Town file
Barkhamsted, Connecticut
Barkhamsted, Connecticut (Litchfield County, Connecticut) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 328, "Is Granny A Psychopath?" (20 October 2022). In June 1965 Dorothy Thompson, known to everyone as Doddy, was thirty years old and living in a small Cape Cod house on Route 179 in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, with her husband Arnfin and their two-year-old daughter Krista.
- Town
- Barkhamsted
- County
- Litchfield County
- State
- Connecticut
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 328
- Approximate location
- 41.936, -72.973
Episode 328 / 20 October 2022 / 176 min / full
Is Granny A Psychopath?
"This is Barcomstead, Connecticut, which looks like Bark Hamstead... It's in Litchfield County, area code 860." about 0:05:18
The case: Murder of Dorothy 'Doddy' Thompson (June 15, 1965). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 3,587
- Median age
- 45.6
- Median household income
- $81,792
- Median home value
- $322,100
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $1,280
- Cost of living
- 108
- Religious
- 42%
- Property crime
- ▼ less than half
- Violent crime
- ▼ about one quarter
History, in brief
- Originally each person who wanted to move here was granted one acre of land for every 10 pounds he paid in taxes. about 0:06:44
- The rest of the land was divided into larger lots and sold off by lottery. about 0:07:05
- The town was first applied for incorporation in 1774, before the Revolution. about 0:07:27
- It was named for Berkhamsted in England, about 30 miles northwest of London. about 0:07:34
- In 1764 it was listed, along with Winchester and Colebrook, as a town not inhabited. about 0:07:45
- The first census, in 1856, listed 18 people living there. about 0:08:02
- By 1771 there were 20 families in the town. about 0:08:11
- By 1774 there were 250 people. about 0:08:15
- By 1800 there were 1,437 people. about 0:08:20
- The population dropped off in the 1830s and has gone up and down since. about 0:08:24
- The last murder in the town before 1965 was in 1914, when county commissioner Hubert V. Case was attacked in his store, died the next day, and two suspects were convicted and hanged a year later. about 1:16:34
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A new resident says it is becoming their favourite place: amazing scenery and wildlife, a quiet area with a lot going on but really nothing at all, and they are glad it is their new home."about 0:09:18
4 stars
"Many restaurants serve delicious food and are affordable."about 0:10:23
3 stars
"Their own experience has been excellent, but not everyone feels that way, so they knocked a star off."about 0:10:41
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Simsbury, Connecticut8.6 miles
- Agawam, Massachusetts19 miles
- Bantam, Connecticut20 miles
- New Britain, Connecticut20 miles
- Chicopee, Massachusetts27 miles
- Ellington, Connecticut27 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.