Washington Rides Through

Elm Tree Inn

Washington passed through Farmington at least six times during the war. In 1780 he traveled through the town on the way to Hartford, where he met Rochambeau. On his return, he took the “High Road” through the South Meadow gate and continued on to   Litchfield. In 1781 he stopped for dinner in Farmington before riding to Wethersfield to meet again with Rochambeau.

According to town lore, one local boy, waiting in a crowd to catch sight of Washington outside the Elm Tree Inn, saw him and said, “Why, he’s nothing but a man.”

“That’s right, my lad, I am nothing but a man,” Washington is said to have replied.