The Somersville Historic District encompasses the historic components of the mill village of Somersville in western Somers,

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 district is centered on a mill complex on the

Scantic River The Scantic River (pronounced SKAN-tik) is a river that flows through the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut and is tributary to the Connecticut River. The Scantic River's tributaries rise in the towns of Hampden, Wilbraham, East Longm ...

, which divides the district. The most significant years of development were between about 1835 and 1935, although the area has a history (and surviving structures) dating to the 1760s. 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 1995. The Mill itself has since burned down and as of October 2018 is currently open field, although the canal structure remains in place.

Description and history

The town of Somers was settled in the 17th century as part of the Agawam Plantation (now Springfield, Massachusetts), was separately incorporated in 1739, and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony in 1749. The area that became Somersville village grew around a sawmill and gristmill established on the Scantic River, but remained little more than a rural crossroads village until 1835. In that year, Spencer & Chaffee were the first in a series of proprietors to use the mill privilege for the production of textiles. In 1853 the business was acquired by Holmes & Reynolds, which expanded the mill. It operated through the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, producing

satinet Satinet is a finely woven fabric with a finish resembling satin, but made partly or wholly from cotton or synthetic fiber. The fibers may be natural (as with cotton, woolens or cashmere wool) or synthetic. In the United States of America The pro ...

, but closed a few years later. In 1879 the mill was purchased by the Somersville Manufacturing Company, which built the present three-story brick building, and greatly expanded and modernized its production capacity over the next decades. The company also built large numbers of surviving mill housing beginning about 1885, including a significant number of multiunit and tenement-style buildings. and The historic district is roughly T shaped, the base of the T extending along Maple Street on either side of the mill complex. At its northern end it meets Main Street (

Connecticut Route 190 Route 190 is a state route in the northern part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It starts at Route 75 in the town of Suffield and proceeds eastward across the Connecticut River through the towns of Enfield, Somers, and Stafford. It ends a ...

), which forms the top of the T, extending westward from the Maple Street junction and eastward just beyond School Street (whose section between Main and Maple Streets is also included in the district). Most of the district consists of vernacular residential architecture built for housing mill workers, although there are a few houses that date to the area's 18th-century period. The district also includes 19th-century retail buildings, two churches, and a school.

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Historic districts in Tolland County, Connecticut Somers, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Tolland County, Connecticut Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References

External links