Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It had a population of 24,517 in the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. History Early history At the beginning of the 17th century, the area that would become known as Simsbury as of 1670 was inhabited by indigenous peoples. The Wappinger were one of these groups, composed of eighteen bands that were organized not as formally as a tribe, but more akin to an association, like the Delaware. These bands lived between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. The Wappingers were one of the Algonquian peoples, a linguistic grouping which includes hundreds of tribes. One of the Wappinger bands, the Massaco, lived near, but mostly west of, what became known as the Farmington River, in the area that would became known as Simsbury and Canton, the latter as of 1806. The river was called the Massaco by the native inhabitants. The term Massaco (pronounced Mas-saco) may refer to the indigenous peoples, the river itself, the village occupied by the indigenous peoples, and the land adjacent to the river. In 1633, Windsor was the second town in Connecticut settled by Europeans and the first English settlement (the first European settlement being Huys de Goede Hoop, established by the Dutch in the Hartford area as a frontier settlement for the New Netherland Colony ten years earlier). For some time, the area of Massaco was considered "an appendix to the towne of Windsor." Settlers in Windsor forested and farmed in the area, but did not settle in Massaco permanently for a number of years. In 1642, the General Court of the colony of Connecticut ordered that: the Governor and Mr. Heynes shall have liberty to dispose of the ground uppon that parte of Tunxis River cauled Mossocowe, to such inhabitants of Wyndsor as they shall see cause. Despite this order, there is no record that any settlements immediately ensued. Five years later the General Court issued another order: The Court thinks fitt that Massacoe be purchased by the Country, and that ther be a Committee chosen to dispose of yt to such inhabitants of Wyndsor as by the shalbe judged meet to make improuement therof... but there is no record of land grants arising from this order. In 1643, John Griffin and Michael Humphrey started a tar and turpentine business in Windsor. A few years later,