Established 1968 · Plainville, Connecticut

Welcome to the Plainville
Historical Society

Keeping Local History Alive Through Preservation, Inspiration, and Education

America 250 Video Series

Plainville: The American Experience

This series is brought to you by the Historical Society and the Town's America 250th Committee. Each quick video will highlight interesting connections between American and local history. The series will conclude this fall.

Watch the Episodes

We begin in the 1700's with the men from our “Great Plain” area of Farmington who served in the American Revolution.
Click here for Episode 1
Travel from the early 1800's to the later 1900's to find out how Plainville became a “Crossroads of Connecticut.”
Click here for Episode 2
From our 49’ers who set out for the California Gold Rush to our daring early aviators, we celebrate Plainville’s “American Spirit of Adventure.”
Click here for Episode 3
When America entered the industrial era, Plainville jumped right in. Our remarkable history of manufacturing is featured in this episode, which we call “Made in Plainville.”
Click here for Episode 4
We don’t typically think of Plainville as a rural community, but we do have a rich history of family farms going back to the 1700s. Learn about them in this episode called “Grown in Plainville.”
Click here for Episode 5

Episodes play on the Town of Plainville Facebook page.

Still from the Historical Society's photo-dating video — a sepia photograph of West Main Street in Plainville, with yellow boxes marking the H. A. James Dry Goods storefront and an awning used as dating clues

Now on YouTube

Another New Video

Click here. We present How to Be a Photo Detective, another video created by Todd Jones who authored the recent book Plainville, Connecticut: A History. This video is a 5-minute guide on how to estimate the date of an old photograph. Todd's useful tips have assisted us at the Historical Society. You may also find them useful when looking through those old family photos!

Plainville 1969 Centennial Parade Film Clips

1969 Parade Film

Plainville's Centennial Celebration

A trip back to Plainville's Centennial in 1969. This film was taken by the late Jack Mastrianni — many thanks to his son Gregory for sending us the 8mm movies, which we were able to have digitized. Click here to go to our YouTube channel.

Class of 1928

Broad Street School 1928

To access the list of students, click here. To request digital copies of a photo, please

The Hamlin homestead in the White Oak section of Plainville, photographed in the later 1800's or early 1900's, with a barn and two figures standing along the road

Lieut. John Hamlin's house in White Oak, Plainville, with family members seated on the front lawn

Discovering Early Plainville

Meet the Hamlins

As we celebrate America's 250th, many of us are looking back and rediscovering the 1700's. In that spirit, we highlight one of our early local families. John Hamlin, originally from Suffield and then Farmington's Main Street neighborhood, came to what is now Plainville in 1760. He and his wife Eleanor settled in the area that was known as White Oak, which roughly meant the land where Woodford Avenue, New Britain Avenue, and Ledge Road are today. They built a home, had a farm and even ran a small axe shop. John Hamlin's military service in the Revolution is also noteworthy.

John and Eleanor had twelve children. Many of them stayed in White Oak and even built their own homes there. Hamlin family members also remained in the original home until the 1890's. It was later owned by the Sweig family who continued to operate a farm. The homestead was demolished in the 1960's due to construction of Interstate 84. You can see the home in these photos taken in the later 1800's or early 1900's.

The Hamlin legacy lives on through the pond which was renamed for them. It is located, of course, in the White Oak area of town!

Plainville, Connecticut

860-747-6577

29 Pierce Street · Plainville, CT 06062