The arrival of Capt John Brewer in 1739

The first permanent settlers in “Green Woods” as Monterey was called, were a group of proprietors from Watertown, Massachusetts.  They were Lieutenant Isaac Garfield, Tomas Slaton and Captain John Brewer, who arrived in the summer of 1739. 

Later that year Captain Brewer built the first saw mill on Konkapot Brook outfall, a tributary of what was then known as Twelve Mile Pond, now known as Lake Garfield.

Since the earliest settlers of 1739, Monterey had been part of Tyringham and was known as South Tyringham. The Captain John Brewer House also known as Ledge Gardens on Main Road and part of the original Land Grant, built around 1750, is on the National Register of Historic Places.