Editing Southington, Connecticut (section)

==History==

Although Southington was formally established as a town in 1779, its roots go back to a much earlier time. Samuel Woodruff, Southington's first white settler, moved from [[Farmington, Connecticut|Farmington]] to the area then known as "Panthorne" that was settled in 1698. The land was formerly occupied by the [[Tunxis]] or Sepores Indians.<ref>(Morgan 1904:50)http://www.fosa-ct.org/Reprints/Spring2010_CTIndians.htm</ref> The settlement grew, prospered, and came to be known as "South Farmington" and then later, the shortened version, Southington.

The town's most important early visitor was General [[George Washington]], who passed through the town in 1770 on his way to [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]].

The Marion section of Southington is one of the most historic places in the town. It is the site of an encampment by the great French general, [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau]], and his troops during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. In June 1781, the French troops under Rochambeau's command left Farmington and marched {{convert|13|mi}} to their eighth camp through Connecticut, near [[Asa Barnes Tavern]] in the Marion section of Southington, now the [[Marion Historic District (Cheshire and Southington, Connecticut)|Marion Historic District]].

They camped there for four days. Rochambeau and his officers took shelter in the tavern, and the troops set up camp on a hill on the other side of the road. The area of the encampment has since become known as French Hill, and a marker on the east side of Marion Avenue commemorates the French campsite.  According to Rev. Timlow's ''Sketches of Southington'' (1875), "Landlord Barnes gave a ball at his tavern, at which a large number of the young women of the vicinity were present; and they esteemed it something of an honor to have had a 'cotillion' with the polite foreigner." The celebrations-infused with spirits provided by Landlord Barnes-spanned the four nights they were in Southington. Rochambeau revisited Barnes's Tavern on the return march on October 27, 1782. According to Timlow, coins, buttons and other things were picked up in the vicinity many years after the two encampments. The Asa Barnes Tavern is now a private residence very near the camp site at 1089 Marion Avenue.

Southington originally was a small, rural farming community. In the early 1900s, Southington developed as a manufacturing center, but still maintained a very small population of a few thousand residents. Some of the products invented there include the first [[cement]] that was able to harden under water, the first carriage bolt cutting machine, the break-neck rat trap, and a new tinware process.

With the overall decline of industry in [[New England]], and the construction of [[Interstate 84 (east)|Interstate 84]] in the mid 1960s, Southington developed into a [[bedroom community]] in which the town saw explosive growth and a population that has surged to over 42,000 today. 28% of the workers in Southington are still employed in manufacturing, most of them in the production of fabricated [[metal]]s and [[aircraft]].

In May 1942, during [[World War II]], the town was selected by the War Department to be highlighted in a defense booklet called ''Southington, CT—Microcosm of America.'' Photographers roamed the community taking photos of residents at work, at play and in their homes and churches. The final publication was intended to show friends and foes alike in Europe the typical American citizens and families, their traditions and values. Thousands of copies were dropped from military airplanes over Europe during the Nazi German Occupation. Also in 1942 the mural, ''Romance of Southington'', was painted in the town post office by [[Ann Hunt Spence]]. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the [[United States]] through the [[Section of Painting and Sculpture]], later called the [[Section of Fine Arts]], of the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]]. The [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] was the largest and most ambitious American [[New Deal agency]], employing individuals to carry out [[public works]] projects.<ref>{{cite book |last=Arnesen |first=Eric |date=2007 |title=Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History |volume=1 |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |page=1540 |isbn=9780415968263}}</ref>

Each year, Southington is home to the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090426105705/http://www.southington.org/content/2028/default.aspx Apple Harvest Festival], an effort to bring together local businesses and denizens from the area and surrounding cities. This has been a tradition of the town since 1969, generally spanning six weekdays and two weekends. Its highlights include a town parade, carnival rides and games, musical performances, and a wide selection of unique recipes and foods served by community cornerstones including the [[Boy Scouts of America]], local churches, the [[Southington Fire Department]] and Police Department, the [[Rotary International|Southington Rotary Chapter]], and the  Southington Jaycees. Southington is home to several farms and apple orchards, including [[Rogers Orchards]], the largest in the state.

On May&nbsp;24, 1962, the town was heavily damaged by a [[Tornado outbreak sequence of May 14–June 1, 1962#Bunker Hill–Fairmount–Waterville–Wolcott–Southington, Connecticut|high-end F3&nbsp;tornado]]. The tornado, which was "near-F4" intensity at the time, damaged or destroyed numerous buildings, homes, businesses, and vehicles throughout the area before it dissipated northeast of town. Overall, the storm left one dead and 50&nbsp;injured.<ref name="StormData">{{cite web |title=Storm Data Publication {{!}} IPS {{!}} National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) |url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/IPS/sd/sd.html |website=www.ncdc.noaa.gov |access-date=August 24, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hillcrest1">{{cite web |title=Connecticut F3 |url=http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19620524.9.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124072605/http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19620524.9.1 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 24, 2011 |website=Tornado History Project |publisher=Storm Prediction Center |access-date=September 23, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hillcrest2">{{cite report |title=Connecticut Event Report: F3 Tornado |url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=9986192 |website=National Weather Service |publisher=National Center for Environmental Information |access-date=September 23, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hillcrest3">{{cite report |title=Connecticut Event Report: F3 Tornado |url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=9986193 |website=National Weather Service |publisher=National Center for Environmental Information |access-date=September 23, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hillcrest4">{{cite news |last1=American |first1=Republican |title=The Day of the Tornado {{!}} Republican American Archives |url=https://archives.rep-am.com/2012/05/20/the-day-of-the-tornado/ |access-date=September 23, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hillcrest5">{{cite web |title=Florence T Crowell's Historic Watertown Connecticut Photo Gallery |url=https://www.facebook.com/334846928460/posts/53-years-ago-todaykiller-tornado-of-1962-did-comparatively-minor-damage-in-water/10152895756528461/ |website=www.facebook.com |access-date=September 23, 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hillcrest6">{{cite web |title=News |url=https://web.tapr.org/~wa1lou/whs/news201205.html |website=web.tapr.org |access-date=September 23, 2020}}</ref>

Two of Southington's main state roads are ceremonially named for notable residents. Southington's portion of Route 10 is named the Louis G. Tolles Memorial Highway for the late state Grange leader and legislator (1885–1956). The road was dedicated on August 6, 1960, and rededicated with new signs on October 6, 2007. A section of [[Connecticut Route 364|Route 364]] (Oakland Road and Berlin Street) was dedicated as the Officer Timothy Foley Memorial Highway on September 11, 2009, in honor of the first Southington police officer killed in the line of duty. He died six days after being struck by a vehicle on December 30, 1937.

In January 2011, John Weichsel retired as town manager after 44 years. He was hired by the first Town Council when the council/manager form of government was established in town in 1966. His tenure as a town manager in the same community is one of the longest in the United States.  Weichsel died in 2013. The municipal center at 196–200 North Main St. is named in his honor.

Southington ranked second nationally on an August 2023 Realtor.com list of hottest zip codes in the country, based on views of listings, how fast houses are selling and at what price.

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Photos" heights="200">
File:SouthingtonPlanstvilleGreen.JPG|The Plantsville Green
File:PostcardSouthingtonCTPeckStowAndWilcoxFactory1910.jpg|The Wilcox Factory located in Southington, in 1910.
File:Asa Barnes Tavern.jpg|[[Levi B. Frost House]], built in 1765
File:SouthingtonCenter.jpg|The town center
</gallery>