Place · United States
The history of Windsor, one place at a time
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 20 sourced records · last reviewed 11 September 2026
Windsor, Connecticut, holds two brick houses raised a generation apart: one built by a brickmaker from clay dug across the road around 1825, the other by a tobacco farmer whose crop made him rich enough to outbuild the town's wood-framed houses, around 1860.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Windsor — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Windsor
A brickmaker built his house from his own backyardHalf a mile north, a Windsor brickmaker turned his own clay into a house that has stood for two centuries. Windsor
1595–1979 The largest brick house tobacco money built
A quarter mile from where you stand, a farmer's brick mansion still announces what Windsor soil could earn a man in 1860. Windsor
1595–1916
Windsor in layers
Windsor, Connecticut
The Islamic Center of Connecticut in Windsor serves the local Muslim community and maintains a dedicated cemetery in nearby Enfield. Wikipedia
12 Sep 1675
Margaret Wyatt, born around 1595, died in Windsor on September 12, 1675, during the town's first decades of English settlement. Wikidata
Windsor, Connecticut
Margaret Wyatt, born around 1595, lived to about eighty and died in Windsor on September 12, 1675. Wikidata
1672
William Phelps, an English Puritan who helped found Dorchester, Massachusetts, and then Windsor itself, died here in 1672. Wikidata
Windsor, Connecticut
William Phelps, an English Puritan and one of the founders of Windsor, Connecticut and Dorchester, Massachusetts, died here in 1672. Wikidata
11 Sep 1662
Thomas Barber, born around 1612, died in Windsor on September 11, 1662, part of the town's earliest generation of English settlers. Wikidata
Windsor, Connecticut
Thomas Barber, born around 1612, died in Windsor on September 11, 1662, part of the town's founding generation. Wikidata
1637 onward
Windsor's original burying ground, laid out in 1637, holds Connecticut's oldest surviving gravestone, that of Rev. Ephraim Huit, who died in 1644. Windsor Historical Society
Palisado Avenue (Route 159), Windsor, Connecticut
Palisado Cemetery was laid out in 1637 and holds the 1644 gravestone of Ephraim Huit, among Connecticut's oldest surviving markers, cut from local sandstone. Windsor CT Cemeteries
1639-1719
Timothy Phelps was born in Windsor in 1639 and died there in 1719, spanning the town's first eighty years. Wikidata
Windsor, Connecticut (executed in Hartford)
Alse Young of Windsor was hanged in Hartford on May 26, 1647, the first person on record executed for witchcraft in the American colonies, after an influenza epidemic devastated her town. Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project / Connecticut History (CTHumanities)
Windsor, Connecticut
Lydia Gilbert became the second person in Windsor tried for witchcraft in the colonial period, and in 2023 Connecticut's legislature formally exonerated her along with ten others convicted or executed for the crime. Windsor Historical Society
Windsor, Connecticut
Henry Stiles died on October 3, 1651, when a gun belonging to fellow townsman Thomas Allyn went off accidentally during militia training in Windsor. Connecticut History (CTHumanities)
1652-1711
Job Drake Jr. lived his whole life in Windsor, from his birth in 1652 to his death in 1711. Wikidata
1669-1733
A younger William Phelps was born in Windsor in 1669 and died there in 1733. Wikidata
411-413 Windsor Avenue, Windsor, Connecticut
The Giles Barber House, built about 1825 on Windsor Avenue, is a well-preserved transitional Federal-Greek Revival brick house, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Wikipedia
circa 1860
About 735 meters from here, the Eli Phelps House was built around 1860 as one of Windsor's largest and most elaborate Italianate brick houses. Eli Phelps House (Wikipedia)
1907-1914
A short drive from here, Amy Archer Gilligan ran a home for the elderly where residents died in unusual numbers between 1907 and 1914, and she was convicted of poisoning five people, including her own husband, with arsenic. Connecticut History - CTHumanities Project
Windsor, Connecticut
Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan ran a home for the aged in Windsor where residents died under suspicion, and exhumations later found arsenic in more than two dozen bodies; a jury convicted her after a four-hour trial. The Front Door Project / Connecticut History (CTHumanities)
Windsor Locks area, including Windsor, Connecticut
An F4 tornado with winds up to 260 mph struck Windsor Locks and neighboring Windsor on October 3, 1979, killing three people and causing $420 million in damage. Wikipedia
Questions about Windsor
What is Windsor known for historically?
Windsor is known for the brick houses its own soil and labour produced. The Eli Phelps House on Marshall Phelps Road, built around 1860, was raised by a tobacco farmer whose crop had made him wealthy enough to outbuild every wood-framed farmhouse in town. Nearby, brickmaker Giles Barber built his own home at 411-413 Windsor Avenue around 1825 from clay dug on land across the road.
What happened at Windsor in 1860?
Around 1860, the Eli Phelps House rose in brick on Marshall Phelps Road, an Italianate mansion with a cupola, twin polygonal bays and a wraparound porch, built by a tobacco farmer whose crop had made him rich.
What happened at Windsor in 1825?
Around 1825, brickmaker Giles Barber built his own house at 411-413 Windsor Avenue in Windsor, using clay he had dug from land across the road. The house blends Federal and Greek Revival styles and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Who were some of Windsor's early residents?
William Phelps, a founder of the town, died in Windsor in 1672. Other early residents included Thomas Barber, who died in 1662, Margaret Wyatt, who died in 1675 at about eighty years old, Timothy Phelps, who lived his whole life in Windsor between 1639 and 1719, and Job Drake Jr., born and died in the town.
Is the Eli Phelps House related to Windsor's founding family?
The material does not draw that connection directly, though a William Phelps who founded the town died in Windsor in 1672, and a William Phelps grandson lived and died there between 1669 and 1733, the same surname carried by the tobacco farmer who built the Eli Phelps House around 1860.