Avon Old Farms School
The Hartford County town of Avon is located in the Farmington Valley with the Talcott Mountain range on its northeastern border. Europeans settled the area, known first as Nod and then Northington, as part of Farmington in 1645. The Farmington Canal’s opening in 1828 brought new business to the village, which sat where the canal intersected the Talcott Mountain Turnpike linking Hartford to Albany, New York. Hopes of industrial and commercial growth spurred Avon to incorporate in 1830. Such expansion never came and, in the 1900s, the rural town became a suburban enclave. Distinguished residents include Yung Wing, the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university (Yale, 1854).
More on Avon from the CT Digital Archive
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Talcott Mountain: A View of Early New England
The Talcott Mountain range lies in the northeastern section of Avon and is arguably the town's most prominent geographic feature. …[more]
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Websites
“The First Company Governor’s Horse Guards,” 2012.
Places
“Avon Historical Society,” 2012. Link.
Farmington Valley Trails Council. “The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail,” 2016. Link.
The Avon Free Public Library. “The Marian Hunter History Room,” 2016. Link.
Documents
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Avon - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2013. Link.
“Avon Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Avon Free Public Library. “Avon History Collection,” 2014. Link.
Books
Howard, Nora. Avon. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000.
Wright, Peter. Avon. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2010.
MacKie, Mary-Frances. Avon, Connecticut, an Historical Story. Canaan, NH: Avon Historical Society, 1988.
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