Newtown Borough Historic District

Newtown Borough Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Edmond Town Hall
Location:	Roughly, Main St. from Hawley Rd. to Academy Ln., Newtown, Connecticut
Coordinates:	41°24′43″N 73°18′32″W / 41.41194°N 73.30889°W / 41.41194; -73.30889Coordinates: 41°24′43″N 73°18′32″W / 41.41194°N 73.30889°W / 41.41194; -73.30889
Area:	100 acres (40 ha)
Built:	1780
Architect:	multiple
Architectural style:	Colonial, Italianate, Colonial Revival
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	96001458[1]
Added to NRHP:	December 20, 1996

The Newtown Borough Historic District is a 100-acre (40 ha)historic district in the borough of Newtown within the town of Newtown in Fairfield County, Connecticut. There is a local historic district, and an overlapping district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The National Register district includes just a small part of the current borough, but about half of the original borough as it was first incorporated in 1824.^{[citation needed]}

The local historic district was smaller, but the Ram's Pasture and another property were added in 2009. The district has a governance structure.^[2]

The district was designated as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1996. The district area has buildings dating back from 1780. The district includes the separately NRHP-listed Glover House and Caleb Baldwin Tavern.

In 1996, the district included 225 contributing buildings, 2 other contributing structures, 1 contributing site, and 2 contributing objects.^[1]

The one contributing site in the district is the "Ram's Pasture", a meadow that was common land.^[3]

Significant properties in the district include:

• Glover House
• Caleb Baldwin Tavern: The Baldwin Tavern is along the march route taken by French commander Rochambeau's troops in 1781 en route to Yorktown, Virginia and/or in 1782 during their return. It was built c. 1763 and is a two-and-a-half-story house. It housed some of the army's officers in June 1781, en route to the Siege of Yorktown. It also an example of traditional 18th-century New England architecture, and retains some details from that time period.^[4]
• 17 Main Street, home of Arthur J. Smith, publisher of the Newtown Bee newspaper which began in 1877 (see accompanying photo #9)^[3]:15-16
• Liberty Pole/Flagpole^[3]:16
• Soldiers and Sailors Monument
• Edmond Town Hall
• Matthew Curtiss House, 44 Main Street, a museum of the Newtown Historical Society (see photo #1, left)^[3]:17[5]
• Gen. Daniel Baldwin House, 38 Main Street, a formal Georgian style building that contrasts to most of the other architecture (see photo #4)^[3]:17
• Cyrenius H. Booth Library

In 2003, citizen protests and a petition of 700 residents led to re-siting of a planned communications tower so that it would not be visible from the historic district.^[6]

See also

• March Route of Rochambeau's army
• List of historic sites preserved along Rochambeau's route

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Nancy K. Crevier (2009/1/22). "Borough Historic District Welcomes New Properties". The Newtown Bee. http://newtownbee.com/Features/2009-01-22__12-17-53/Borough+Historic+District+Welcomes+New+Properties. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Bruce Clouette and Hoang Tinh (November 9, 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Newtown Borough Historic District". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/96001458.pdf.  and Accompanying 20 photos, from 1995 (captions on page 23 of text document)
4. ^ Clouette, Bruce (February 1, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Caleb Baldwin Tavern". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/02000869.pdf. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
5. ^ "Newtown Historical Society". http://www.newtownhistory.org/. 
6. ^ Andrew Gorosko (December 31, 2003). "State Approves Telcom Tower For Edmond Road". The Newtown Bee. http://newtownbee.com/News/2003-12-31__13-28-39/State+Approves+Telcom+Tower+For+Edmond+Road. 

External links

• Newtown Historical Society, including photo of Matthew Curtiss House
• The Newtown Bee, community newspaper founded in 1877