Norman Rockwell wrote that New England was home to a “people with great strength and unshakable pride.” No more is that true than in the state of Connecticut. With one of the richest legacies in the country, it is a living monument to the battle to win our nation’s independence. From the thousands of years of indigenous culture to colonial forefathers, the Constitution State has left indelible footprints in America’s heritage. Over half of the state’s towns date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Connecticut has more than stamped its place in history, from Georgian architecture and revolutionary battlefields to seaside ports and pioneering railways. Get to know more about some of the oldest-founded towns in the state that are worth a visit.
Founded in 1639, this hamlet is named after the area where the first settlers originated in England. Home to some of the oldest architecture in New England, Guilford is a town built on colonial heritage. With access to beaches, lakes, and mountains, there is something for everyone to explore.
The Town Green is located in the heart of Guilford and is the base for most of the town’s activities. Shops and farm-to-table eateries line the main street, locally called Route One. Be sure to stop at the Village Chocolatier. It has consistently been named the Top Confectionery in Connecticut and offers all cocoa treats. Guilford is very walkable, so take advantage of tours offered by resident volunteers. From legends about historical homes to their role in the Salem Witch Trials, you will have over 400 years of memorable stories.
The Hyland House is a perfect example of evolving colonial architecture. This saltbox-style building, built in 1713, is on the Registry of National History. Bishop’s Orchards Farm Market and Winery offers fun for the entire family. Run for over six centuries by the Bishop family, it has been servicing the Guilford community since 1871. Pick your fruits and shop for fresh-baked bread and pies after you have worked up an appetite exploring the nearby nature trails.
This small village is one of the first English settlements in the state and is in the heart of Fairfield County. Named after Windsor, England, it was founded in 1637. Home to the first highway in Connecticut, it enabled trade with counties between Windsor and Hartford.
Built in 1921, the Windsor Historical Society house offers visitors the chance to be in the oldest-standing community in the state. With over four centuries of history to draw from, its exhibits always evolve to reflect the nature of the community around them. Vintage photographs and letters, along with guided narration, tell the storied heritage of this land.
Stop by the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum for a fun twist on history. With over 200 years of artifacts, guests can learn about how we interacted in the past. From Morse code to the smartphone, fascinating exhibits show us that we have come a long way electronically. The need to find ways to stay in touch with loved ones was universal. Grab a pint and shepherd’s pie at the Union Street Tavern. Reminiscent of old-time England, this pub in the heart of town has been a local staple for years. Enjoy the vintage photographs from over a century that line the walls.
This coastal city is nestled between New Haven and Bridgeport. Founded in 1640, its indigenous roots are reflected throughout the town. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, portions of Milford broke off into their own incorporated towns, including Woodbridge and Bethany. Owing to its seaside location, its main industries were shipbuilding and oysters.
Spread across Milford Harbor sits The Eells-Stow House. Considered the oldest home in Milford, it is the former residence of Captain Stephen Stow, a medic during the Revolutionary War. The sea and salt air damaged much of the original structure, but in 1980, great efforts were made to restore it to its original glory. The Bryan Downs House is a six-room saltbox structure built in the late 1700s. Today, it’s home to a museum that includes Native American Collections and a mini Country Store.
The Devon Center offers shopping, restaurants, and Revolutionary War Monuments. Milford Green, which dates back to 1649, is considered one of New England’s largest downtown park areas. If theatre or open-air concerts interest you, then the Milford Arts Center is a must-see. Hosting year-round entertainment, this community-run organization sources most of its content from regional history and pop culture.
Initially named Saybrook, this village was renamed in 1947 to commemorate the creeks that powered the mills in the original colonies. Founded in 1644, Deep River is part of the area locals call Tri-Town, including Chester and Essex.
In the mid-19th century, most of the ivory bought in the United States came through Deep River, earning it the name “Queen of the Valley” due to the extreme wealth brought in by his ivory trade.
The Deep River Freight Station, built in 1915, is a preserved example of twentieth-century train operations. Railfans will enjoy the anecdotal stories from the engineers who still manage the station for train rides and steamboats. It became a historical landmark in 1994.
Only a fifteen-minute drive away in Essex is one of the oldest continuously running inns in the country. Built in 1776, this magnificent structure has witnessed the Revolution, the Civil War, the Temperance movement, and more. Each room is boutique decorated to celebrate the heritage without sacrificing modern comforts.
Incorporated in 1671, this town was indigenous to the Wappinger group of tribes. Designed in 1892, Drake Hill Road Bridge is a popular spot for wedding and engagement photos. Spanning over the Farmington River, it’s one of the state’s finest examples of metal truss design. Up until this time, most bridges were made of wood or cement. The metal truss design allowed for more stability and flexibility in adjustment.
