The Haddam Center Historic District is a
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 ...
encompassing the institutional and residential center of the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Haddam, Connecticut
Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 8,452 at the time of the 2020 census. The town was also home to the now-decommissioned Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.
History
Haddam, in Middlesex County, is locat ...
that was listed on 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 v ...
in 1989 as a result of efforts by the Haddam Historical Society.
[About Haddam Historical Society]
Haddam Historical Society website, accessed January 9, 2011[ and ]
The town center of Haddam was first laid out in 1662, when land was set aside for a
colonial meeting house
A colonial meeting house was a meeting house used by communities in colonial New England. Built using tax money, the colonial meeting house was the focal point of the community where the town's residents could discuss local issues, conduct reli ...
, a minister's house, and land for the minister. The town's early growth was slow, because the terrain was not very suitable for agriculture. After American independence, the town began to grow more substantially, buoyed by construction of the Middlesex Turnpike along what are now CT 154 and Walkley Hill Road. The town center grew as a stop on the turnpike, and also benefited from traffic along the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
, which formed its eastern boundary. The introduction of steamship and railroad traffic beginning around 1850 led to a decline in the town's fortunes.
The district is basically linear in nature, extending about along CT 154 and Walkley Hill Road. It boasts a fine collection of Federal period residential architecture, and a number of institutional and civic buildings constructed in the mid-19th century out of locally quarried granite.
It includes the
James Hazelton House, at 23 Hayden Hill Rd., which is separately NRHP-listed,
[ as well as the Brainerd Memorial Library.][
]
See also
*
References
External links
Haddam Historical Society
{{National Register of Historic Places
Haddam, Connecticut
Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut
Colonial architecture in Connecticut
Federal architecture in Connecticut
Historic districts in Middlesex County, Connecticut
Neighborhoods in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut