Greens Farms, known to the Pequot as Machamux or “beautiful land”, was the earliest colonial center that emerged in Westport. Long before English settlers arrived, the Paugussett people lived along its coves and tidal creeks, sustaining themselves through fishing, hunting, and small-scale agriculture. Their trade networks and social systems linked them to neighboring peoples and helped them thrive.
The Bankside Farmers were the first English settlers to the area. This group of farmers, which included John Green and Daniel Frost, entered a landscape already shaped by Indigenous stewardship and knowledge. Over time, the newly created fields, West Parish meeting house and related schoolhouse knit the community together. By the early 1730s, the name Greens Farms came into regular use, reflecting both the Green family’s prominence and the area’s agricultural identity.
Today, the name endures as a reminder that Westport’s story begins at Machamux, a place of beauty, sustenance, and trade where Native heritage and early colonial enterprise together laid the town’s foundations.
