Brookfield Timeline
1600s
1684: Danbury was settled
1700s
1707: New Milford was settled
1710: Newtown was settled
1732: Ironworks District settled
1745: First bridge built at the Ironworks
1748: First Grist Mill, Land’s End Cemetery established
1754: Newbury Parish was settled
1755: The Ecclesiastical Society of Newbury Parish accepts the site of the first Meetinghouse
1756: Parish of Newbury voted to hold school for six months per year, Voted to lay a tax on the inhabitants to cover the meetinghouse
1757: The meetinghouse was dedicated and Thomas Brooks was ordained and installed as permanent minister of the Congregation Society
1760: White Turkey Inn built
1761: Four School Districts – Ironworks, Whisconier, Pocono, Obtuse
1776: Earliest burial in Huckleberry Hill Cemetery, July 4th the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence
1777: Central Cemetery established
1778: Earliest burial in Merwin Brook Cemetery
1781: English General Cornwallis surrendered to the combined American and French forces, effectively ending the American War for Independence, First Physician – Dr. Preserve Wood
1783: A peace treaty was formally signed in Paris on September 3 granting Americans unconditional independence
1785: First Episcopalian Church established
1788: The Parish of Newbury became the Town of Brookfield, First Town Meeting held on June 9
1789: April 30 George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States, Influenza epidemic caused canceling of public meetings
1790: Population of Brookfield numbered 1,018, First Episcopal Church building constructed, Rhode Island ratified the Constitution, the last of the thirteen original Colonies to do so
1792: Brookfield Town Singing School started
1794: Old South Cemetery was established
1795: Samuel Ruggles, first missionary to Hawaiian Islands, born in Brookfield, Bell placed in the Town Hall
1796: The Brookfield Town House was completed
1797: Masonic Federal Lodge #41 established in Brookfield on November 7
1800s
1801: First Post Office established in Brookfield – Colbe Chamberlain was the first postmaster
1810: Brookfield's population is 1,037; Temperance Society started
1830: Population of Brookfield 1,255 (population of Chicago was 100); Stage Route from Danbury to Poughkeepsie
1836: The Housatonic Railroad Company was granted a charter
1837: Ironworks Aqueduct Company established; Methodist Church establishes; Daniel Tomlinson built a dam on the Still River and a factory for making Currier's knives; Second Episcopal Church built
1839: South Mountain School changed to Whortleberry Hill School
1840: First train in the Ironworks District
1845: Laurel Hill Cemetery established
1846: Baptist Church established in the Ironworks District
1850: Probate Court established - Brookfield Judge Ebenezer Blackman appointed Probate Judge; Population of Brookfield 1,359
1852: Sons of Temperance and the auxiliary the Cadets organized in Brookfield
1854: Second Meeting House of the Congregational Church was dedicated
1858: St. Paul’s School for Boys established on Longmeadow Hill Road
1866: Anti-Thieving Society established; horses were being stolen
1867: Catholic Parish established in Brookfield
1868: Dutch Reformed Church established in Brookfield; St. Paul’s School for Boys closes; Henry Hawley opened a hat factory; Village Store built
1869: Second Post Office established
1870: Brookfield Shakespearian Dramatic Society established
1872: Population of Brookfield is 1,193
1873: January 26, record snow fall of two feet
1875: A new Brookfield Town House was built and called "Town Hall"
1876: General Custer chose the Little Big Horn to make his last stand
1880: Present Stone Bridge on route 25 built
1881: Measles epidemic closed the schools; Red Cross organized under Clara Barton
1883: Curtis School for Boys moved to Brookfield
1884: The Dutch Reform Church becomes The Chapel
1885: Statue of Liberty dedicated
1888: Brookfield celebrates its 100th birthday
1889: Miss Wilhelmine Skidmore opened a school for girls in Brookfield Center
1892: St. Joseph’s Catholic Church built on Pocono Road
1893: Village Improvement Society established in Brookfield
1894: Brookfield Grange established
