As early as the mid 1600's, a handful of Wethersfield residents worked the land "east of the river." In 1690, they petitioned the General Court to become a separate entity. By 1693, those determined people convinced Reverend Timothy Stevens to serve as their minister and built their meeting house as part of the requirements of the Connecticut General Court for township. Glassenbury thrived and the town began to take shape.

Today, we're familiar with East and South Glastonbury, maybe even Buckingham and Bucks Corner. But what about Curtisville? Shingle Hollow? Walker's Corner? Taylor Town? These neighborhoods, and over two dozen others, were the heart and soul of the town and still exist in our vocabulary today. Each played a role in the development of the town and each helps personify our "community" spirit.

"Glistening Town" from the Anglo-Saxon ties us directly to Glastonbury in Somerset, England. The spelling of our town varied until the mid-1800's when it was decided to conform to the "proper" English spelling. The thorn on our town seal is a replication of the Somerset thorn, which visually links us to our European past.

Over two dozen sites in town tell tremendous and often scintillating tales of Glastonbury's past. We still boast the oldest continuously operating ferry in the country. The Cotton Hollow Powder Mill gives us a chilling description of the revolutionary war era. The Welles Chapman Tavern was the stop-over from Hartford to New London. Stone from the town's quarry built the Wadsworth Atheneum. The Hollister parcel is thought to be an ancient Native American burial ground. The William Welles residence housed and educated some of Yale University's students during the revolutionary war while British warships plied New Haven Harbor.