The Downtown New London Historic District, also known as the Waterfront Historic District,
on the New London Landmarks website refers to with 223 contributing buildings along the waterfront of

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

(NRHP) in 1979, with 190 buildings and . The district was expanded in 1988, adding and 33 buildings.

History and description

Bank Street

Bank Street is so named because it sits atop the bank of the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

."Downtown New London Historic District"
on the Living Places website It is one of New London's oldest sections and was once dominated by fishing wharves and tall ships. Benedict Arnold led British forces through New London in 1781, burning much of the city to the ground during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The waterfront was subsequently rebuilt and the roadway was raised to accommodate additional development and larger ships. The bank itself is now home to a number of restaurants, cafes, and boutiques and is dotted with a handful of 18th-century structures, including: *the Shaw Mansion, built in 1753, which served as Connecticut Navy Headquarters during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

*Bukeley House, built in 1796; the original owner of this house served with

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

Bank Street also includes 19th-century buildings, including: * New London Customhouse, built in 1833, the oldest such building continuously operated in the United States *the Brown House at 258 Bank Street at the intersection of Tilley Street, built in 1833 in the

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

/ Greek Revival style for Benjamin Brown, using the same materials as the Custom House including granite quarried from the ledge behind the house *the site of the events surrounding the slave ship ''

La Amistad ''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''Friendship'') was a 19th-century two- masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave ...

State Street

State Street runs east-west through the District from Huntington Street to Water Street and is lined with 19th-century buildings. Notable exceptions are the 1787 New London County Courthouse at the head of State Street, which was separately designated to the NRHP and is not part of the District, and the 1740 Timothy Green printing studio off State and Green Streets. At one time the 1774 Nathan Hale School House was located on State Street, but it has been moved to Atlantic Street north of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. State Street is also the location of a number of notable buildings, such as: *

Leopold Eidlitz Leopold Eidlitz (March 10, 1823, Prague, Bohemia – March 22, 1908, New York City) was a prominent New York architect best known for his work on the New York State Capitol (Albany, New York, 1876–1881), as well as " Iranistan" (1848), P. T. B ...

's First Church of Christ (Congregational), a Gothic Revival structure built in 1850, located at the corner of State and Union Streets"Architects and Architecture"
on the New London Landmarks website *the 1856 First Baptist Church at 268 State Street, designed in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

by William T. Hallett *Eidlitz's

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

Harris Place (1885) at 159 State Street, a mixed-use building which housed offices, eight luxury apartments, and the Hislop, Porteus & Mitchell department store *Lyric Hall (1898) at 243 State Street, designed by James Sweeney, which had a small theater used for lectures and music and dance recitals *Ewing & Chappell's 1905 Thames Club at 290 State Street *James Sweeney's Beaux-Arts New London City Hall (1912), also known as the Municipal Building, at 181 State Street *The 1930 Greek Revival bank building at 250 State Street * Lena Building (originally J.N. Harris Building), 1884-1885 * The

New London Public Library The Public Library of New London is a historic library located at 63 Huntington Street at the corner of State Street, New London, Connecticut. The library was given to the city by Henry Philomen Haven. It was constructed in 1889-92Plaque on buildi ...

is also on State Street at the corner of Huntington Street, built in 1889-92 and designed by

Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic, religious, and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry ...

in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Green Street is also part of the downtown historic area, just off State. It was laid out officially in 1787, and many of the buildings in this neighborhood date from 1760-1792 and survived the torch of Benedict Arnold.

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

's favorite watering spot was Dutch's Tavern, better known as The Dutch and housed in a 1760 building. The home at 79 Green dates to around 1801 and is known as The Richard Douglass House;"The Richard Douglass House"
/ref> Douglass was a veteran of the American Revolution, and the house is still a private residence. Also in the immediate area is the Starr Street District, a group of row houses built in the first two decades of the 1800s. The New London Railroad Station is also within the physical confines of the district, but not part of it; it is separately listed on the NRHP like the Courthouse, Customhouse, and Public Library.

Gallery

File:First Church of Christ Congregational Church, New London, Connecticut.jpg, First Church of Christ (1850) File:Harris Pace, 159 State Street, New London from west.jpg, Harris Place (1885) File:243 State Street Lyric Hall New London.jpg, Lyric Hall (1898) File:290 State Street Thames Club New London.jpg, The Thames Club (1905) File:Savings Bank of New London, Connecticut.jpg, Savings Bank of New London (1905) File:New London Municipal Building, Connecticut.jpg, New London City Hall (1912) File:250 State Street Connecticut National Bank Building New London from east.jpg, 250 State Street (1930)

References

Notes

External links