Simsbury abounds with architectural masterpieces. The Simsbury Center Historical Society provides maps and visitor information. With so many opportunities to immerse yourself in colonial history, you will be spoiled for choice.
Situated in Talcott Mountain State Park stands Heublein Tower. The original structure was built in 1810 but has been renovated four times over the past two centuries. It has six stories, bedrooms, and bathrooms, and the observation deck provides 360-degree views of the entire region. A classic example of Georgian architecture is the John Humphrey House, built in 1760 and open for tours. Now referred to as The Phelps Tavern Museum, the estate was the former home of Captain Elisha Phelps, one of the commanders of the Continental Army.
Spend the night at the Stanton House Inn. Family-owned and operated, the Inn was initially a private residence. Built by legendary New England architect Stanford White in the early 1900s, it is within walking distance of historic downtown Simsbury.
Founded in 1634 by Puritans, Windsor is the oldest village in the state, although Windsor residents try to challenge that claim. Known for four witch trials, its rich heritage is felt throughout the village.
Old Wethersfield Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places; over 50 houses date back to the Revolutionary War and 100 before the Civil War. The Joseph Webb House was the site of a five-day conference between George Washington and French Commander Rochambeau.
Mill Woods Park is the ideal place for a picnic, relaxing stroll, or community garden. During the warm months, there are outdoor concerts. In the winter, the pond freezes over and has been used as a skating rink. Plaques commemorate the area where Revolutionary soldiers set up encampments.
Shop on Main Street for authentic local flavor. Antique and specialty stores like Antiques on Main, Heart of the Country, and House of Images Gallery celebrate the heritage of Connecticut’s oldest town.
Settled by Puritans in 1839, Stratford is unprecedentedly woven into Connecticut’s history. Unlike other towns on this list, many of its residents are directly related to the Puritan ancestors who migrated here from England.
With one and a half miles of beach on Long Island Sound, Stratford residents take advantage of the suburban community but with easy access to the coast. Lordship Seawell boasts great restaurants and hotels. Fishing and water activities are plentiful as well. Visitors can rent kayaks or canoes for the day at the visitor’s center. Stroll over to Stratford Point and Lighthouse for amazing views of the coastline.
The Stratford Historical Society takes its place in the nation’s founding seriously. With an extensive catalog of information to provide tourists, you will go away with a true sense of what it means to live in this hamlet. The Captain David Judson House is a little gem. Built in 1763, it is one of the finest examples of Georgian Colonial architecture in the entire state. Now open to the public as a museum, the stone structure houses artifacts and exhibits, all guided by period-costumed docents.
After working up a thirst head over to for artisanal lager at Two Roads Brewing Company. Influenced by their regional history , they make an effort to highlight the heritage and balance it with contemporary life in Stratford.
Connecticut is a year-round destination. Each season sets the ideal backdrop for a visit, whether it’s the fall foliage, snowy mountaintops, fields of wildflowers, or the sun reflecting off the whitecapped saltwater waves. However, Its undeniable history remains constant no matter what the forecast. From colonial homes to indigenous trails, the narrative of America’s humble beginnings is waiting to welcome you.
It’s a scheme made famous by a nearly 30-year-old episode of the sitcom Seinfeld.
Hoping to earn a quick buck, two characters load a mail truck full of soda bottles and beer cans purchased with a redeemable 5-cent deposit in New York, before traveling to Michigan, where they can be recycled for 10 cents apiece. With few thousand cans, they calculate, the trip will earn a decent profit. In the end, the plan fell apart.
But after Connecticut raised the value of its own bottle deposits to 10 cents in 2024, officials say, they were caught off guard by a flood of such fraudulent returns coming in from out of state. Redemption rates have reached 97%, and some beverage distributors have reported millions of dollars in losses as a result of having to pay out for excess returns of their products.
On Thursday, state lawmakers passed an emergency bill to crack down on illegal returns by increasing fines, requiring redemption centers to keep track of bulk drop-offs and allowing local police to go after out-of-state violators.
“I’m heartbroken,” said House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, who supported the effort to increase deposits to 10 cents and expand the number of items eligible for redemption. “I spent a lot of political capital to get the bottle bill passed in 2021, and never in a million years did I think that New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island residents would return so many bottles.”
The legislation, Senate Bill 299, would increase fines for violating the bottle bill law from $50 to $500 on a first offense. For third and subsequent offenses, the penalty would increase from $250 to $2,000 and misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.
In addition, it requires redemption centers to be licensed by the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (previously, those businesses were only required to register with DEEP). As a condition of their license, redemption centers must keep records of anyone seeking to redeem more than 1,000 bottles and cans in a single day.
Anyone not affiliated with a qualified nonprofit would be prohibited from redeeming more than 4,000 bottles a day, down from the previous limit of 5,000.
The bill also seeks to pressure some larger redemption centers into adopting automated scanning technologies, such as reverse vending machines, by temporarily lowering the handling fee that is paid on each beverage container processed by those centers.
The bill easily passed the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Thursday on its way to Gov. Ned Lamont.
While the bill drew bipartisan support, Republicans described it as a temporary fix to a growing problem.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, called the switch to 10-cent deposits an “unmitigated disaster” and said he believed out-of-state redemption centers were offloading much of their inventory within Connecticut.
“The sheer quantity that is being redeemed in the state of Connecticut, this isn’t two people putting cans into a post office truck,” Candelora said. “This is far more organized than that.”
The impact of those excess returns is felt mostly by the state’s wholesale beverage distributors, who initiate the redemption process by collecting an additional 10 cents on every eligible bottle and can they sell to supermarkets, liquor stores and other retailers within Connecticut. The distributors are required to pay that money back — plus a handling fee — once the containers are returned to the store or a redemption center.
According to the state’s Department of Revenue Services, nearly 12% of wholesalers reported having to pay out more redemptions than they collected in deposits in 2025. Those losses totaled $11.3 million.
Peter Gallo, the vice president of Star Distributors in West Haven, said his company’s losses alone have totaled more than $2 million since the increase on deposits went into effect two years ago. As time goes on, he said, the deficit has only grown.
“We’re hoping we can get something fixed here, because it’s a tough pill to be holding on to debt that we should get paid for,” Gallo said.
Still, officials say they have no way of tracking precisely how many of the roughly 2 billion containers that were redeemed in the state last year were illegally brought in from other states. That’s because most products lack any kind of identifiable marking indicating where they were sold.
“There’s no way to tell right now. That’s one of the core issues here,” said state Rep. John-Michael Parker, D-Madison, who co-chairs the legislature’s Environment Committee.
Parker said the issue could be solved if product labels were printed with a specific barcode or other feature that would be unique to Connecticut. Such a solution, for now, has faced technological challenges and pushback from the beverage industry, he said.
Not everyone involved in the handling, sorting and redemption of bottles is happy about the upcoming changes — or the process by which they were approved.
Francis Bartolomeo, the owner of a Fran’s Cans and Bart’s Bottles in Watertown, said he was only made aware of the legislation on Monday from a fellow redemption center owner. Since then, he said, he’s been contacting his legislators to oppose the bill and was frustrated by the lack of a public hearing.
“I know other people are as flabbergasted as I am because they don’t know where it comes out of,” Bartolomeo said “It’s a one sided affair, really.”
Bartolomeo said one of his biggest concerns with the bill is the $2,500 annual licensing fee that it would place on redemption centers. While he agreed that out-of-state redemptions are a problem, he said it should be up to the state to improve enforcement.
“We’re cleaning up the mess, and we’re going to end up being penalized,” Bartolomeo said. “Get rid of it and go back to 5 cents if it’s that big of a hindrance, but don’t penalize the redemption centers for what you imposed.”
Lynn Little of New Milford Redemption Center supports the increased penalties but believes the solution ultimately lies with better labeling by the distributors. She is also frustrated by the volume caps after the state initially gave grants to residents looking to open their own bottle redemption businesses.
“They’re taking a volume business, because any business where you make 3 cents per unit (the average handling fee) is a volume business, and limiting the volume we can take in, you’re crushing small businesses,” Little said.
Ritter said that he opposed a move back to the 5-cent deposit, which he noted was increased to encourage recycling. However, he said the current situation has become politically untenable and puts the state at risk of a lawsuit from distributors.
“We’re getting to a point where we’re going to lose the bottle bill,” Ritter said. “If we got sued in court, I think we’d lose.”
NEW BRITAIN, CT — Stanley Black & Decker on Thursday said it has decided to close its manufacturing facility in New Britain.
Debora Raymond, vice president of external communications for the manufacturer, said the decision is a result of a “structural decline in demand for single-sided tape measures.”
The New Britain facility predominantly makes these products, according to Raymond.
“These products are quickly becoming obsolete in the markets we serve,” Raymond said, via an emailed statement Thursday.
The decision is expected to impact approximately 300 employees, according to Raymond.
“We are focused on supporting impacted employees through this transition, including providing options for employment at other facilities, severance, and job placement support services for both salaried and hourly employees,” Raymond said.
