Mostly known as an agricultural community, the Crystal Lake section of town was for a while a popular summer resort location.

[3] Ellington still has a significant amount of property dedicated to agriculture including cattle and corn farming.

Ellington's sole representative to the voting on the adoption of the United States Constitution by Connecticut was Ebenezer Nash.

[4] Ellington is home to one of America's oldest roadside memorials, remembering a boy killed in a road accident.

A stone in the southwest corner of the town marks the site where Samuel Knight was killed "by a cartwheel rolling over his head in the 10th year of his age, Nov 8, 1812".

The Christian hymn, "I love to steal awhile away" was written by Phoebe Hinsdale Brown in Ellington based on a personal experience in August 1818.

[6] On January 1, 1967, Ellington made national news when its residents assisted the city fire department in rescuing a pilot whose plane was having engine trouble and was unable to locate a runway in a fog that cut visibility to 200 feet.

Under the direction and quick thinking of Resident State Trooper, Lionel Labreche, Connecticut State Police, dozens of people assembled at the town's unlit airstrip, Hyde Field, and illuminated the runway with their headlights, allowing the pilot to land safely.

Ellington's population increased 20.8% between 2000 and 2010, making one of just four municipalities in Connecticut to achieve a growth rate of at least 20% for that period.

Ellington is a rapidly growing community, and is going through the process of suburbanization,[9][20] which is related to the phenomenon of urban sprawl.

[24] The New England Central Railroad (following the Willimantic River) also briefly clips through the very eastern edge of Ellington, though has no stops.