Colebrook is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Litchfield County,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, United States. The population was 1,361 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. Colebrook was named after Colebrooke in the English county of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

; the reason is now unknown.

Geography

Colebrook is in northeastern Litchfield County and is bounded to the east by

Hartford County, Connecticut Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains t ...

, and to the north by

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and Hampden County in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.23%, are water. Colebrook River Lake and West Branch Reservoir, both on the West Branch of the

Farmington River The Farmington River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river located in northwest Connecticut, with major tributaries extending into southwest Massach ...

, are in the northeastern part of the town. The Algonquin State Forest is in the central part of the town. Colebrook is north of Torrington and northwest of

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, the state capitol.

Principal communities

*Colebrook center *North Colebrook *Robertsville

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,471 people, 566 households, and 419 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 656 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.01%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.68%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.61% Asian, 0.88% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.45% of the population. There were 566 households, out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.01. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $58,684, and the median income for a family was $64,286. Males had a median income of $42,647 versus $35,987 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $29,789. About 1.4% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

The town is served by Connecticut Routes 8, 182, and

183 Year 183 ( CLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 936 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

. Route 8 leads south to Winsted and north to Sandisfield, Massachusetts. Route 182 leads west to U.S. Route 44 in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, while Route 183 leads south to Winsted and northwest to New Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Education

It is in the zone for Northwestern Regional School District No. 7: Northwestern Regional Middle School and

Northwestern Regional High School Northwestern Regional High School is a public regional high school located in Winsted, Connecticut, serving the towns of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford and Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county ...

Notable locations

* Rock Hall, a building designed by architect

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner ( ) (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style interpret ...

, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wind farm siting

Wind Colebrook was a proposal to build the state's first utility scale

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

project, for which permitting was ultimately denied.
BNE Energy
was cleared to build three wind turbines in Colebrook and two 2.85MW, 100m-diameter turbines were installed in 2015. A third (3.8MW, 130m rotor diameter) turbine is planned for installation by 2021. According to BNE Energy's quarterly generation reports to PURA, the Colebrook wind farm has slightly exceeded the planned level of energy generation, with 12,742MWh generated in 2016 and 12,706MWh generated in 2017. The wind farm, according to these figures, is operating at about 30 percent of its rated capacity.

Notable people

Roy Chapman Andrews Roy Chapman Andrews (January 26, 1884 – March 11, 1960) was an American explorer, adventurer, and Natural history, naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He led a series of expeditions through the politi ...

, claimed to be one of the inspirations for the movie character Indiana Jones. * Rufus Babcock, second president of

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

; born in North Colebrook * Donald Barr (1921–2004), novelist, educator, and book reviewer for ''The New York Times''; retired to Colebrook in the 1980s * Abiram Chamberlain (1837–1911), the 60th

governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

; born in Colebrook * Jonathan Edwards (the younger) (1745–1801), theologian; lived and preached in Colebrook for four years *

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstr ...

(born 1943), Columbia University professor, author, and noted Civil War historian * Hiram Griswold (1807–1881), member of the Ohio Senate and defense lawyer of John Brown * Harris Merton Lyon, short story writer; lived in North ColebrookMax J. Puzel, ''The Man in the Mirror: William Marion Reedy and His Magazine'',

University of Missouri Press The University of Missouri Press is a university press operated by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and London, England; it was founded in 1958 primarily through the efforts of English professor William Peden. Many publications ...

, 1998, pp. 256-25

/ref> * Christine Negroni (1956- ), noted aviation and travel writer; part-time resident of the town * James Phelps (1822–1900), judge, Connecticut state legislator and US congressman; born in Colebrook * Lancelot Phelps (1784–1866), congressman and father to James Phelps *

Ammi Phillips Ammi Phillips (April 24, 1788 – July 11, 1865) was a prolific American itinerant portrait painter active from the mid 1810s to the early 1860s in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. His artwork is identified as folk art, primitive art, p ...

(1788–1865), artist; born in Colebrook * Thomas Robbins (1777–1856), Congregational minister, bibliophile, and antiquarian; died in Colebrook * Julius Rockwell (1805–1888), judge and congressman from Massachusetts; born in Colebrook

References

External links

Official websiteColebrook Historical Society
{{authority control Towns in Litchfield County, Connecticut Towns in the New York metropolitan area Towns in Connecticut Towns in Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut