Editing Montville, Connecticut (section)

==History==

In the 17th century, when [[English people|English]] settlers arrived, southeastern Connecticut was the scene of rivalry between the [[Pequot people]], the dominant [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] group in the New London area, and the newly independent [[Mohegan people|Mohegan]]. The latter became friendly to the English. For defense against the Pequot, the Mohegan [[sachem]] [[Uncas]] had established a fortified village on a promontory above the [[Thames River (Connecticut)|Thames River]] within what is now the town of Montville. The Mohegan village, now known as [[Fort Shantok]], was protected on the inland side by [[palisade]]s first built in about 1636 at the time of the [[Pequot War]], rebuilt during wars with the [[Narragansett people]] {{circa|1653}}–1657, and rebuilt again at the time of [[King Philip's War]] (1675–1676).

When the boundaries of [[New London, Connecticut|New London]] (then called "Pequot") were first defined in 1646, the [[Oxoboxo River]] formed the northern boundary. Parts of the modern town of Montville lying south of the river were included in New London, while the area north of the river was treated as Mohegan land. Over time the settlers assumed control of the Mohegan lands. The first grants were made by Uncas in 1658 to Richard Houghton and James Rogers, consisting of valuable farms along the river. Some Mohegan grants were gifts of friendship or by fair trade, while others were openly fraudulent.<ref>{{cite book |last=Baker|first=Henry Augustus|date=1896 |title=History of Montville, Connecticut}}</ref> By 1703 the area between the Oxoboxo River and [[Norwich, Connecticut|Norwich]] (now part of the town of Montville) was [[municipal annexation|annex]]ed by New London.<ref name=Montvilleconsplan>''[http://www.townofmontville.org/Customer-Content/WWW/CMS/files/2010PlanofConservationandDevelopment.pdf Town of Montville Plan of Conservation and Development 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325044149/http://www.townofmontville.org/Customer-Content/WWW/CMS/files/2010PlanofConservationandDevelopment.pdf |date=March 25, 2012 }}'', May 15, 2010</ref>

In 1786 Montville was separated from New London and incorporated as a separate Town. Before incorporation, it was known as the North Parish of New London. In 1819 the adjacent Town of [[Salem, Connecticut|Salem]] was formed from parts of the towns of Montville, [[Lyme, Connecticut|Lyme]], and [[Colchester, Connecticut|Colchester]].<ref>[http://www.townofmontville.org/Content/History/ History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728122128/http://www.townofmontville.org/Content/History/ |date=July 28, 2011 }}, Town of Montville website, accessed June 11, 2011</ref> The name "Montville" signifies "mountain village".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA333|year=1903|publisher=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=333}}</ref>

===National Register of Historic Places===

Four properties in town are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]:
* [[Bridge No. 1860]] on Massapeag Side Rd. (Rt. 433) over Shantok Brook, Fort Shantok SP (added August 29, 1993)
* [[Fort Shantok Archeological District]] (added April 20, 1986)
* [[Raymond-Bradford Homestead]] on Raymond Hill Rd. (added May 16, 1982)
* [[Uncasville School]], which now serves as the Montville Town Hall, at 310 Norwich-New London Turnpike (added March 23, 2001)