New Haven was one of Connecticut's first four counties established by an act of the Connecticut General Court in Hartford on May 10, 1666. The New Haven Colony had been growing since 1637 and if the settlement had been granted a Royal charter to exist, it may have become a State of it's own. Instead, the colony submitted to the Colony of Connecticut, which had been granted a charter and was part of the New England Confederation, which was comprised of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Connecticut Colony. At the time of it's formation, New Haven County consisted of the towns of Guilford, Milford, and New Haven.