Salisbury, Connecticut: Arsenal of the Revolution

Salisbury's iron district armed the Continental Army: roughly 80 percent of the cannon cast in the colonies came from the Salisbury Furnace, and the region's first blast furnace, built in Lakeville in 1762, had among its builders a 23-year-old Ethan Allen, years before his Revolutionary War fame. Iron production continued in the district for about 191 years, from Thomas Lamb's 1734 bloomery until the Lime Rock Foundry stopped manufacturing in 1925. Today Lime Rock is better known for its road-racing circuit than its furnaces, but the district's name for itself — the Arsenal of the Revolution — still describes what put Salisbury on the map.

Salisbury is a drive-to destination reached by US Route 44 (east-west), CT Route 41 (north-south), CT Route 112, and nearby US Route 7 along the Housatonic. There's no rail station in town; the closest is Metro-North's Harlem Line northern terminus at Wassaic, New York (in the town of Amenia).

The all-volunteer Salisbury Winter Sports Association, now in its 100th year, hosts the annual Jumpfest ski-jumping festival at Satre Hill, which in 2026 included the Eastern National Ski Jumping Championships. In the village center, the Scoville Memorial Library on Main Street hosts concerts and workshops, and the Salisbury Association runs 14 public hiking preserves, several connecting to the Appalachian Trail. The White Hart Inn anchors the green with a restaurant, taproom, cafe, and guest rooms — it took storm damage on July 4, 2026, and continued operating through recovery, so it's worth confirming room availability by phone before a visit.