Cedar Hill (New Haven)

Cedar Hill is a neighborhood located in New Haven, Connecticut. Its area encompasses portions of the city-designated neighborhoods of East Rock, Quinnipiac Meadows, and Mill River. It was named for cedar trees that were once plentiful there. The area was divided from the local surroundings with the construction of I-91 [http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/i91.html] in the 1950s.

Cedar Hill's boundary runs from James Street, up the Mill River, to Rice Field, over Indian Head Rock, to the Hamden town line, across to Middletown Avenue, to the Eastern side of State Street, back up to James Street.

History

Early settlement

David Atwater was one of the earliest European settlers recorded living in Cedar Hill. A farm was assigned to him in the "Neck" as the tract between the Mill and Quinnipiac Rivers. In 1685, David Atwater, Jr. inherited his father's home, now believed to be on View and Ridge Streets. The will described it as an "old House, Barn and Orchard, [...] and twelve acres, lying on both sides ye creek, adjoining to meadow of Isaac Turner's, and twenty acres of upland, ten to ye Cornfield and ten in ye Neck, soth halfe that peese of land fensed in on ye west side of Road and ye Rock." The rest of his property was bequeathed to his son Samuel Atwater, including David's "dwelling house, barne and other buildings, with the Orchard". Remnants of the apple orchards and plants from gardens long ago are thought to still be in the area.

19th century

Prior to the mid 19th century, the Cedar Hill district remained one of the most undeveloped portions of New Haven. The earliest significant settlement of the district does not appear to have taken place until the mid or late 1840s. An 1851 map shows that only about a dozen scattered houses and shops were standing in the area by that time. Virtually all of the buildings stood along or close to the area's two principal streets The Road to Wallingford (now know as upper State Street) and the Middletown Turnpike (now known as Middletown Avenue).

The few residents of the area during this period included the Elias B. Bishop, M. Atwater, J. Matlby, R. Atwater and R. Augur. Henry Eld had lived in the area now known as View St., but when it started becoming more populated he removed his house and relocated.

From the late 1860s through the 1890s most of the development was residential and concentrated it that portion of the area which lay near the junction of State Street and Middletown Ave.

Rock Street, one of the gateway streets going into East Rock Park, was built in or around 1875. It was originally called the Highway to the top of East Rock. Charles Warren and Charles Blatchley developed the Road. Warren Place in the Cedar Hill was named after Charles Warren. The beginning of the street is now a residential area but the better part of it is now closed to cars but can be hiked up to the top of East Rock.

20th century

The most significant feature of the area's development during the first half of the 20th century was the construction of the Cedar Hill Railyard Terminal in the central part of the district between State St. and Middletown Ave.

Began in 1909 as part of an effort by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, Cedar Hill Yards had 14 yards of the 25 that were in New Haven at the time. The Railyard could hold over 15,000 cars at a time. [http://www.lakemirabel.com/Railroad/CedarHill1.html] The trolleys were stored in what is now the Connecticut Transit Bus Terminal. The building still stands virtually unchanged from when it housed trolleys. Even though the railyards are now all but empty they still are a dominant the central part of the Cedar Hill District.

The development of Cedar Hill continued at a gradual pace though the early years of the 20th century. Most of the residents of Cedar Hill Ave. in the early 1900s were there to help with the Ferry Street Congregational Church work. Grace, May and Cedar Hill Ave. were laid out in the Reconstruction Era. These houses were constructed for the working men of the burgeoning manufacturing industries in the adjacent Fair Haven neighborhood.

Although the economic character of Cedar Hill changed gradually, the architectural complexion of the area appears to have changed little since the late 1940s. One of the more important light industry built in the area was the Rock Street Brewing Company owned by George Basserman. Basserman owned the Brewery and the adjacent apartment building (which still stands today on the corner of Rock and 1395 State St.). The best remaining example of scattered commercial structures built in Cedar Hill is the "Michael W. Ferrell Building" on 1296-1304 State Street.

Up until the 1990s Cedar Hill was part of the Fair Haven District of New Haven. The community members at the time were asked to vote what district they wanted to be part of and that is how they became part of the East Rock district.

Bibliography

* "Genealogical Register of the Descendants in the Male Line of David Atwater, One of the Original Planters of New Haven, Conn., to the Sixth Generation, 1873"
* "New Haven Resources Inventory Phase III Northern New Haven" pages 6-9 Written by the city of New Haven found in the New Haven Historical Library"
* Picture from the New Haven Historical Library

External links

* [http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/CityPlan/pdfs/Maps/NeighborhoodPlanningMaps/East_Rock.pdf Map of East Rock neighborhood] , including Cedar Hill in the northeast
* [http://cedarhillct.tripod.com/ Cedar Hill Community Web Site] Info on what is happening in the area
* [http://cedarhillct.tripod.com/historypics// Cedar Hill Maps and pics] Historical Maps and picture that apply to this community (still being worked on)
* [http://environment.transportation.org/pdf/HistoricBridgePreservationPlan.pdf State Bridge Report PDF] Page 126 states the significance of the Ferry Street Railroad Bridge which played a big part in the Cedar Hill Railroad ERA