A Rural Community

• About Woodstock
• Villages
• Town Hall and Hours
• Things to Do in Woodstock
• Contact Us

About Woodstock

Woodstock, Connecticut is considered part of the "Quiet Corner."  It is known for its "tranquility, history and pastoral good looks," according to the guidebook 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.  Woodstock is located in the northeastern corner of Connecticut.  Area-wise, it is actually the second largest town in CT.  Our population is still small (7,860 residents as of August 2006) but growing. Our town is a rural, historic community with an agricultural background. Woodstock has more operating dairy farms than any other town in Connecticut.  Support for open space conservation and the farming community is strong. The town also encourages light manufacturing and welcomes small businesses.

There are many types of farms, craft shops, antique shops, and restaurants intermingled with light industry such as the manufacture of electrical switches, jet aircraft components, microporous plastics, fancy soaps and toiletries, fiberglass components, fine furniture and kitchen cabinets. A third of residents have college degrees, and a number of professionals run small businesses or telecommute from their homes. The scenery is spectacular, and the residents are friendly.

In order to preserve the town's rural character and agricultural base, residents have adopted "The Right to Farm Ordinance" and created The Woodstock Land Preservation and Land Acquisition Fund."

Villages

Woodstock is made up of six distinct villages: South Woodstock, Woodstock Hill, North Woodstock, East Woodstock, West Woodstock, and Woodstock Valley.

Bordering towns (clockwise, starting to the north) are Southbridge and Dudley, Massachusetts; and Thompson, Putnam, Pomfret, Eastford, and Union, Connecticut.

Contact Us

The Woodstock Town Hall is located at 415 Scenic Route 169, near the Woodstock Fairground.  See Driving Directions.

Our mailing address is: 415 Route 169, Woodstock, CT 06281-3039. See the Contacts list for phone numbers.

Town Hall hours are:

• Monday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Friday 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Governance

Woodstock's governing  body is the Board of Selectmen.  See  Town Government or the booket "Know Your Town Government" under the Town Clerk's Office on the Documents tab.

Things to Do in Woodstock

Woodstock's 61.8 square miles provide ample space for parks, golf courses, beaches, horseback riding, summer camps and campgrounds. Athletics, the Woodstock Historical Society, Garden Club and Senior Citizen programs are among the diverse organizations and activities in Woodstock. Special events include: 

• Memorial Day Parade on Memorial Day
• Fourth of July Jamboree on the green in East Woodstock
• Celebrating Agriculture, usually the third week in September
• the Woodstock Fair, always held Labor Day Weekend
• the Roseland Cottage Arts & Crafts Festival (held the weekend after Columbus day each year) and summer evening concerts.
• Visit Palmer Arboretum, a lovely small park located on Woodstock Hill

Please see our Community Calendar for information about upcoming events, Community Links for more information about organizations and programs, and Recreation.

A Brief History of the Town of Woodstock, Connecticut

In 1636, Thomas Hooker and his party may have passed by way of the Connecticut Path, going to settle what is now Hartford. 

In 1674, John Eliot, Apostle to the Indians, Pastor of the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Major Daniel Gookin visited a peaceful encampment of Wabbaquassets living in the vicinity of present-day Woodstock to preach from nearby Eliot Rock and sought to establish their church among the natives of these lands.  King Philip’s War broke out in 1675, during which the Wabbaquassets deserted the area.

The site was chosen as a place of settlement, and on April 5, 1686, from Roxbury came Peter Aspinwall, Thomas Bacon, Henry Bowen, Matthew Davis, John Frizzel, John Gore, Nathaniel Gray, Benjamin Griggs, George Griggs, John Marcy, Ebenezer Morris, Benjamin Sabin and Jonathan Smithers.  These men were known as the Thirteen Goers who founded the Town of New Roxbury, the first European settlement in the area that became Windham County.

East Woodstock Village (including a grist mill and a sawmill), looking West down Woodstock Rd. Photo taken by Charles Coomb around 1880-1890.

Given the name “Woodstock” by Judge Samuel Sewall in 1690 “…because of its nearness to Oxford, for the sake of Queen Elizabeth…” the Town remained a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony until 1749, when it seceded in favor of becoming a part of the Connecticut Colony.

From the hills of Woodstock went Captain, later General, Samuel McClellan following the alarms sounded from Lexington and Concord in 1775, together with 184 men, who responded in a greater number than from any other town in the Colony.

Born here were Jeddah Morse, the “father of American geography,” and Henry C. Bowen founder of the INDEPENDENT, a pre-civil war anti-slavery newspaper; builder of Roseland Cottage; benefactor of Woodstock Academy, founded in 1801; and donor of Roseland Park.

In 1820, the many small, rural industries in Woodstock included two distilleries; two wheel wrights; oil, fulling, grist and saw mills; a goldsmith; and twine and cotton batting operations. 

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Most of the above information is from the placard on the Roseland Cottage Common, written by Herb Darbee, courtesy of the Woodstock Historical Society, and the History of Woodstock by Ellen Larned.

Also see information on the historical one-room school house, Quasset School.