Canterbury Town

Windham County, Connecticut

Canterbury Town Hall is located at 1 Municipal Drive, Canterbury, CT 06331.
Phone: 860‑546‑9377.

Beginnings [1]

The area that later became the Town of Canterbury began as land established by a group of settlers led by Major James Fitch of Norwich in 1697. By 1699 the area was incorporated as the Town of Plainfield, and Canterbury itself became a town four years later. In 1705 Robeit Green sold 3 1/2 acres of his land, now known as the Canterbury Green, to the Town of Canterbury for the purpose of constructing a Congregational meetinghouse, a place where every family could be expected to gather once a week for religious services and community functions. Construction of the first meetinghouse did not begin until 1711 and the location was chosen to be the highest point of land on the green. Although the green has diminished to only 1 1/2 acres over the years, the area is significant as the focus of religious, political, and social beginnings of the town.

1. Bruce Clouette and Hoang Tinh, consultants, and John Herzan, Connecticut Historical Commission, Canterbury Center Historic District, Canterbury, CT, nomination document, 1997, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.

Nearby Towns: Brooklyn Town • Hampton Town • Plainfield Town • Scotland Town •