Farmington
About Farmington
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Farmington is a town located in Hartford County in central Connecticut. The population was 23,641 at the 2000 census. It is home to Carrier Corporation, Otis Elevator Company, and Carvel. An affluent suburb of Hartford, Farmington was listed as one of the “preppiest” places in the United States in the 1980s best-seller The Official Preppy Handbook.
Many residents have repeatedly fought proposals by the state to widen Route 4, a main thoroughfare linking northwestern Connecticut to I-84, fearing that such a move would compromise the character and integrity of the town. With the recent relocation of Parsons Chevrolet, “on that crazy corner” just above the village, there is some suspicion that this widening of route four will come sooner rather than later. Work has been delayed because of the towns fight to maintain the village aesthetic and requests for modifications to the proposed plan. Farmington’s real estate values are among the highest in the region.
Just above the village, off Mountain Road, lies the Hill-Stead Museum. The estate, completed in 1901 and designed by Theodate Pope Riddle, one of the first woman American architects, and is known for its colonial revival architecture. Now a museum, its 19 rooms hold a nationally-recognized collection of Impressionist paintings by such masters as Manet, Monet, Whistler, Degas and Cassatt. It is also the sight of the annual Sunken Garden Poetry Festival and is a National Historic Landmark.
Miss Porter’s School, an exclusive college preparatory school for girls, is in Farmington. The school, whose buildings occupy much of the village center, is a significant historic and cultural institution in its own right. Founded in 1843 by educational reformer Sarah Porter, Miss Porter’s has long been one of the most selective preparatory schools for girls in the country. Famous alumni include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Lilly Pulitzer and members of the Bush, Vanderbilt, and Rockefeller families.
The town is also home to the University of Connecticut Health Center, where over 4,000 people work. The Health Center also houses John Dempsey Hospital. The hospital provides the only full-service emergency department in the Farmington Valley and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), one of only two in Connecticut.