Connecticut's smallest town by population, a high, wooded corner on the Massachusetts line, the last of its region to be settled and still about one third park and forest.

Tolland County · Record checked October 12, 2026

785Population2020 census, the fewest in Connecticut1
1734Incorporatednineteen families had settled here2
1,015 ftTown centerthe highest in eastern Connecticut1
9Sawmills in 1819with one grain mill and one tannery3
1National Registerplace, still standing4

Union on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Union, Connecticut in 2026, with Union Green, Mashapaug, Bigelow Hollow and 13 numbered landmarks

2026

Union today

By KNOWOL

Shaded hills from Burley Hill to the Massachusetts line, every road, Mashapaug Pond, Bigelow Hollow and Union Green, with a guide of 13 numbered landmarks and the National Register site marked.5

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Union

Where the Quinebaug begins

In 1819 a gazetteer of Connecticut set out to correct the map makers. Most geographers, it said, had the Quinebaug River rising in Brimfield, Massachusetts, but its main sources were two ponds lying wholly in Union, Mashapaug and Breakneck. Roaring River and the Bigelow and Still rivers began here too, and the streams were full of trout, with pike and perch in the ponds. Mashapaug held a small wooded island of about an acre, which the writers found peculiarly romantic. Behind Breakneck Pond rose a craggy ridge of old oaks and pines, once known as a haunt of wild beasts and rattlesnakes. The same book counted nine sawmills, one grain mill and one tannery in town, and one doctor, with no lawyer at all.63

Sold for Yale College

Union was the last corner of northeastern Connecticut to be settled, and its land was sold for the benefit of Yale College. Settlement began in 1727, and Benjamin Trumbull's history names the first settlers as William McNall, John Lawson and James Sherrer, from Ireland. By 1734, when the town was incorporated, nineteen families lived here, most of them from other Windham County towns. A church was formed in 1738, and the Rev. Ebenezer Wyman was ordained as the first minister. He died in 1745, still a young man, and was greatly lamented. In 1750 the townspeople asked the Assembly to tax every acre in Union for four years to support the ministry. The proprietors who owned the land said it raised far more than needed, and in 1751 the tax was cut.7289

Pine, mattresses and packing boxes

Mashapaug, the village by the lake on the Massachusetts line, lived on wood. In 1862 Roscius Back bought into Albert E. Weld's mill there, which made excelsior mattresses and ground grain until fire destroyed it in October 1864. Back turned to farming and lumber, and a book of 1900 called Union a pine lumber section. In November 1895 Frank and Amos J. Keefe finished a box factory at Mashapaug to turn their scrap into wooden packing cases, and their portable sawmills cut all the timber around the lake. Still, the forest held on. Walking through in the 1920s, Odell Shepard called Union one of the smallest towns in the state and probably the wildest, and he was glad to hear that the Canadian lynx was sometimes seen there.10111213

Through the years

25 moments from 1727 to today.

  1. 1727Settlement begins. Trumbull's history names William McNall, John Lawson and James Sherrer, from Ireland, as the first settlers.7
  2. 1734Union is incorporated in October, with nineteen families already living here.2
  3. 1738The church is formed and the Rev. Ebenezer Wyman is ordained as the first minister.7
  4. 1741The first meetinghouse goes up in what is now the Union Grove.5
  5. 1745Ebenezer Wyman dies, still a young man, and is greatly mourned.7
  6. 1750The Assembly taxes every acre in Union for four years to support the ministry.8
  7. 1751The proprietors say the land tax raises far more than needed, and the Assembly cuts it.9
  8. 1756Union has 500 people.1
  9. 1759Ezra Horton builds the house that is now the oldest on the green.14
  10. 1785Union moves from Windham County into the new Tolland County.1
  11. 1813Alonzo Horton, later called the second founder of San Diego, is born in Union.1
  12. 1819A state gazetteer counts nine sawmills, a grain mill, a tannery and one doctor, with no lawyer in town.3
  13. 1841The meetinghouse that is now the Union Congregational Church is built on the knoll above the green.5
  14. 1847The plain clapboard town hall goes up on the green.5
  15. 1862Roscius Back buys into the mattress factory and grist mill at Mashapaug.10
  16. 1864Fire destroys the Mashapaug mattress factory and grist mill in October.10
  17. 1890The town is down to 431 people.1
  18. 1895The Union Free Public Library opens on March 25 in a private home.1
  19. 1895In November the Keefe brothers finish a box factory at Mashapaug.12
  20. 1908A granite slab is set up to mark the site of the first meetinghouse.5
  21. 1912The library moves into its new brick building, where it still is.1
  22. 1927The writer Odell Shepard calls Union one of the smallest towns in the state and probably the wildest.13
  23. 1949Bigelow Hollow State Park is carved out of Nipmuck State Forest.5
  24. 1990The Union Green Historic District is listed on the National Register.4
  25. 2020The census counts 785 people, the fewest of any Connecticut town.1

