The Greenwood Avenue Historic District encompasses the historic commercial village center of
Bethel, Connecticut. Extending along Greenwood Avenue from P.T. Barnum Square to Depot Place, the district includes a variety of commercial and residential architecture from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Description and history
Bethel began as a parish subdivision (established 1759) of
Danbury, and was separately incorporated in 1855. Its early community center was located a short way northeast of Greenwood Avenue, at the site of the present Congregational church. In the early 19th century, the Greenwood Avenue area became home to a number of small hat factories, and commercial development along the avenue began in earnest after the railroad arrived in 1852. The eastern end of the downtown was anchored by the creation in 1881 of P.T. Barnum Square, donated to the town by native son
P.T. Barnum.
The
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
includes 29
contributing buildings
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
, 5 non-contributing buildings, and the town green, P. T. Barnum Square. It includes a former railroad station converted into a brewery, and a World War I
Doughboy bronze statue sculpted by
Ernest Moore Viquesney in P. T. Barnum Square. The oldest building in the district is the
Seth Seelye House
The Seth Seelye House, now the Bethel Public Library, is a historic building at 189 Greenwood Street in Bethel, Connecticut. Built in 1842, the house is gable-fronted, with four relatively slender Doric style columns in a portico supporting th ...
, built about 1842; it is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture, and now houses the public library. The Bethel Opera House, built as a Greek Revival building about 1848, was given an Italianate restyling, and served as a community gathering space for many years.
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See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Fairfield County, Connecticut
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Buildings and structures in Bethel, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Italianate architecture in Connecticut
Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut
Historic districts in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut