Farmington, Connecticut: Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad

Farmington was settled in June 1640 by English colonists from Hartford on land the Tunxis people called Tunxis Sepus, 'bend of the little river'; the town and river took their present name at incorporation in December 1645. The Farmington Canal operated along the river's eastern bank from 1828 to 1848, linking New Haven with Northampton, Massachusetts, and its corridor is now the 81-mile Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. In the 1800s, Farmington became known as the 'Grand Central Station' of Connecticut's Underground Railroad, and after the 1841 Amistad trial, 38 Mende Africans and Cinqué, leader of the shipboard revolt, were housed and educated in town while residents raised funds for their return to Africa — a history First Church of Christ, Congregational commemorates in its Amistad Hall, and the Farmington Historical Society retraces on its Amistad walking tour. Sarah Porter founded Miss Porter's School, whose alumnae include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in the village center in 1843.

Farmington is a drive-to destination on Interstate 84, about 10 miles west of Hartford, reached via I-84's Farmington interchanges and state Routes 4, 10, and 177, plus US Route 6. There is no train station in town, so rail travelers take Amtrak or the CTrail Hartford Line to Hartford Union Station and drive or cab the last stretch.

Hill-Stead Museum, a 1901 Colonial Revival mansion designed by pioneering architect Theodate Pope Riddle, hangs Impressionist paintings by Monet, Degas, Manet, Whistler, and Cassatt across 152 hilltop acres, with a Beatrix Farrand sunken garden that hosts the summer-long Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. The circa-1720 Stanley-Whitman House, a National Historic Landmark near the village center, interprets early colonial life with period gardens and an orchard. For food, Piccolo Arancio and Victoria's Café sit beside the Farmington Inn on Farmington Avenue, with Wood-n-Tap Bar & Grill down the road for craft beer and weekly specials; the Farmington Inn & Suites itself, near the junction of Routes 4 and 10, is the village's boutique hotel.