The Shelton area was first occupied by the Pootatuck hunting tribe, located along the Housatonic River. In 1659, Moses Wheeler was the first European to purchase land from the Pootatucks in the White Hills section of the city, and in 1662 Stratford's Joseph Judson bought land near the Far Mill River. The first English settlers pushed out of Stratford in 1680, establishing farms in Coram, as they called the Long Hill section of Shelton. The Native Americans were given a reservation at Coram which they occupied until 1732, when they abandoned the area for more northern lands. The village grew until, in 1717 fifty families sought parish status for their settlement, and the Connecticut General Assembly granted this petition, establishing Ripton Parish. A church was built in 1720, and in 1724 Rev. Jedediah Mills of Windsor was ordained the first minister.
The heart of the parish was the Huntington green, with farms and mills of various types located along the rivers at the outskirts. Many residents served in the French and Indian Wars, and citizen David Wooster became a colonial general. During the Revolution, he renounced his royal command to join the patriot cause. Other Ripton citizens joined the militia at Bunker Hill, Long Island and Danbury, where General Wooster lost his life. Supplies were secretly removed from Danbury under British attack, and hidden in a Birdseye Road outbuilding in Shelton. In 1781, French officers, part of a 600-man force, were entertained in Huntington en route to Monroe and a later participation with George Washington in the Yorktown victory.