The Parker Hill Rural Historic District encompasses a large () rural agricultural landscape in eastern
Windham and
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
counties in the US state of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. Roughly centered on Parker Hill Road in northern
Rockingham and southern
Springfield, the district exhibits a history of 200 years of farming, including a collection of
Federal period farm housing. The district 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 ...
in 1993.
Description and history
The Parker Hill area is broadly defined by Parker Hill Road to the west and Obrien and Lower Parker Hill Roads to the east, which run from the
Williams River in Rockingham, north to Seavers Brook, a tributary of the
Black River. Parker Hill Road traverses a ridge that rises several hundred feet above the valley floor of the Williams River. The landscape today is that of an agricultural and post-agricultural area, with some of its historic farms still operating, but with many abandoned fields that are reverting to mixed forest. These fields are typically divided by stone walls created in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when the land was first cleared for cultivation. Stone walls also tend to line the few public roads through the area.
The district includes 25 farm properties, and a number of smaller parcels, typically subdivided from those farms, on which summer houses have been built. The farm complexes are mostly detached, with a farmhouse and several outbuildings. The houses are typically
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
interpretations of late
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
and
Federal period styling, executed in wood or brick; one farmhouse has modest
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 ...
elements. Four of the houses have second-floor ballrooms, a sign of the builder's prosperity. In addition to the surviving farmsteads, the area is dotted with the remnants of abandoned farmsteads, in some cases limited to the presence of foundations and cellar holes. Although some farms continue to operate in the area today, many of these properties are now used as seasonal residences.
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See also
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References
{{NRHP in Windsor County, Vermont
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont
Federal architecture in Vermont
Italianate architecture in Vermont
Rockingham, Vermont
Springfield, Vermont
National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Vermont
National Register of Historic Places in Windsor County, Vermont
Historic districts in Windham County, Vermont
Historic districts in Windsor County, Vermont