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Woodbridge, Connecticut: From Amity Parish to a Printing Press

Woodbridge, Connecticut

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Thomas Darling House First Church of Christ, Woodbridge Wepawaug Falls

Woodbridge began not as a town but as a parish, set off in 1739 as the independent ecclesiastical society of "Amity," carved from land belonging to New Haven and Milford. The parish took the name Woodbridge after the Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge, ordained here in 1742, and the town incorporated in 1784. Thomas Darling — a Yale graduate, New Haven merchant and Judge of the County Probate Court who as Benjamin Franklin's agent is credited with bringing the first printing press to New Haven — built the Darling House in Woodbridge in 1772-1774. The Sperry family settled the Sperry Park area beginning in the late 1680s; Revolutionary War sergeant Simeon Sperry filed manumission papers in 1781 freeing an enslaved man named Alexander, and Enoch Sperry's son Nehemiah Day Sperry, an early anti-slavery advocate, served eight terms in the U.S. House. The Amity and Woodbridge Historical Society, which runs the Darling House museum, was founded in 1936.

  1. A 1772-1774 house museum on 118 town-owned acres.

  2. A certified-organic farm with a weekly farm stand and CSA.

  3. Marking its centennial in 2026, with a Library of Things.

  4. The regional Jewish Community Center's cultural arts series.

  5. A golf club on Racebrook Road.

  6. One of Connecticut's best-known craft breweries.

  7. A New Haven-area Jewish-style deli institution.

  8. Spanish tapas and Mediterranean small plates.

  9. A Thai restaurant in the Selden Street business cluster.

A working organic farm and a traprock ridge

Massaro Community Farm, a nonprofit certified-organic vegetable farm on 57 acres run collaboratively by the town and a local board, operates under the motto "Keep Farming. Feed People. Build Community," with a weekly farm stand, a CSA and volunteer days. West Rock Ridge State Park's 1,691 acres run along a six-mile trap-rock ridge through New Haven, Hamden and Woodbridge, reaching 715 feet at High Rock in Bethany at its northern end; Judges' Cave, where the regicide judges Whalley and Goffe sheltered in 1661 and 1664, sits on the New Haven side of the park, reached from Wintergreen Avenue. The Woodbridge Town Library, marking its centennial in 2026, lends Connecticut museum passes and a "Library of Things" collection.

Getting there

Woodbridge has no train station of its own — drive in from neighboring New Haven on Route 63 (Amity Road, becoming Litchfield Turnpike), which leaves Whalley Avenue in New Haven and runs northwest through Woodbridge toward Bethany, or on Route 69, whose southern end meets Route 63 near the New Haven/Woodbridge line. Most of Woodbridge's restaurants and its brewery sit along Route 63. Rail travelers arrive at New Haven Union Station, served by Metro-North's New Haven Line, Amtrak, CTrail Shore Line East and the CTrail Hartford Line, and cover the last leg by car or rideshare via Whalley Avenue onto Route 63.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to Woodbridge?
By car on Route 63 (Amity Road/Litchfield Turnpike) from New Haven, or Route 69. Woodbridge has no train station; the nearest is New Haven Union Station, reached via Whalley Avenue onto Route 63.
What is the Thomas Darling House?
An 118-acre town-owned property built in 1772-1774 by Thomas Darling, Benjamin Franklin's agent credited with bringing the first printing press to New Haven; now the Amity and Woodbridge Historical Society's museum, open by appointment. Phone (203) 387-2823.
Can I visit Massaro Community Farm?
Yes. The certified-organic farm at 41 Ford Road runs a weekly farm stand, CSA, cooking workshops and volunteer days, open roughly 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., March through November.
Is there a hotel in Woodbridge?
No lodging appears in Connecticut's official tourism directory for Woodbridge. The nearest verified option is the Courtyard by Marriott at 136 Marsh Hill Road in neighboring Orange.

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