Place · United States
The history of Windsor
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 20 sourced records · 1595–1979 · last reviewed 11 September 2026
Windsor, Connecticut, grew from a founding settlement into a town of brick farmhouses and family burying grounds. Across two centuries it held tobacco wealth, brickmaking trade, and the lives and deaths of its earliest settlers, leaving behind the houses and gravestones that still mark its ground.
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.
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.
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 wealth its tobacco farms produced, seen in the Eli Phelps House, a brick Italianate mansion built around 1860 and the largest and most elaborate farmhouse of its kind in the town. It is also known for the Giles Barber House, built around 1825 from clay dug across Windsor Avenue, and for the Palisado Cemetery, which holds Connecticut's oldest standing gravestone.
What happened at Windsor in 1860?
Around 1860, tobacco farmer Eli Phelps built his brick Italianate mansion on what is now Marshall Phelps Road. Its cupola, polygonal bays, and brick carriage house made it the largest and most elaborate farmhouse of its kind in Windsor, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Who were Windsor's early settlers?
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, and Timothy Phelps and a younger William Phelps, both of whom lived their whole lives in the town.
What is the Giles Barber House in Windsor?
The Giles Barber House, at 411-Windsor Avenue, was built around 1825 by brickmaker Giles Barber using clay dug from the ground across the road. It blends Federal and Greek Revival styles, stands two and a half stories tall, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Are there old burying grounds in Windsor?
Yes. Palisado Cemetery on Palisado Avenue holds Connecticut's oldest standing gravestone and has served as a burying ground since 1637, holding the graves of early settlers such as Thomas Barber and Margaret Wyatt.