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Cheshire, Connecticut: Barite Mines and Bedding Plants

Cheshire, Connecticut

Pictures from Cheshire

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Lock 12 Historical Park Hitchcock-Phillips House

Cheshire was settled in 1694 as part of Wallingford and separated to become its own town, incorporated in May 1780. Barite mining was the town's defining 19th-century industry: mining began in 1835 and was suspended in 1878, producing roughly 180,000 tons of barite from mines off Jinny Hill Road, Peck Lane and Reinhard Road, worked by Cornish miners underground and Irish miners above ground. Cheshire was a farming community that industrialized and suburbanized after World War II while retaining much of its rural character, and it is known today as the "Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut" for its commercial greenhouse industry. Samuel Augustus Foot, born in Cheshire in 1780, served as U.S. Senator and Governor of Connecticut; landscape painter John Frederick Kensett, born here in 1816, co-founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Cheshire Academy, founded in 1794, still anchors the town's green district a century after Foot and Kensett's births.

  1. A restored Farmington Canal lock with a helicoidal stone bridge.

  2. The 1785 home of the Cheshire Historical Society, on the town green.

  3. A pop-culture museum of antique toys and character collectibles.

  4. The town's central recreation hub on Route 10.

  5. One of Cheshire's 1,500+ acres of protected open space.

  6. A roadside institution since 1928, cash only, closed Fridays.

  7. Upscale Italian and Mediterranean cooking with an award-winning wine list.

  8. A small five-barrel brewhouse with stone-oven pizza.

A canal, a green and a working academy

The Farmington Canal ran through Cheshire from 1828 to 1848; a restored section with its lock chamber and a helicoidal stone bridge survives at Lock 12 Historical Park, now linked to the wider Farmington Canal trail system. The Hitchcock-Phillips House on the town green was built in 1785 by merchant and town clerk Rufus Hitchcock and has served as headquarters of the Cheshire Historical Society since 1972, retaining original wood paneling and a beehive-oven fireplace. Cheshire Academy, founded in 1794, occupies a 100-acre campus at 10 Main Street. The town holds over 1,500 acres of publicly purchased open space, and roughly 4,700 acres — about 22% of Cheshire's land — is protected when partner holdings are counted.

Getting there

Cheshire is a drive-to town with no rail station of its own. Reach it via I-691 Exit 3 to Route 10 south from Hartford and Meriden, I-84 Exit 26 to Route 70 from Waterbury, or I-91 Exit 10 to the Route 40 connector and Route 10 north from New Haven. Route 10 (South/North Main Street) is the main spine through Cheshire Center. The nearest passenger rail is the CTrail Hartford Line at Meriden or Wallingford; New Haven Union Station, the line's southern terminus, is the regional Amtrak and Metro-North New Haven Line hub.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to Cheshire?
By car — I-691 Exit 3 to Route 10 south, I-84 Exit 26 to Route 70, or I-91 Exit 10 to the Route 40 connector and Route 10 north. There is no passenger rail station in Cheshire; the nearest CTrail Hartford Line stops are Meriden and Wallingford.
What is Lock 12 Historical Park?
A restored section of the Farmington Canal, which operated 1828-1848, including the lock chamber and a helicoidal stone bridge, plus a small museum, picnic area and a 2.9-mile hiking/biking trail. At 487 N. Brooksvale Rd. (Route 42).
Why is Cheshire called the Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut?
For its lively commercial greenhouse and bedding-plant industry, a nickname that survives from the town's farming era even as Cheshire industrialized and suburbanized after World War II.
Is there a hotel in Cheshire?
Cheshire has one lodging listing, the Cheshire Welcome Inn on Route 10, but its status could not be independently verified. Travelers wanting confirmed lodging should look to the I-84/I-691 hotel clusters in Southington, Waterbury, Meriden or New Haven.

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