Sharon, CT

Sharon is the built-up center of the larger town of the same name in Litchfield County, up in Connecticut’s northwest corner. The center grew around Sharon Green, laid out when the town was established in 1739. The Green is still ringed by historic houses, churches, and the old Main Street line of shops and civic buildings; even when some everyday businesses moved north to the shopping center, the Green kept its role as the town’s recognizable front porch. The surrounding town lies in the Housatonic watershed, with the river forming its eastern edge and the Appalachian Trail crossing nearby.

ATTRJerry Dougherty / CC BY 2.5

For a feel of the place, follow the road toward Housatonic Meadows State Park, where the river runs past a two-mile stretch used for fishing, paddling, and camping. Back in the center, the Sharon Historical Society, Hotchkiss Library, and Sharon Audubon Center keep the town’s past and landscape close at hand. Sharon Center School serves younger students, while older students attend regional schools. It’s a compact town center with a strong sense of its Green, its river valley, and the long roads that lead into the Northwest Hills.