About Cornwall
Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, incorporated in May 1740. Named after the county of Cornwall in England, it is located on the Housatonic River in northwestern Connecticut and contains a portion of Mohawk State Forest. The early economy was based on farming, but iron, including two blast furnaces, gained importance in the nineteenth century, along with the supporting charcoal making industry. Famous as the site of the Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School and the Cream Hill Agricultural School, the town has also been called the “Home of the Covered Bridge,” in reference to the 1864 West Cornwall Covered Bridge that is still in service today. One of Connecticut’s smallest towns, Cornwall has remained a rural community.
1,567
Population 2020 Census
1740
Incorporated
46.3
Square Miles
Principal Communities
Cornwall has several distinct and historical villages to experience. West Cornwall is home to the historic Covered Bridge.
- Cornwall Bridge
- Cornwall Village
- Cornwall Hollow
- East Cornwall
- West Cornwall
Notable People
- Ethan Allen (1738–1789), Revolutionary War hero (Green Mountain Boys) and co-founder of the state of Vermont
- Ira Allen (1751–1814), one of the founders of Vermont
- Major Andre Andrews (1792–1834), mayor of Buffalo, New York
- Abraham A. Ribicoff (1910–1998), governor of Connecticut and U.S. senator
- John Sedgwick (1813–1864), Union Army general killed by a sniper at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
- Oscar Serlin (1901–1971), Broadway producer, Life with Father
- Marc Simont (1915–2013), artist, political cartoonist and illustrator of children’s books
- James Thurber (1894–1961), author (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), cartoonist and celebrated wit
- Charles Van Doren (1926–2019), historian, notable quiz show contestant, resident
- Mark Van Doren (1894–1972), poet and teacher
- Josepha Newcomb Whitney (1871–c.1955), suffragist, pacifist, elected to Connecticut legislature
“The mind, eager for caresses,
Lies down at its own risk in Cornwall”
~ Mark Van Doren
“The Hills of Little Cornwall”, a poem which the seductive beauties of the countryside were portrayed
Explore Cornwall