, the mill buildings and the workers' houses still stand.1112133

The plain meetinghouse in the Long Society

Western Preston began as East Norwich, land first settled under Norwich and known as the Long Society. Its Congregational parish built a meetinghouse on Long Society Road in 1726. In the 1740s a revival split churches all over eastern Connecticut, and the Separate Church of Preston grew from six members to nearly seventy in six years. A Separate church gathered in the Long Society too, ordaining Jonathan Story as pastor in 1752, and it lasted about thirteen years. The present meetinghouse went up on the old site between 1817 and 1819. With no settled minister, it was opened to any denomination that wanted it, and the town later bought it. It's the last broadside meetinghouse in Connecticut never changed by a tower or a moved pulpit.141516172

Through the years

25 moments from 1686 to today.

  1. 1686Thomas Parke, Thomas Tracy and others are granted a plantation seven miles square east of Norwich.1
  2. 1687Owaneco, son of Uncas, confirms the land by deed, and in October the town is incorporated as Preston.1
  3. 1693The line with Stonington is settled from a white oak marked with ten notches.18
  4. 1698Preston's first church is organized on November 16, with Rev. Salmon Treat as pastor.2
  5. 1726The Long Society builds its first meetinghouse on Long Society Road.15
  6. 1735The Assembly throws out a fourfold tax Norwich laid on Preston men along the town line.19
  7. 1747The Separate Church of Preston is gathered; it lasts until 1817.1
  8. 1752A Separate church in the Long Society ordains Jonathan Story as its pastor.17
  9. 1752The first mill on Indiantown Brook, a fulling mill, is built at what becomes Hallville.11
  10. 1776Preston's Committee of Inspection is holding prisoners sent from New York.20
  11. 1778Norwich and Preston win leave to run a lottery to build a cart bridge over the Shetucket.21
  12. 1782Capt. Jacob Meech sails a galley from Poquetanuck and takes three British coasters off Long Island.7
  13. 1786The part of Poquetanuck that lay in Norwich is set off to Preston.8
  14. 1812The Preston City Baptist Church is built.22
  15. 1815Preston's northern part becomes the town of Griswold.1
  16. 1819The present Long Society Meetinghouse is finished on the site of the first.15
  17. 1856The Lucas brothers buy the old Brewster mill at Poquetanuck.9
  18. 1857Joseph Hall Sr., a weaver born in England, builds a woolen mill at Hallville.11
  19. 1873The Hall mill burns on June 3 and is rebuilt to scour wool.13
  20. 1884The Hall Brothers' factory employs 200 people making flannels, yacht cloths and dress goods.3
  21. 1888The Hall mill has 175 workers and makes 860,000 yards of cloth a year.11
  22. 1904The Norwich State Hospital opens in October on the Thames, in Preston and Norwich.23
  23. 1943The Hall Brothers' woolen mill burns.11
  24. 1954An Air France Super Constellation crash-lands in a Preston farm field, and no one is killed.1
  25. 2009The state sells the old hospital grounds to the town of Preston for one dollar.23

Places to see

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

  • 6Norwich Hospital DistrictOn the Thames. State hospital grounds, opened 1904.
  • 7Thames River Water AccessOn the Thames. Public access to the river.
  • 8Long Society MeetinghouseLong Society Road. Unaltered broadside meetinghouse of 1819.
  • 9Preston City Historic DistrictPreston City. The original town center.
  • 12Poquetanuck Village Historic DistrictPoquetanuck. Close-built village at the cove.
  • 13Preston Town HallTown center. Beside the public library.
  • 15Preston Public LibraryTown center. Next to the town hall.Visit their website
  • 16Preston Nature PreserveNear Preston City. Town nature preserve.
  • 17Amos Lake Water AccessSouth of Preston City. Public access to Amos Lake.
  • 21Hallville Mill Historic DistrictHallville Pond. Woolen mill village on Indiantown Brook.

On the National Register

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

  • Preston City Historic District

    Listed 1987 · Amos and Old Shetucket Roads, Northwest Corner Road, and Route 164

    The original town center, set up in 1686, whose best houses were built by farmers and merchants who supplied the port of Norwich between the Revolution and about 1830. It keeps a church, a library, a blacksmith shop, a former tavern, the old poorhouse of 1733 and a stone town pound.22

  • Poquetanuck Village Historic District

    Listed 1996 · Roughly along Main Street between Route 117 and Middle Road, and along School House and Cider Mill Roads

    A close-built village of houses mostly from the 1700s and early 1800s near Poquetanuck Cove, once a place of shipbuilding. Among them is the house sea captain William Gonzales Grant built in 1754.24

  • Hallville Mill Historic District

    Listed 1996 · Hallville Road, Hall's Mill Road, and Route 2A on Hallville Pond

    A small company mill village of the 1800s on Indiantown Brook, with the dam, mill buildings, workers' houses and an iron lenticular truss bridge of about 1890. The Hall Brothers' woolen mill here employed 175 workers in 1888; the main mill burned in 1943, but the district stands.11

  • Long Society Meetinghouse

    Built 1819 · Listed 1976 · 45 Long Society Road

    Built from 1817 to 1819 on the site of the 1726 meetinghouse, it served as both church and civic hall, which is why it looks so plain. It is the last broadside meetinghouse in Connecticut not altered by a tower or a moved entrance or pulpit.15

In their words

“The land is fertile and many good farms are to be found in Preston.”

A modern history of New London County, 192225

“at our first Covenan'ting there was Six: and now there is neare Seventy members.”

The records of the Preston Separate Church, quoted in The separates, 190216

“Poquetannock Cove, extending three miles above to Poquetannock village, with the exception of Haughton's and Trading Cove on the opposite shore is the largest along the river.”

The Connecticut magazine, 19056

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Preston, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. History of New London County, Connecticut (1882), on Preston's churches, Internet Archive
  3. The historical, statistical and industrial review of the state of Connecticut (1884), on Hall Brothers, Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. Map of Preston, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  6. The Connecticut magazine (1905), on the coves of the Thames, Internet Archive
  7. Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut (1905), on the Meech family, Internet Archive
  8. A modern history of New London County, Connecticut (1922), on Poquetanuck, Internet Archive
  9. Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut (1905), on the Lucas mill, Internet Archive
  10. Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut (1905), on Aaron Lucas, Internet Archive
  11. Hallville Mill Historic District, Wikipedia
  12. Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut (1898), on the Hall family, Internet Archive
  13. History of New London County, Connecticut (1882), on Hall's Mills, Internet Archive
  14. History of Norwich, Connecticut (1874), on the settlers of Long Society, Internet Archive
  15. Long Society Meetinghouse, Wikipedia
  16. The separates; or, Strict Congregationalists of New England (1902), on the Preston Separate Church, Internet Archive
  17. The separates; or, Strict Congregationalists of New England (1902), on the Separate church in the Long Society, Internet Archive
  18. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on the Stonington and Preston bounds, Internet Archive
  19. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on the Preston and Norwich line, Internet Archive
  20. The public records of the State of Connecticut (1894), journal of the Council of Safety, November 1776, Internet Archive
  21. The public records of the State of Connecticut (1894), on the Shetucket bridge lottery, Internet Archive
  22. Preston City, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  23. Norwich State Hospital, Wikipedia
  24. Poquetanuck, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  25. A modern history of New London County, Connecticut (1922), on Preston and Hallville, Internet Archive