Norwichtown Historic District

Norwichtown Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Gates to the Old Burial Ground, part of the district
Location:	Roughly bounded by Huntington Ln., Scotland Rd., and Washington, Town and E. Town Sts., Norwich, Connecticut
Coordinates:	41°32′52″N 72°5′33″W / 41.54778°N 72.0925°W / 41.54778; -72.0925Coordinates: 41°32′52″N 72°5′33″W / 41.54778°N 72.0925°W / 41.54778; -72.0925
Area:	110 acres (45 ha)
Architect:	Multiple
Architectural style:	Colonial, Georgian
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	73001951[1]
Added to NRHP:	January 17, 1973

The Norwichtown Historic District is a historic district in the Norwichtown section of the town of Norwich, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1973.^[1] By then, the district was already a local historic district. The National Register application was promoted by the local historic commission, in connection to its opposition to the demolition of a building in the district area. The local commission sought the listing "for the prestige and status that is sometimes found in the recognition by not only a State agency but the Federal government."^[2]:5

The district includes much of the original settlement area of the town. It includes the Norwichtown Green and "has irregular boundaries on the radiating streets."^[2]:2 The district consists of two parts: one includes the Green and stretches down to the Leffingwell museum at Washington and Town Streets. A smaller, separated part includes six buildings on Harland Road and/or Harland Place.^[2]:9

The district's 110 acres (45 ha) area includes 48 contributing buildings and one other contributing site.^[1]

The district is defined to exclude a large commercial mall, the Norwichtown Mall, and other non-historic areas.

Two "outstanding" buildings in the district, both located on the Norwichtown Green, are the Dr. Daniel Lathrop School and the Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop. The school, built in 1783, is believed to be one of the earliest brick schoolhouses still surviving in Connecticut.^[2]:2

There are five separately NRHP-listed buildings in the district: the Bradford-Huntington House, at 16 Huntington Lane; Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop, at 71 E. Town Street; the 1798 East District School, at 365 Washington Street; the Gen. Jedidiah Huntington House, at 23 E. Town Street; and Leffingwell Inn, a saltbox at 348 Washington Street, in the southeast corner of the first part of the district.^[1][2]

Washington Street includes many pre-1800 homes.

The historic district includes part of the original area of the 1660 settlement of Norwichtown. More than 300 years later, the pattern of development is still similar.^[2]

Gallery

• 

  First Congregational Church (fifth construction, 1801)

See also

• Neighborhoods of Norwich, Connecticut
• National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "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. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Bixby, Susan B. (December 18, 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Norwichtown Historic District". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/73001951.pdf.  and Accompanying 14 photos, from 1970, 1972, and undated