Litchfield Law School

Litchfield Law School, Litchfield

This Litchfield County town is in the northwest portion of the state. Incorporated in 1719, Litchfield’s founders came from Hartford and Windsor. They cleared land for pastures and farming and established mills, blacksmith shops, and other small industries. In the late 1700s, Litchfield became a commercial and cultural center. In 1784 Tapping Reeve established the country’s first law school, and in 1792, Sarah Pierce opened the Litchfield Female Academy, one of the nation’s first schools dedicated to higher education for girls. In the 1800s, industry faltered and the town became a quiet resort community. Today, its Colonial- and Colonial Revival-era architecture draws tourists seeking traces of “Olde New England.”

Featured

Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy

While several educational academies existed for girls in the years following the American Revolution, few proved more influential than Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy. …[more]

Learn More

“Tapping Reeve House Virtual Tour.” 2017. Litchfield Historical Society. https://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/museums/virtual-tour/.
“Hervey Brooks Pottery Collection.” 2016. The Litchfield Historical Society.
“Litchfield Collection.” https://ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/search/mods_titleInfo_title_mt%253A%2528Litchfield%2529%20OR%20mods_subject_geographic_mt%253A%2528Litchfield%2529.
“Map - South Part of Litchfield Co., Connecticut from Page 214 & 215 of Town and City Atlas of the State of Connecticut.” 1893. https://flic.kr/p/bJyrbZ.
“Mattatuck State Forest.” 2017. Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=458150&deepNav_GID=1650.
“Online Collections.” 2016. Litchfield Historical Society. http://collection.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/collection/search/ (September 14, 2015).
“Litchfield Ledger - Database.” 2016. Litchfield Historical Society. http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/ledger.
“Litchfield - WPA Architectural Survey.” 2016. Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm/search/collection/p4005coll7/searchterm/Litchfield/field/towns/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title (January 29, 2015).
“Topsmead State Forest.” 2016. Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=325076&deepNav_GID=1650.
“The White Memorial Conservation Center.” 2016. http://www.whitememorialcc.org/ (August 1, 2012).
“Solomon Rowe House.” 2016. Connecticut Freedom Trail. http://www.ctfreedomtrail.org/trail/concept-of-freedom/sites/#!/solomon-rowe-house (July 20, 2012).
“Mount Tom State Park.” 2016. Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=325244&deepNav_GID=1650 (February 29, 2012).
J.W. Lewis & Company. 1881. History of Litchfield County, Connecticut, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of the Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Company. http://www.archive.org/stream/historyoflitchfi00jwle#page/n1/mode/2up.
Carley, Rachel. 2011. Litchfield: The Making of a New England Town. Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Historical Society.
Litchfield Historical Society. 1933. Some Historic Sites of Litchfield, Connecticut. Litchfield,  CT. http://www.archive.org/stream/somehistoricsite00litc#page/n1/mode/2up.
White, Ralph. 2011. Litchfield. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia.
Bulkeley, Alice. 1907. Historic Litchfield, 1721-1907 Being a Short Account of the History of the Old Houses of Litchfield. Hartford, CT: Hartford Press. http://www.archive.org/stream/historiclitchfie00bulkiala#page/n5/mode/2up.
Litchfield Historical Society, and Alain White. 1920. The History of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut, 1720-1920. Litchfield, CT: Enquirer Print. http://www.archive.org/stream/historyoftownofl1920whit#page/n9/mode/2up.
Fecto, Betsy. 1996. The Northern Litchfield Hills. Dover,  NH: Arcadia.