Roxbury was settled about1713, as a part of Woodbury. A parish was organized in 1743, and a town incorporated in 1796. The name, which we find also in Massachusetts, probably comes from the shire of Roxbury in Scotland. The town is mountainous, with the gorge of the Shepaug River to the west.
Entering the town from Washington by R. 131, Roxbury Fire Tower on Painters Hill lies about 2 miles to the east, with a fine view in all directions. Turning west to Judd's Bridge, and going south along the Shepaug. we reach a ravine in about a mile; on the hillside to the south of it is Gamaliel's Den, with a tradition of counterfeiters. At Roxbury Station, near the barn of C. W. Hodge. on the east side of the river, we find a large boulder known as Pulpit Rock, from which John Eliot is said to have preached to the Indians. Mine Hill lies to the west of the river. reached by a dirt road north from the Station. A silver mine was opened here in early days. Ethan Allen had an interest in it at one time, and Jahez Bacon of Southbury bought up the various titles, which were subject to endless litigation. Later, the mine was found to contain spathic iron, specially adapted to steel making, and a small smelting furnace was built. No commercial mining has been done since 1871, but it is used for demonstration purposes by the School of Mines of Columbia University. The ore vein is along a fault zone, and is a source of many interesting mineral specimens. Ruins of the old smelting furnace can be seen on the west side of the river near the Station. Mine Hill also has granite quarries, and many churches and other buildings in surrounding towns have been built of this stone.
Roxbury Center is reached by R. 67, or by R. 131 from Washington. On the triangular village Green is a monument to Seth 1Warner (1743-1784) who moved to Vermont and was associated with Ethan Allen. He was one of the leaders of the Green Mountain Boys and captured Crown Point, later returning to Roxbury. The original gravestone is in the burial ground at the old center, 2 1/2 miles farther east. The third of the famous Vermont leaders, Remember Baker (1737-1775) lived about 1 mile west of the village, in the old house on the north side of the road. Christ Church, west of the Green, has a lectern and pulpit of Mine Hill stone. The ironwork in the church. made by a farmer parishioner, includes two small crosses of the local spathic iron. The original part of the Episcopal Rectory, north of the Church, was built as a tavern before 1740. Southwest of the Green are two good Colonial houses, built about 1784: the Asahel Bacon House on the west of the street, and the Gen. Ephraim Hinman House on the east. To the southeast, where R. 67 turns the corner, is the Preston House of about the same date.
R. 131, only partly improved, leads south to *Roxbury Falls. The beautiful rapids, where the Shepaug flows between high cliffs, are 2 mile north, reached by a dirt road. Keeping south, beyond the turn to Roxbury Falls, almost to the Southbury line, we come to the Roxbury Garnet Mine. It is an open pit mine, where material was obtained for use in abrasives. One can find beautifully shaped crystals of brown garnet.
Following H. 67 southeast to Southbury, Tophet Ravine lies 1/2 mile to the east, in about 2 miles. The highway makes an attractive drive, and there are some old houses along the way.