The town of Suffield is in the center of Connecticut's border with Massachusetts. Along with four other towns in Northern Connecticut, Suffield was incorporated as a town by Massachusetts in 1674, but boundary disputes persisted until 1803. Suffield covers 43.1 sq. miles and is home to 11,320 residents.
Located on the Connecticut River between Hartford, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, Suffield is proud of its heritage and its steady growth, a product of careful planning. Beginning as a farming community in 1670, Suffield maintains a delicate balance between its colonial roots and today's modern life-style.
A lively community with a population of 13,555, Suffield is a gracious town with a rural flavor in a suburban setting. The town center boasts a small shopping complex and an excellent library. Recent expansion of public buildings includes a police station and school additions and renovations. Bradley International Airport on the southern boundary attracts business, while quick access to I-91 makes commuting up and down the Connecticut River valley from Vermont and New Hampshire to Long Island Sound an easy trip.
This town is rich in contrasts - sweeping fields, forested hills, a picturesque Main Street, farms, shopping areas, and the Congamond Lakes. There are over 43 square miles of countryside. Some agricultural lands have given way to housing developments, though far-sighted citizens helped purchase property on West Suffield Mountain, where Sunrise Park offers a lake, hiking trails, picnic and recreation areas to town residents. Other lands are being preserved through the Suffield Land Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, and the Farmland Preservation Act.
Each spring, before the dogwood blooms and fiddleheads are ready for harvest, the Connecticut River banks are laced by shadblow trees, and fishermen converge along its shores to test their skill and luck during the shad run.
Today's anglers have replaced the Indians of long ago who named the Quinnehtukquet: "beside the long, tidal river." Modern Suffield retains its sense of nature and open space, including many of the characteristics which originally attracted Indians and settlers. Besides providing shad and salmon, the river made boat-building possible. Yellow pine was used for building, fuel, naval stores and fine furniture. Deer, moose, bear, fox, and other wild animals and game provided hides, furs and food. Tobacco was a productive crop from the beginning. Brooks were harnessed for grist, cotton, and paper mills; there were even three iron works.
Suffield is located in the northern temperate climate zone where temperatures are moderate and precipitation is abundant. The proximity to the Atlantic, the warming of the Gulf Stream, and the river terrain all affect the weather. Air movement carries the majority of weather systems into Connecticut from the west and north.
The flat river valley on the east side of town tends to have less precipitation than the more elevated west side, where more snow falls in the winter. Winters are usually cold, and polar air from Canada causes the coldest temperatures.
As the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." Variety has been the spice of life in these New England climes. These same weather patterns provide lush springs and spectacular fall foliage for which the region is justly famous. Suffield carries a special beauty during these seasons with an abundance of dogwood, mountain laurel, and azaleas in the spring and vistas filled with blazing maples and oaks in the fall.
Why not come and enjoy all that Suffield has to offer you?
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