Brookfield

In the 1700's the village of Newbury, named for the three towns from which its land was taken, was an area of rich farm lands, forests filled with game and streams abundant with fish. On September 28, 1757, the first Congregational Church building was dedicated, and when the Town was incorporated in 1788 the name was changed to Brookfield in honor of Reverend Thomas Brooks, its first ordained minister. The first Town Meeting was held on June 9, 1788. As early as 1732, there was industry along the Still River, and the area became known as the Iron Works District. Still standing today is the grist mill (now the Brookfield Craft Center) and the Iron Works Aqueduct Company. Electricity was first brought to Brookfield in 1915 and by 1928 Candlewood Lake, the largest man-made lake in Connecticut, was formed. Brookfield is a growing community in Western CT with 17,500 residents and more than 20 town committees and commissions comprised of volunteers who make it what it is today