Marion is a neighborhood in 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 ...

Southington Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville. Geography Southington is situ ...

Hartford County Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains the ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is generally the area in the vicinity of the intersection of Route 322 and Marion Avenue just north of the Cheshire town line. The neighborhood includes the Marion Historic District, which is 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 ...

Post office

There is a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

in Marion, assigned the ZIP code 06444.US Postal Service zip code lookup
accessed June 23, 2009 When the post office was established in the 19th century, it was given the name "Marion" in reference to

Marion, Alabama Marion is a city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 3,686, up 4.8% over 2000. First known as Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed for a hero of the American Revolu ...

, where some children of prominent local residents had settled. The Marion ZIP code refers only to post office box addresses. Regular mail in the Marion neighborhood is addressed as

Plantsville, Connecticut Plantsville is a neighborhood in the town of Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut. It is centered at the merger between South Main Street (road from the Milldale section) and West Main Street (road from the Marion section). As of the 2000 C ...

(06479).

History

Marion was first settled as a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

ing community in the 18th century, beginning in 1739 when land in the Marion area was

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

ed and divided. Southington was then part of the

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...

. The area now known as Marion was called "Little Plain" and extended south from the bluff now named French Hill to the Cheshire

town line A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

, which was south of its current position. Little Plain's location near the foot of a high ridge made its

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

desirable for agriculture. The community's 18th-century farms were located along a north–south road from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

(now Marion Avenue) that passed through the area. 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 Marion community was the site of an encampment by French general

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, 1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807, was a French nobleman and general whose army played the decisive role in helping the United States defeat the British army at Yorktown in 1781 during the ...

and his troops. In June 1781, French troops under Rochambeau's command left

and marched to Marion, where they made their eighth camp along their route through Connecticut. They remained in the area for four days. Rochambeau and his officers took shelter in Asa Barns Tavern, and the troops set up camp on a hill on the other side of the road. The area of the encampment has since become known as French Hill, and a marker on the east side of Marion Avenue commemorates the French campsite. Rochambeau revisited Asa Barns Tavern again on the return march on October 27, 1782.H.R. Timlow,
Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn
', (1875) In 1987, the Asa Barns Tavern (also known as the Levi B. Frost House) came under the protection of the National Park Service when it was listed on the

for its architectural and historical significance.David F. Ransom (1987), , Connecticut Historical Commission The building is now a private residence. The Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike, an east–west road, was extended through Marion in 1813, making the community a crossroads. Small-scale industrial activity began in the 19th century, including the manufacture of

carriage bolt A carriage bolt (also called coach bolt and round-head square-neck bolt) is a form of bolt used to fasten metal to metal or, more commonly, wood to metal. Also known as a cup head bolt in Australia and New Zealand. It is distinguished from othe ...

s and nuts in the

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

of L.B. Frost and Son, which began operation in Marion in 1842, using the

water power Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a ...

of Humiston Brook. In modern times, Marion has primarily been a suburban community. Suburban development began in 1914, when a trolley line was built between Marion and the city of

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

. Suburban growth continued in the subsequent decades. The period from the late 1960s through the late 1980s was one of particularly strong growth.

Historic district designation

The Marion Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 21, 1988, as a result of a nomination submitted by the Connecticut Historical Commission in July 1988. The nomination described the district as being architecturally significant "as a collection of well-preserved buildings dating from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries which together reflect the historical development of the Marion community of Southington." Contributing properties in the district were described as representing three distinct periods on Marion's history: "early agricultural development" from about 1770 to 1842, "19th-century industrial activity and community growth" from 1842 to 1900, and "early suburban growth" from 1914 to 1938.

Significant properties

The historic district includes 34 primary contributing properties, two of which are across the town line in the town of Cheshire. Architectural styles in the district include

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

Italianate 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 ...

and Federal. Some of the more significant properties include: * Asa Barnes Tavern (also known as Levi B. Frost House), 1089 Marion Avenue, is now a private residence and in 1987 was added to the

. * Barnes-Frost House *Miles Upson House, 1316 Marion Avenue, a one-story gable front

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

example, "perhaps the oldest house in the district to retain its original form" (See photo #3 in photos accompanying NRHP nomination) *The Lester Beecher House, 1166 Marion Avenue, has been termed a Queen Anne style house for its irregular massing and 3 story tower.

References

{{authority control Geography of Hartford County, Connecticut Geography of New Haven County, Connecticut Neighborhoods in Connecticut Cheshire, Connecticut Southington, Connecticut Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic districts in New Haven County, Connecticut Historic places on the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut

Post office

History

Historic district designation

Significant properties

See also

References