Michael Conte, Jr.
A natural starting point in our discussion and one that is asked immediately is—where is Farmington? The Town of Farmington is located West of Hartford, North of New Haven and has land in the Western Highlands and Central Valley. The area that is now Farmington was bought in two different land deals with the Tunxis Indians. These indians were part of the Suckiaugs, whose chief was Sunckquasson. The indians were very friendly and even lived in the town at Indian Neck on the Farmington River. Relations were so good that the settlers made provisions for the indians’ schooling, seats were set aside for them at town meetings and the names of some are found on church rolls.
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From this large parcel of land that was purchased from the indians, many smaller settlements started.
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These settlements were formed by groups of families or followers of a particular church leader joining together.
Farmington, located in the central lowland basin, has a subsoil composed mostly of sandstone and shale that has had lava flow over it. When this lava cooled, basalt was formed. Talcott Mountain, formed by this lava, is an example of this type of basalt ridge. Talcott Mountain also divides the Connecticut Valley and smaller Farmington Lowlands. During the tertiary uplift,
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the Farmington River flowed south to the ocean as the other rivers to the east flowed over rock broken down more easily.
Finally, one last geologic event that changed the land around the Town of Farmington dramatically was caused by glaciation. The glacier, as it receded, eroded the land and left large deposits of glacial till. The glacier also changed the flow of the Farmington and Pequabuck Rivers. As glacial debris was deposited around Plainville, a lake was formed that stopped the flow of the rivers. The Farmington River was able to continue a new path eastward through a fault in Talcott Mountain at Tariffville Gap. The Farmington River, which once flowed to the ocean, now became a tributary of the Connecticut River.