MONTVILLE
Originally, Montville, along with Groton and Waterford, was a part of New London. New London was settled in 1646 under the name of Pequot, so called after the Pequot Indians, the name changing to New London in 1658.
Colonial Towns of Connecticut LinksThe first grants of land in Montville were made to Richard Haughton and James Rogers in 1658, consisting of farm sites on the banks of the Thames River at Massapeag and Pamechaug. The first settler was Samuel Rogers, in 1670, followed by the others, the Indians seemingly disposed to cede more and more of their acreage. Open fields were few and mostly small, and it became quite a chore for the settlers to clear more fields out of the tough, rocky, virgin soil, mostly covered by dense forests.
The industrial background of Montville is full of changes. Except for sawmills, the first manufacturing enterprise was the making of bog ore into iron. At the time of Montville's incorporation as a town, there were four gristmills, seven saw mills, and one fulling mill.
