The following is a list of the counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, showing their former county seats and court house locations going back as far as 1900. These three New England states either have abolished their county governments or are limiting their functions. Since most current maps do not show seats for the counties, I have determined their locations from historic maps and internet-based archives. If you have any additional information on the history of county government location in any of these states, please click here to let me know. Your help will be appreciated.
| Fairfield | Bridgeport* |
| Hartford | Hartford |
| Litchfield | Litchfield* |
| Middlesex | Middletown |
| New Haven | New Haven and Waterbury |
| New London | New London and Norwich |
| Tolland | Tolland* |
| Windham | Putnam and Willimantic (located in the town of Windham) |
| Barnstable | Barnstable |
| Berkshire | Pittsfield |
| Bristol | Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton |
| Dukes | Edgartown |
| Essex | Lawrence, Newburyport, and Salem |
| Franklin | Greenfield |
| Hampden | Springfield |
| Hampshire | Northampton |
| Middlesex | Cambridge and Lowell |
| Nantucket | Nantucket |
| Norfolk | Dedham |
| Plymouth | Brockton and Plymouth |
| Suffolk | Boston |
| Worcester | Fitchburg and Worcester |
| Bristol | Bristol |
| Kent | East Greenwich |
| Newport | Newport |
| Providence | Providence and Woonsocket* |
| Washington | West Kingston (South Kingstown) and Westerly* |
* In Connecticut, I have seen court houses in Danbury (Fairfield Co.) and Rockville (town of Vernon) (Tolland Co.); a few sources have listed them as former county seats or court house locations, along with New Milford and Winsted (town of Winchester) in Litchfield County. These court houses may have (or have had) judicial functions only, and therefore their presence may not indicate former county seat status. In Rhode Island, Westerly and Woonsocket technically may not have been county seats, but they were home to court houses according to many sources.
Last updated July 31, 2003
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