Pinnacle Rock, Plainville

Pinnacle Rock, Plainville

Located in southwestern Hartford County, Plainville lies between the Metacomet Ridge’s Bradley Mountain and Pinnacle Rock. A flatland, known in its early settlement as the Great Plain of Farmington, Plainville flourished with the 1828 opening of the Farmington Canal, which ran through town and linked New Haven to Northampton, Massachusetts. By the time Plainville incorporated in 1869, warehouses, factories and taverns complemented its agricultural base. When the locomotive made the canal obsolete, its Plainville towpaths became railways. Air transport also factors into Plainville history. Its Robertson Airport is Connecticut’s oldest, and its annual hot air balloon festival is one of the last still held in New England.

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Robertson Field, also known as Robertson Airport, Plainville

Plainville Has Been Flying High for Over 100 Years

The town of Plainville claims a special relationship with aviation culture that dates back to the earliest days of flight in the state. …[more]

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“Plainville Historical Society.” 2016. http://www.plainvillehistory.org/.
“Plainville - WPA Architectural Survey.” 2015. Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm/search/collection/p4005coll7/searchterm/Plainville/field/towns/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title (April 24, 2015).
“Redeemer’s A.M.E Zion Church.” 2013. Connecticut Freedom Trail. http://www.ctfreedomtrail.org/trail/concept-of-freedom/sites/#!/redeemers-ame-zion-church (August 5, 2013).
Bailey, O.H. 1907. “Bird’s Eye View of Plainville, Connecticut 1907.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/uconnlibrariesmagic/5529282087/ (February 8, 2012).
Bailey, O.H., and J.C. Hazen. 1878. “Plainville, Connecticut.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/uconnlibrariesmagic/3423820559/ (February 8, 2012).
“West Cemetery.” 2012. Connecticut Freedom Trail. http://www.ctfreedomtrail.org/trail/concept-of-freedom/sites/#!/west-cemetery (July 20, 2012).
Federal Writer’s Project for the State of Connecticut. 1941. Boats Across New England Hills: The Story of the Farmington Canal. Hartford,  CT: State Deptartment of Education.
Plainville Historical Society, and Ruth Hummel. 2007. The Farmington Canal in Plainville, Connecticut: New England’s Longest Canal in One of Connecticut’s Smallest Towns, Circa 1828-1848. Plainville,  CT: Plainville Historical Society.
Russell, Lynda. 2007. Plainville. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia.