The Hartford County town of Southington is located in central Connecticut on land incorporated from Farmington in 1779. By 1790, industry supplemented the community’s agricultural base with potash works, a button factory, saw mills, and a brass foundry. In the mid-1800s, the town’s Micah Rugg and Martin Barnes factory produced the first machine-made nuts and bolts and inspired other manufacturers to follow suit. Still later, local enterprises produced plumbing supplies, automobile parts, filters, and other goods. Southington today is an industrial, commercial, and residential community, but its agricultural roots remain. The town’s annual Apple Harvest Festival, for example, is enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.
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Places
“Southington Historical Society,” 2016. Link.
“The Barnes Museum,” 2016. Link.
Documents
Hughes & Bailey. “Aero View of Southington, Connecticut 1914.” Bird’s-eye Map. Hughes & Bailey, 1914. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Southington Library. “Digitized Historic Newspapers - Various Dates & Titles,” 2016. Link.
Rugg, Micah. Patent Number 2,766 - Machine for Trimming the Heads of Bolts. 2,766. Southington, CT, issued August 31, 1842. Link.
“Southington Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Books
Timlow, Heman R. Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn. Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1875. Link.
Kopec, Liz. Southington. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2007.