Wolcott was settled in the 1730 and was called Farmingbury until the name was changed to Wolcott in 1796. Until it established an independent church parish of its own, it was identified by either of its parent towns - Waterbury or Farmington. Farmingbury successfully petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly to create the First Ecclesiastical Society of Farmingbury in 1770 and became incorporated as a town in 1796.