Places to see

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

  • 1Union SchoolAcross from the grove. The one school in town, built 1950.
  • 2Mashapaug PondMashapaug, on the state line. A 287-acre lake for fishing and swimming.
  • 3Yale-Myers ForestSouth of town. Yale University's research and teaching forest.
  • 4Union Free Public LibraryUnion Green. Brick library finished in 1912.
  • 6Union Green Historic DistrictCenter of town. The green, the grove and the old center.
  • 8Camp PomeraugNext to the state forest. Boy Scout camp with Wells Mill foundations.
  • 10Nipmuck State ForestAround Bigelow Hollow. 9,000 acres with the Mountain Laurel Sanctuary.Visit their website
  • 11Bigelow Hollow State ParkSouth of Mashapaug. Trails to Breakneck Pond.Visit their website
  • 12Union Congregational ChurchAbove the green. The meetinghouse of 1841.
  • 13Union Historical Society MuseumUnion Green. The town hall of 1847.

On the National Register

All 1 places in Union on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Union Green Historic District

    Listed 1990 · Roughly the area north of the junction of Buckley Highway and Cemetery Road to the junction of Kinney Hollow and Town Hall Roads

    The old heart of town, with the green, the Union Grove, the former town hall, the library, the Congregational church, the schools and a cemetery noted for its 18th century carved gravestones. The oldest house on the green was built by Ezra Horton in 1759.14

In their words

“Here was tiny Union, where the deer are coming back and the red lynx walks again at noonday.”

Odell Shepard, The harvest of a quiet eye, 192715

“Here began the forest of Union, one of the smallest towns in the State and probably the wildest.”

Odell Shepard, The harvest of a quiet eye, 192713

“A small island, of about an acre, covered with wood, and having a character peculiarly romantic.”

A gazetteer of the states of Connecticut and Rhode-Island, 1819, on Mashapaug6

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Union, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. History of Windham County, Connecticut, vol. 1 (1874), on Union, Internet Archive
  3. A gazetteer of the states of Connecticut and Rhode-Island (1819), on Union's mills and people, Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Tolland County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. Map of Union, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  6. A gazetteer of the states of Connecticut and Rhode-Island (1819), on Union's ponds and streams, Internet Archive
  7. A complete history of Connecticut, civil and ecclesiastical (1818), on Union, Internet Archive
  8. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on the Union land tax of 1750, Internet Archive
  9. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on cutting the Union land tax in 1751, Internet Archive
  10. Commemorative biographical record of Tolland and Windham counties, Connecticut (1903), on Roscius Back, Internet Archive
  11. Taylor's legislative history and souvenir of Connecticut (1900), on Roscius Back, Internet Archive
  12. Commemorative biographical record of Tolland and Windham counties, Connecticut (1903), on the Keefe brothers, Internet Archive
  13. The harvest of a quiet eye, Odell Shepard (1927), on Union Hill, Internet Archive
  14. Union Green Historic District, Wikipedia
  15. The harvest of a quiet eye, Odell Shepard (1927), on tiny Union, Internet Archive