Editing Union, Connecticut (section)

==History==
The first [[European colonization of the Americas|European Settlement]] in Union was in 1727, making Union the last Connecticut town east of the [[Connecticut River]] to be settled. The first settler was James McNall of Ireland.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/502234/smallest-town-each-50-states | title=The Smallest Town in Each of the 50 States | work=Mental Floss | date=August 25, 2017 | access-date=June 25, 2018 | author=Rivero, Nicolas}}</ref> He was closely followed by his brother William.<ref>Charles Hammond and Harvey Merrill Lawson (1893) [https://archive.org/details/historyofunionco01hamm The History of Union, Conn], Price, Lee, & Adkins Co., New Haven, Connecticut. Pages 36 and 43.</ref> The town was incorporated in October 1734.<ref>Charles Hammond and Harvey Merrill Lawson (1893) [https://archive.org/details/historyofunionco01hamm The History of Union, Conn], Price, Lee, & Adkins Co., New Haven, Connecticut. Pages 48-50.</ref> The name Union designates "union of lands".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA335|year=1903|publisher=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=335}}</ref>

Union was first a town in [[Windham County, Connecticut|Windham County]]. It became a town in Tolland County upon its formation from part of Windham County on October 13, 1785.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Connecticut/documents/CT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#WINDHAM|title= Windham County Chronology|access-date= January 7, 2013|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131110043227/http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Connecticut/documents/CT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#WINDHAM|archive-date= November 10, 2013}}</ref>

There were 500 people in the town in 1756. The population grew to 767 by 1800, but declined thereafter. There were just 431 people in Union in 1890.<ref>Charles Hammond and Harvey Merrill Lawson (1893) [https://archive.org/details/historyofunionco01hamm The History of Union, Conn], Price, Lee, & Adkins Co., New Haven, Connecticut. Page 506.</ref>   The official population of the town is still less than 1,000 residents today.