As of Thursday at 4:30 p.m., no Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice had been filed with the state Department of Labor.
The company’s corporate headquarters remains at 1000 Stanley Dr., New Britain.
Gov. Ned Lamont released the following statement on the decision:
“Although Stanley has made the decision to discontinue operations for manufacturing outdated products, a change in workforce opportunities is difficult for employees, their families, and any community.,” Lamont said. “However, I am hopeful that these skilled workers will be repurposed with the help of Stanley Black & Decker, a company that will still proudly be headquartered here in Connecticut. My administration is working closely with local and state leaders to support affected workers and to reimagine the factory site so it can continue to create opportunity and strengthen New Britain’s economic future.”
New Britain Mayor Bobby Sanchez said he is “deeply disappointed” the company will be closing its Myrtle Street operations.
“For generations, Stanley Works has been part of the fabric of our city, providing good-paying jobs, supporting families, and helping build New Britain’s proud reputation as the ‘Hardware City,’” Sanchez said.
According to the mayor, his office’s immediate focus is on helping affected workers and their families. The mayor has been in contact with Lamont’s office, and they will be working closely to make sure employees have access to job placement services, retraining opportunities and support, Sanchez said.
“We will continue aggressively pursuing economic development opportunities and attracting businesses that are looking for a true community partner, a city ready to collaborate, innovate and grow alongside them,” Sanchez said. “New Britain has reinvented itself before, and we will do so again.”
Stanley Black & Decker, founded in 1843, operates manufacturing facilities worldwide, according to its website. It reports having 43,500 employees globally, and makes an array of products, such as power tools and equipment, hand tools, and fasteners.
Newly released police video shows former WWE executive Vince McMahon ram his luxury sports car into the rear end of another vehicle on a Connecticut highway last summer as he was being followed by a state trooper.
McMahon, now 80, was driving his 2024 Bentley Continental GT at more than 100 mph on the Merritt Parkway when he crashed in the town of Westport, according to state police.
A trooper’s dashcam video shows McMahon accelerating away, then braking too late to avoid crashing into the back of a BMW. The Bentley then swerves into a guardrail and careens back across the highway, creating a cloud of dirt and car parts.
“Why were you driving all over 100 mph?” state police Detective Maxwell Robins asked McMahon after catching up to the wrecked Bentley, which can cost over $300,000.
“I got my granddaughter’s birthday” McMahon replied, explaining he was on his way to see her. The encounter was recorded on police bodycam video.
No one was seriously injured in the July 24 crash, which happened the same day that WWE legend Hulk Hogan died of a heart attack in Florida.
Besides damage to the rear of the BMW, another vehicle driving on the opposite side of the parkway was struck by flying debris. The driver of that third car happened to be wearing a WWE shirt, according to the police video.
McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely. A state judge in October allowed McMahon to enter a pretrial probation program that will result in the charges being erased from his record next October if he successfully completes the program. He was also ordered to make a $1,000 charitable contribution.
McMahon’s lawyer, Mark Sherman, said the crash was just an accident.
“Not every car accident is a crime,” Sherman said. “Vince’s primary concern during this case was for the other drivers and is appreciative that the court saw this more of an accident than a crime that needed to be prosecuted.”
State police said Robins was trying to catch up to McMahon on the parkway and clock his speed before pulling him over. They said the incident was not a pursuit, which happens when police chase someone trying to flee officers. They also said it did not appear McMahon was trying to escape — though in the video the detective suggests otherwise.
“I’m trying to catch up to you and you keep taking off,” Robins says.
“No, no no. I’m not trying to outrun you,” McMahon says.
An accident information summary provided to the media shortly after the crash did not mention that a trooper was following McMahon.
The Associated Press obtained the videos Wednesday through a public records request. They were first obtained by The Sun newspaper.
The trooper’s bodycam video also shows him asking McMahon whether he was looking at his phone when the crash happened. McMahon said he was not and adds that he hadn’t driven his car in a long time.
After Robins tells McMahon that his car is fast, McMahon replies, “Yeah, too (expletive) fast.”
The videos also show McMahon talking to the driver he rear-ended. Barbara Doran, of New York City, told the AP last summer that McMahon expressed his concern for her and was glad she was OK. She said she was heading to a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard at the time of the crash.
After McMahon was given the traffic summons, he shook hands with Robins and another trooper and they wished him well.
McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, in 2024, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.
McMahon bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and transformed it from a regional wrestling company into a worldwide phenomenon. Besides running the company with his wife, Linda, who is now the U.S. education secretary, he also performed at WWE events as himself.
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