The last place in the state to be settled, the northwest hills were rugged, and inhospitable to farmers. To survive, settlers turned to trade based on forest products such as timber and charcoal. Dairy and woolen goods produced by herds grazing on the rocky hillsides profited. Mining and manufacturing operations using the ore found in the rocky hills was the most significant of the activities that transformed the region, taking advantage of the waterpower in the fast-moving streams of the steep valleys.

Right: Postcard, A Colebrook Waterfall Near Winsted
(Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)

By the middle of the 19th century, the economic base of the region was undercut by farmers, miners and manufacturers in the mid-West. Litchfield County entered an economic decline: between 1850 and 1920, the population was reduced by 20%. Farms and factories were closed, and the land was taken over by urban water systems, sporting clubs, philanthropists, and the newly established state parks.

Left: Postcard, Foot of Lake Waramaug, New Preston (Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)

The region's geology and history combined to form a powerful attraction for landscape painters in the 19th century. The rugged hills were admired by intrepid travelers, even before the arrival of the artists. And in 1874, a popular illustrated book for prospective travelers included a section on the Housatonic River Valley as a place for scenic adventures.

Right: Postcard, Highland Lake, Winsted
(Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)

The railroads made these adventures possible. After 1842, travelers could take the train from New York through the Housatonic Valley to Canaan. The train brought brought travelers to its depots in New Milford, Kent, Cornwall, Lime Rock and Canaan. By 1872, the Shepaug branch of the railroad made it easy for travelers to visit Washington, Lake Waramaug, Bantam and Litchfield.

Left: Postcard, R.R. Station, Bantam
(Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)

By the 1870s, some of the artists visiting in northwest Connecticut began to buy homes in the area. Often the homes were intended to be summer residences, with the artists returning to New York every winter for the seasonal activities of the urban art markets.

Right: Postcard, South Cottage, Holiday Farm, Bantam
(Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)

As the artists who spent their summers in the Litchfield Hills retired, they moved to the area to live year round. As they settled in, the resident artists began to attract like-minded artists who also moved in to the area. Formal art associations were established in the early decades of the 20th century in several of the communities, and many of the artists attracted students from the cities and the eastern United States for summer art schools.

Left: Lime Rock - the artists' colony
(Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)

In the early 20th century, new promoters joined with the traditional boosters of a summer in the country. The automobile made it possible for travelers and artists to reach destinations in the country regardless of the location of the local train depot. In the 1920s, the state paved Route 7, which runs roughly along the route of the Housatonic River, giving tourists and artists access to a greater range of sites.

After World War II, artists continued to seek homes and studios in the quiet hills of northwest Connecticut. The quiet spaces for working, the opportunity for convivial exchange with other artists, and the proximity to the art world in New York continued to attract artists to live and work in the Litchfield Hills.

Right: Promotional Brochure
(Collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT)