Wethersfield [key], town (1990 pop. 25,651), Hartford co., central Conn., on the Connecticut River, adjoining Hartford on the north; settled 1634 by colonists from Watertown, Mass.; inc. 1637. Wethersfield, which is largely residential, produces tools, machinery, frozen foods, metal products, and chemicals. The one of the oldest permanent English settlements in Connecticut, Wethersfield has preserved many colonial buildings, a historical society, and several museums. They include the Joseph Webb House, where Gen. George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau met secretly in 1781 to coordinate the efforts of French forces with the American army in the American Revolution (see Yorktown campaign).
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