Town: Canaan, CT Population: 3,392 Area: 19.5 square miles Elementary School: North Canaan Elementary High School: Housatonic Valley Regional

Collin's Diner Canaan, Connecticut

The village of Canaan is really in the town of North Canaan, while the town of Canaan is known as Falls Village. As happened again and again in Northwest Connecticut, diverging religious, political and economic interests caused the formation of separate ecclesiastical societies which led to the petition for separate recognition. The final split occurred in 1858 with Falls Village retaining the original name and Canaan becoming North Canaan.

Named for the Biblical valley of Canaan, the Town of North Canaan is dominated by the sharp peak of Canaan Mountain from which one can enjoy a remarkable view of the Housatonic River Valley and sense how it was gouged out of the surrounding highlands by the last ice age.

Canaan was and still is, to a degree, a mining town with extensive limestone, iron and marble deposits. The marble in the Connecticut Statehouse was quarried from the Allyndale Quarry in East Canaan. Commerce and manufacturing have been important to Canaan since its earliest days. Becton Dickinson is still a major employer as Borden Condensed Milk once was. Geer Memorial Nursing facility and now its assisted living complex have provided good jobs for local workers for decades.

Main Street Canaan is an archetypal New England streetscape that residents have been working to preserve and restore. The Canaan Colonial Theater (an art deco classic) has been preserved and energetic efforts are being made to rebuild the Railroad Station complex which was largely destroyed by fire several years ago.

If you are coming from the north on Route 7, Canaan is your welcome to Northwestern Connecticut, or your last stop on your way north to Massachusetts and the Berkshires.


Town Links:
--Official Town Site
--Historical Society

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