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.”

More on Litchfield from the CT Digital Archive

Browse more interactive content on the CT Digital Archive website.

Read More

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

Places

The Litchfield Historical Society. “Hervey Brooks Pottery Collection,” 2016.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Mattatuck State Forest,” 2017. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Mount Tom State Park,” 2016. Link.
Connecticut Freedom Trail. “Solomon Rowe House,” 2016. Link.
Litchfield Historical Society. “Tapping Reeve House Virtual Tour,” 2017. Link.
“The Litchfield Historical Society,” 2017. Link.
“The White Memorial Conservation Center,” 2016. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Topsmead State Forest,” 2016. Link.

Documents

Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Litchfield - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2016. Link.
“Litchfield Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Litchfield Historical Society. “Litchfield Ledger - Database,” 2016. Link.
“Map - South Part of Litchfield Co., Connecticut from Page 214 & 215 of Town and City Atlas of the State of Connecticut.” Real Property. Boston, MA: D.H. Hurd & Co., 1893. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Litchfield Historical Society. “Online Collections,” 2016. Link.

Books

Bulkeley, Alice. Historic Litchfield, 1721-1907 Being a Short Account of the History of the Old Houses of Litchfield. Hartford, CT: Hartford Press, 1907. Link.
J.W. Lewis & Company. History of Litchfield County, Connecticut, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of the Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Company, 1881. Link.
White, Ralph. Litchfield. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia, 2011.
Carley, Rachel. Litchfield: The Making of a New England Town. Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Historical Society, 2011.
Litchfield Historical Society. Some Historic Sites of Litchfield, Connecticut. Litchfield,  CT, 1933. Link.
Litchfield Historical Society, and Alain White. The History of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut, 1720-1920. Litchfield, CT: Enquirer Print, 1920. Link.
Fecto, Betsy. The Northern Litchfield Hills. Dover,  NH: Arcadia, 1996.