1895: Hawley Bible School opened on Whisconier Hill
1900s
1900: Greene School of Music opened
1902: Lenox Shear Company destroyed by fire
1903: Local chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union formed
1907: Ziegler Summer School of Singing established in Brookfield Center
1910: White Turkey Inn opened
1913: The Brookfield Improvement Society put streetlights through the Center
1914: Railroad tracks moved and train station built in the Ironworks District
1915: Electric lights come to Brookfield Center; Boy Scouts of America established; Brookfield Chapter of the Red Cross established
1917: Old Post Road Inn opened; Camp Fire Girls established
1918: Ancient Inn, located in the Ironworks district, moved to Danbury; Aunt Sue’s Brook, a watering trough on Route 133, was given to the town by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union
1920: Pocono Grange established; 155 Women presented themselves at the Town Hall to be made voters
1922: Pick Penny John died
1924: Greene School of Music closed after the death of Professor Herbert Greene
1925: Tuck Electroplating Company established
1926: Brookfield Book Club meets; July 15, Construction of Candlewood Lake began
1929: Lake Candlewood completely filled; New state highway built north to Obtuse (currently Route 133 to Bridgewater)
1934: Brookfield Fire Department formally organized on May 7
1937: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was burned on February 14
1938: Consolidated School replaces the one-room schoolhouses; Saint Paul's Church rebuilt in stone
1939: Town offices moved into the former Center School
1940: The Grotto was started
1943: Curtis School for Boys closed
1945: General Jonathan Wainwright visits Brookfield
1951: Joyce Memorial Library established in the old Town Hall; Brookfield Craft Center opened
1953: Ground broken for new firehouse in Brookfield Center; Friends of the Library established
1955: Lake Lillinohah filled overnight during Hurricane Dianne
1956: St. Joseph’s Parochial School opened
1957: Samuel Wilson became Brookfield's first Resident State Trooper; The first Brookfield Journal was published
1958: Williams Park built
1959: Brookfield High School built; Brookfield Players acquire gym from Curtis School for use as Playhouse; Nutmeg Inn fire
1960: Zoning Laws put into effect; Eugene McGowan was appointed first School Superintendent; Chamber of Commerce formed; Population 1,345 and start of largest growth period in Brookfield history; United Jewish Brookfield Cemetery's first burial
1961: Candlewood Shores Annexed from New Fairfield
1963: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church held first services
1966: Prince of Peace Nursery School opens; Huckleberry Hill School built
1967: Newbury Congregational Church established; First High School Graduation from Brookfield High School
1968: Brookfield Historical Society founded; Gospel Hall takes over former St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Pocono Road; Brookfield purchased the Gurski Farm
1970: Whisconier School built; Brookfield Veterans of Foreign Wars organized
1971: White Turkey Inn and pond removed
1972: Fire at Grant's Farm on Pocono Road
1975: The Brookfield Public Library opened in its present location
1976: The Brookfield Museum & Historical Society began occupying the old Town House
1977: Brookfield Police Department organized; Wild Cherry Tree on Junction Road cut down
1981: Brooks Quarry built and named for Rev. Thomas Brooks
1983: New Town Hall and Senior Center on Pocono Road opens
1986: Population of Brookfield is 13,920
1988: Brookfield celebrates its 200th birthday
1991: The first Kid's Kingdom playground is erected near Town Hall on Pocono Road; The new Saint Joseph's Church opened
1992: Veterans Memorial dedicated
1999: Brookfield purchased Happy Landing's Farm and Burr Farm
2000s
2002: Horse sculptures are erected on Town Hall property
2004: M. Jodi Rell, Brookfield resident, is elected 87th Governor of Connecticut from 2004-2011
2007: Route 7 bypass construction began; completed in 2009
2010: Population of Brookfield is 16,200
2012: The second Kid's Kingdom playground is erected
2013: Brookfield's 225 birthday celebration