Editing Coventry, Connecticut (section)

==History==
Coventry was named in October 1711, the first town in the colonies to be named "Coventry" for [[Coventry]] in the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]], [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA331|year=1903|publisher=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=331}}</ref>

===Settlement and founding===
The [[Middle Post Road]], one of the three [[Boston Post Road]]s declared in 1671 with the creation of the Colonial post, ran through Coventry. The Post Roads were meant to connect the colony of [[New York City|New York]], formerly [[New Amsterdam]], with the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]. Middle Post Road connected Hartford and [[Boston, Massachusetts]] via Coventry and [[Pomfret, Connecticut]], and [[Mendon, Massachusetts|Mendon]] and [[Roxbury, Massachusetts]]. [http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=1380&Q=259692&dotPNavCtr= Chapter 1 DOT History]

The first house in Coventry was said{{by whom|date=October 2011}} to have been built near the shore of [[Wangumbaug Lake]] by Nathaniel Rust, a [[Hartford, Connecticut]] man, originally from [[Northampton, Massachusetts]]. The entire Rust family is said {{by whom|date=October 2011}} to have made their final move to Coventry from Massachusetts in a group of a dozen families in 1709. Along with Nathaniel Rust, the names of some of the earliest settlers were David Lee, Thomas Root, Samuel Gurley, Ebenezer Searl, Joseph Petty, Benjamin James and Benjamin Carpenter. Four other settlers were also from Northampton and two from [[Reading, MA|Reading]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.att.net/~CoventryCT/TollandHist.html |title=History of Tolland |access-date=September 14, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813180234/http://home.att.net/~CoventryCT/TollandHist.html |archive-date=August 13, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The land was said{{by whom|date=October 2011}} to have originally been given to men from Hartford by Joshua, Indian sachem. The [[Connecticut General Assembly]], held in Hartford in 1706, appointed William Pitkin, Joseph Tallcot, William Whiting and Richard Lord, as a committee with full power to lay out the bounds of the town and divisions of the land, to admit inhabitants. A 1711 revision added Nathaniel Rust to the committee and the task of procuring a minister of the gospel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.att.net/~CoventryCT/1711.html |title=Coventry, CT Charter |access-date=September 14, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060712170843/http://home.att.net/~CoventryCT/1711.html |archive-date=July 12, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Coventry was formally formed as a town in Hartford County in 1712. The first church was established in October 1714.

Coventry became a town in Windham County on May 12, 1726, then became a town in Tolland County when it was originally formed on October 13, 1785.

St. Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Coventry. The church is part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich|Diocese of Norwich]], located at 1600 Main Street in town.

===To the present===
The old center of the town is in [[South Coventry (CDP), Connecticut|South Coventry]], near the intersection of Main Street ([[Route 31 (Connecticut)|Route 31]]) and Stonehouse Road ([[Route 275 (Connecticut)|Route 275]]). In the 19th century, there was a small industrial center including mills powered by the water from Coventry Lake Brook as it flowed towards the [[Willimantic River]]. South Coventry Village, listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], also includes several [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] houses, a museum, the main branch of the public library and the Bidwell Tavern, a bar/restaurant established in 1822. The Bidwell used to keep Coventry's town records in the "vault" area behind the bar, as well as hosting town meetings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.courant.com/1994/10/21/bidwell-tavern-draws-from-its-past/ |title=Bidwell Tavern Draws from Its Past - Hartford Courant |date=October 21, 1994 |access-date=September 30, 2011 |archive-date=August 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818111738/http://articles.courant.com/1994-10-21/news/9410210701_1_town-hall-office-building-life-size-statue |url-status=live }}</ref> A few doors away is the W.L. Wellwood General Store, which under new ownership has been renamed "Coventry Country Store". The general store was originally built in 1787 making it the oldest General Store in America (a past owner claimed to have not found an older store). In all, the area has over 100 historical buildings on the national register.

North Coventry's settlement is less dense, and its housing and businesses are of more recent construction. In the 18th century, this section of the town was largely used for dairy and vegetable farming. As the United States expanded westward, many farming families left the rocky fields of Connecticut for the more fertile land of the [[Ohio River]] valley. Most of the farms in North Coventry were abandoned, and the land reclaimed by second-growth forest. In the 1960s and 1970s, tract housing developments were built on some of this land, mainly raised ranch or split-level houses on one acre (4,000 m<sup>2</sup>) lots. Development slowed from the mid-1970s through the 1990s, but several new developments were constructed in North Coventry after 1990. These tend to feature larger houses on two acre (8,000 m<sup>2</sup>) lots. 
Coventry was incorporated in May 1712.