Due to the fact that the Charter was arrived at in 1715, the town was named after an English town in Somerset, CT, and was incorporated as Connecticut’s 49th town in May 1722. In 1785, Tolland County was organized by action of the General Assembly and Tolland was designated the county seat. The price of producing the first courthouse and a jail were raised by town subscription. This jail proved to be unsatisfactory. The existing jail, of stone construction, was erected in 1856 and served the county continually until 1968 when the state decided to discontinue its use.

In 1969 this jail and the 1893 jailer’s home, became town property and are leased to The Tolland Historical Society, and used as a museum. Town of Tolland, first settled before 1715, covers an area of forty-one square miles and is situated twenty miles northeast of Hartford. The Hicks - Stearns Homestead is a museum. The Tolland Board of Education building started life in 1830 as Tolland County Bank. Across from the Municipal Building the town’s original 1879 Town Hall has become the Tolland Arts Center. The Courthouse recently became a museum of the Tolland Historical Society and leases the first floor to the French Canadian Genealogy Library. Until November 1973, the legislative body of the town was the Town Meeting. At that time, the new Town Charter provided for the legislative functions to be shared by the town Meeting and the Board of Selectmen. The Town Council became the primary legislative body under Charter revisions approved at a referendum on November 7, 1984. Under provisions of the Charter and Connecticut General Statutes, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the inland Wetlands Commission also have legislative authority. Tolland CT Homes Tolland CT has been ranked as one of Money Magazine’s top places to live (2005). The homes of Tolland CT were originally a part of the Town of Windsor. This occurred when residents experienced that Windsor was becoming overcrowded and started moving to the east, to property that had been purchased from the Native Americans.

On April 18 1713, a committee was appointed to lay out a settlement, and the General Assembly was petitioned to charter it as a town. When the Charter was obtained in 1715, the town was named after an English town in Somerset, CT, and was incorporated as Connecticut’s 49th town in May 1722. In 1785, Tolland County was organized by action of the General Assembly and Tolland was designated the county seat.