Town file
Stafford, Connecticut
Stafford, Connecticut (Tolland County, Connecticut) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 219, "Bone Fragments & Trashed Trailers" (15 April 2021). In March 2007 Shemiah Smith, a 23-year-old exotic dancer who worked at Kahoots in Vernon, Connecticut under the name Maya, disappeared.
- Town
- Stafford
- County
- Tolland County
- State
- Connecticut
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 219
- Approximate location
- 41.984, -72.308
Episode 219 / 15 April 2021 / 151 min / full
Bone Fragments & Trashed Trailers
"Stafford, Connecticut, we're going to; Tolland or Tolland county" about 0:04:58
The case: Murder of Shemiah Smith (March 2007). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 11,901
- Median age
- about 42 and a half
- Median household income
- $68,813
- Median home value
- $185,700
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,110 a month
- Cost of living
- 99.8
- Religious
- 39.8%
- Crime overall
- ▼ about one third
- Violent crime
- ▼ about two-thirds
History, in brief
- The name is thought to derive from Staffordshire, England. about 0:06:36
- The town began agriculturally. about 0:06:43
- It became part of Tolland County in 1785. about 0:07:17
- Water from tributaries of the Willimantic River provided power for industry. about 0:07:23
- By the mid-1800s Stafford was connected by railroad to other places. about 0:07:41
- It also had a trolley connection to other towns. about 0:07:47
- During the Civil War its factories made cannon balls and other war supplies for the Union forces. about 0:07:47
- The village has the Holt Memorial Foundation. about 0:08:17
- In the 18th century the spring at Stafford Springs was said to cure gout, sterility, pulmonary illness and hysterics. about 0:08:19
- In 1771 John Adams, then a young lawyer, visited Stafford Springs for several days after suffering from overwork and anxiety. about 0:09:24
- Early on the area had iron bogs, and mineral springs drew indigenous peoples. about 0:10:34
- Stafford Springs was first a resort town; its popularity declined in the late 1800s. about 0:10:45
- Textile mills and a button factory later replaced the spa trade. about 0:11:12
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A great small New England town with a solid school system, good public services, water and a government that cares; the reviewer was born and raised there and would never want to leave."about 0:11:31
3 stars
"Vandalism and trespassing are a pastime, even the police station had a hole in its window, and drug use is widespread; the lack of activities may be driving young people to drugs and illegal behaviour. The reviewer lives in a rural area near the Massachusetts border, sees an obvious wage gap, and would be cautious but willing about a closer relationship with the townspeople."about 0:11:51
2 stars
"Growing up there was not great: there is nothing to do but bonfires in the woods or drugs, anything fun is at least a twenty-minute drive, and the only jobs are at pizza places, Big Y, McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts. New businesses close within two years, two rotaries are being built, the selectmen do nothing, three families run the town, the downtown looks like a dump and the people are narrow-minded and judgmental; the schools are good but the reviewer would never choose to move there."about 0:14:06
2 stars
"Lots of problems with defective concrete and foundations; fire beware."about 0:19:09
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Willington, Connecticut6.6 miles
- Ellington, Connecticut8.6 miles
- Agawam, Massachusetts19 miles
- Chicopee, Massachusetts19 miles
- Simsbury, Connecticut28 miles
- Northampton, Massachusetts30 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.