This area, first settled in
1664, was one of four Congregational parishes in Simsbury. The
Turkey Hills Ecclesiastical Society in 1786 became a section of Granby,
and in 1858 was incorporated as the Town of East Granby.
An
unusual geographical feature, a basalt ridge
dividing the Town lengthwise, has had considerable influence
upon its
character.
The
first incorporated copper mine in America was on the western side of
this Talcott Range. The mine subsequently became
Newgate
Prison, a
Revolutionary War jail and the first state prison in the United States
(1790).
Farming has always been the mainstay of the Town. The early
twentieth century saw local farmers specializing in dairy product and
tobacco. The number of operating farms diminished as the
population of the Town increased from 838 in 1858 to 5500 in 1990 but
the rural character of East Granby remains.
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