Harwinton, Connecticut

Harwinton is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,484 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The high school is Lewis S. Mills.

History
The town incorporated in 1737. The name of the town alludes to Hartford and Windsor, Connecticut (HAR + WIN) followed by the suffix -ton, meaning town.

Geography
Harwinton is in eastern Litchfield County; it is bordered to the northwest by the city of Torrington and to the east by Burlington in Hartford County. Hartford, the state capital, is 23 mi to the east, and Bristol is 11 mi to the southeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Harwinton has a total area of 80.7 km2, of which 79.8 km2 are land and 0.9 km2 of it, or 1.12%, are water. The town is bordered to the west by the Naugatuck River. The southeastern portion of the town contains the Roraback Wildlife Area and several reservoirs.

Principal communities

 * Campville
 * Harwinton Center (part of Northwest Harwinton CDP)

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,283 people, 1,958 households, and 1,546 families living in the town. The population density was 171.8 PD/sqmi. There were 2,022 housing units at an average density of 65.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 98.69% White, 0.08% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.13% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.89% of the population.

There were 1,958 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.6% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.0% were non-families. 17.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $66,222, and the median income for a family was $75,912. Males had a median income of $51,597 versus $40,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $32,137. About 0.8% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
Connecticut Route 4 connects the town to Torrington in the northwest and to Hartford in the east. Route 118 connects the town westward to Litchfield center, with a junction for the Route 8 expressway in the western part of Harwinton. Route 222 runs south from Harwinton to Thomaston center. Route 72 leads south then east to the city of Bristol.

Notable people

 * Harry C. Bentley (1877–1967), founder of Bentley University
 * Jonathan Brace (1754–1837), judge and U.S. congressman
 * George S. Catlin (1808–1851), U.S. congressman
 * Collis Potter Huntington (1821–1900), one of four men who formed the Central Pacific Railroad
 * Elam Luddington (1806–1893), Mormon pioneer to Utah and the first Mormon missionary to preach in Thailand
 * Luman Watson (1790–1834), clockmaker
 * Abner Wilcox (1808–1869), missionary teacher to the Kingdom of Hawaii