Tolland ( ) is a suburban

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 Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 14,563 at the 2020 census.

History

Tolland was named in May 1715, and incorporated in May 1722 from Windsor. The town was over 20 miles away from Tolland and was incorporated to grow the population out in the hill areas. According to some, the town derives its name from being a toll station on the old road between Boston and New York. Alternatively, its name could have been taken after Tolland in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. Today Interstate 84, the main highway connecting

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 ...

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. ...

and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, bisects Tolland, but the town retains a charming village feel. Tolland Green is the informal center of the community, and a national historic district. The Green's features include an old-fashioned penny candy and antiques store known to locals as the
Red and White
; the town'
original 19th-century town hall, now an arts center
the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum; the Tolland County Courthouse and former public library; the
Tolland Inn
bed and breakfast; and the Hicks-Stearns Family Museum, a restored Victorian house. The architectural styles on display, including the white steeples of several churches, are reminiscent of a picture-postcard

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

scene. The town is also home to the supposedly haunted Daniel Benton Homestead, built in 1720 and the oldest house in Tolland. Many of the town's adults work in

, located about 30 minutes away, often at one of the city's many insurance companies, or for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

in Storrs, to the south. A family-oriented town, the landscape of Tolland is primarily composed of houses on plots of land around two

acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

. Undeveloped, forested land covers the area between the town's many residential developments. Containing two state forests and several municipal parks, the town retains a relatively

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

character. The Tolland Public Library opened in 1899. Located in the old county courthouse until 1985, the library was moved to the former Hicks Memorial School in 1985. It was significantly expanded in 2017. In 2006, Tolland opened the new Tolland High School to support the growing number of students. The town is also expanding with new commercial and residential developments. Tolland has ranked among "Best Places to Live in America" by CNN magazine in the "Small Town" category several times: In April 2008,

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

began filming scenes for his 2009 movie '' My Soul to Take'' inside the former Tolland High School. In September 2019, it was announced that Birch Grove Elementary School would undergo renovation after the foundation started to crack due to the presence of

pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite (''Pyrrhus of Epirus, pyrrhos'' in Greek language, Greek meaning "flame-coloured"'')'' is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe(1−x)S (x = 0 to 0.125). It is a nonstoichiometric compound, nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, th ...

in the cement. Construction is expected to complete in August 2021.

Geography

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 is land and (1.46%) is water. Nearby towns include

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, Ellington,

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

, Vernon, and Willington,

Climate

Tolland's climate is classified as warm summer continental (''Dfb''), as is typical of the eastern hills of Connecticut. The area enjoys some characteristics hot-summer continental climate (''Dfa)'' due to a relatively high July mean temperature of 70.7 °F (21.5 °C), which is very close to the threshold of 71.6 °F (22 °C) mean temperature required for a hot-summer climate''.'' The area experiences four distinct seasons, with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot summers. The climate of Tolland is distinguished from the warmer climate of nearby

due to its elevation. The area is prone to blizzards and ice storms in the winter, and during the summer it occasionally experiences tropical activity (though less severe than in lower elevations of the state). Precipitation is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year, with the wettest month being November and the driest being February.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 15,052 people, divided into 5,092 households living in the town. The average household size was 2.9 people. The population density was . The racial makeup of the town was 94.1%

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 ...

(93.2% non-Hispanic White), 0.8%

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 ...

