Plainfield, Connecticut
town in Connecticut, United States
Plainfield is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 14,973 at the 2020 census. The town comprises four villages: Plainfield Village (south, ZIP code 06374), Moosup (northeast, 06354), Wauregan (northwest, 06387), and Central Village (west, 06332). Each village has their own respective United States Post Office and fire department. The entire town is serviced by the 860 area code.
History
Plainfield was incorporated in 1699 as the town of Quinebaug and renamed the following year to its current name. The present name of "Plainfield" is descriptive of the original town site. Plainfield proved to be an industrial heavyweight in the 19th and early 20th centuries due largely to the ability of the Moosup and Quinebaug Rivers to provide power to the different mills throughout town. The job opportunities attracted French Canadian Americans, Irish Americans, British Americans, and people from other countries during the late 19th century.
The public source identifies “Plainfield, Connecticut” as town in Connecticut, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Plainfield, Connecticut and town.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Plainfield, Connecticut”, the useful work is to connect “town in Connecticut, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q755199. VIAF identifies the subject as 130229134. The Library of Congress control number is n83227766. Authority coordinates are 41.678, -71.922. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 1699.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Plainfield, Connecticut”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Plainfield, Connecticut primary sources, Plainfield, Connecticut archive and Plainfield research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Plainfield, Connecticut”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Plainfield, Connecticut” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.