Fairfield, Hartford , Litchfield, Middlesex , New Haven, New London, Tolland, Windham

Connecticut Counties

There arecurrently eight Counties in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Four of them were originally created in 1666, during the first consolidation of the colony of Connecticut from a number of smaller colonies. Two more Counties were created during colonial times, and only two counties, Middlesex and Tolland counties, have been created since American independence, both in 1785. The majority of Connecticut Counties are named for locations in England, where many early Connecticut settlers originated

Connecticut is divided into geographic regions called counties, but they do not have functioning governments, as defined by the Census Bureau

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."