, 2.0% Asian, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the population. In terms of language, 94% of Tolland's residents spoke English at home, and 4.1% of residents were foreign-born. The median age was 41 years. The median income for a household in the town was $110,781, and the median income for a family was $122,299. The per capita income for the town was $47,611, and around 1.7% of the population was below the poverty line. 122 families received

Supplemental Security Income Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States. SSI was created by the Social S ...

or some other form of cash assistance, and 945 residents (0.6%) were on

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

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 13,146 people, 4,586 households, and 3,788 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 4,665 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.36%

, 0.57%

, 0.08% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.39% from other races, and 0.81% 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 .75% of the population. There were 4,586 households, out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.4% 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, 1.9% had a female householder, and 17.4% were non-families. 13.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.12. In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.3% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $135,398 as of Census 2000, and, according to CNN/Money magazine's 2009 "Best Places to Live", the median income for a family in 2009 was $136,772. 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 $54,571. About .6% of families and .7% 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 .5% of those under age 18 and .2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Tolland was governed by

town meeting Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...

until November 1973, when it adopted a new charter. The principal governing body of Tolland is the elected Town Council, which is responsible for making policy and major decisions about the town's future. The day-to-day operations of the town are handled by a Town Manager, a paid professional appointed by the Council and charged with implementing and executing Council policy and decisions. The Council consists of seven unpaid members elected in a

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

in the town every two years. Currently, the Council consists of three Republicans and four Democrats, and was elected in November 2023. The council selects its own chairman and vice-chairman, with the chairman traditionally being the highest vote-getter among the four majority-party members and the vice-chairman the highest among the minority party members, though the council is not under obligation to follow this pattern. Except for Executive Sessions (which are held to renegotiate contracts with Town employees, among other reasons) meetings are open to the public and contain a time for citizens to address the Council from the floor. As of November 2017, meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 7:00pm in the 6th floor Council Chambers of the Hicks Municipal Building at 21 Tolland Green.

Education

* Birch Grove Primary School,

Pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

, Grade 2 * Tolland Intermediate School, Grades 3–5 * Tolland Middle School, Grades 6–8 * Tolland High School, Grades 9–12 ** Tolland Alternative Learning Center (TALC)

Notable locations

*The Daniel Benton Homestead was built in 1720 and is the oldest home in Tolland. It is now a museum. *The Hicks-Stearns Family Museum is a restored Victorian-era house museum built in 1788 and once inhabited by Ratcliffe Hicks. *The Old Tolland County Jail and Museum is a property including the 1856 jail which operated until 1968 and attached Jailer's home.

On the National Register of Historic Places

* Tolland County Courthouse – listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1977. * Tolland Green Historic District – founded in 1706 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Notable people

* Edward K. Beale (born 1970), Author,

USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

helicopter pilot during

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

; raised in Tolland and graduated from Tolland High School * Daniel C. Burbank (born 1961),

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut; raised in Tolland and graduated from Tolland High School in 1979 * Henry D. Cogswell (1820–1900), dentist and a crusader in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

; born in Tolland * William W. Eaton (1816–1898), US Congressman and

US Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

; born in Tolland and a resident of Tolland * Ratcliffe Hicks (1843–1906), state legislator, lawyer, industrialist, and benefactor of the

* Jonathan Hatch Hubbard (1768–1849), US Congressman for Vermont; born in Tolland * Charles R. Ladd (1822–1903), lawyer, politician and

Massachusetts Auditor The state auditor of Massachusetts is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Twenty-six individuals have occupied the office of state auditor since the office's creation in 1849. The incumbent ...

; born in Tolland * David Passaro (born 1966),

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

contractor and former US Army Ranger; graduated from Tolland High School * Shubal Stearns (1706–1771), evangelist, preacher of the Separate Baptists; resident of Tolland * James Stevenson (born 1981), actor; raised in Tolland * Loren P. Waldo (1802–1881), lawyer and US Congressman; resident of Tolland * Calvin Willey (1776–1858), American lawyer, politician, and

(1825–1831); resident of Tolland * Nancy Wyman (born 1946), Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and former State Comptroller; resident of Tolland * Tammy Nuccio, Connecticut State Representative 53rd General Assembly District; resident of Tolland

References

External links

Tolland Town GovernmentTolland Public SchoolsGhost of The Benton Homestead
{{authority control Towns in Tolland County, Connecticut Populated places established in 1722 1722 establishments in Connecticut Towns in Connecticut Greater Hartford Towns in Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut