The Southport Historic District in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut is a area historic district 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 ...

in 1971. It preserves a portion of the modern neighborhood and former borough of

Southport, Connecticut Southport is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is located along Long Island Sound between Mill River and Sasco Brook, where it borders Westport. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,710. Settle ...

. Since the British burnt almost all of Southport's structures in 1779, there is only one home built prior to that date, the Meeker House at 824 Harbor Road, which survives.

Description

The area of the district is bounded on the north by the Metro-North railroad tracks, on the south by the Mill River and Southport Harbor, on the west by Old South Road, and on the east by Rose Hill Road. It includes additional properties on both sides of Old South Road and Rose Hill Road, but excludes the commercial and industrial properties along Pequot Avenue inside the so-defined area. This is about a quarter of the former borough area of Southport, which ran from Mill River to Sasco Creek, and from the Southport Harbor to Mill Hill. A local commission enforces preservation rules in the district (and also in two other historic districts in the town of Fairfield). Alterations to properties in the district have to be approved. A case where a Greek Revival mansion owner placed a large sculpture on the grounds went all the way to the U.S. supreme court in 2007. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the commission, that the sculpture qualified as a structure and required commission approval. It was the Historic District Commission of Fairfield. More here. The 80 foot, six ton sculpture by German artist Anselm Kiefer, titled "Narrow as the Vessels", was donated to a museum, and the owner put even more striking (although lighter) sculptures on the lawn instead. In 1970, the NRHP nomination for the district argued it was "significant because it has been the center of trade and commerce in Fairfield and because its history is typical of the development of commercial life in many New England ports in the fifty years following the revolutionary war. The architecture of the district consists primarily of buildings constructed after 1779 when the British virtually destroyed Fairfield. It is a valuable concentration of Greek Revival and Victorian structures which were for the most part the homes of substantial men whose wealth came from their involvement in commerce, banking, and shipping." and It includes more than 150 contributing buildings. The more significant ones include: *750 Harbour Road, the house of Oliver Perry, a significant figure (but not the more famous

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...

), a Greek Revival house with a pediment above four Doric columns; *780 Harbor Road, house of Walter Perry III, a Federal style house built in 1830 *712 Harbor Road, a Greek Revival house with Corinthian columns *478 Harbor Road, built in 1831 *72 Willow Street, childhood home of Joseph Sheffield, founder of the

Rock Island Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

*104 Old South Road, home of Paschal Sheffield, a privateer for Argentina during its war for independence from Spain *824 Harbor Road, Meeker House, built prior to 1766, only structure that is known to have survived the British burning of Southport in 1779 *25 Westway Road, built in 1856, has gingerbread trim *95 Westway Road, built in 1840 *564 Harbor Road, built in 1835 by a shipowner and captain, Charles C. Perry, built in a Greek Revival style which was later altered but then restored in 1926 *"The Bulkeley Houses", at 14 Willow Street, 104 Main Street, 142 Main Street, 114 Westway Road, 892 Harbor Road *187 Westway Road, built as a

saltbox A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...

for Dimon prior to 1818, since enlarged and altered. It has the "Dimon Oak", known to be at least 260 years old in 1970, which stood nearly 100 feet tall and measured 19.5 feet in circumference *95 Main Street, built c. 1827, which served as a school, a place of worship, and as a town hall. The building, now a residence, at some point after 1854 was moved closer to Main Street and was altered. *450 Harbor Road *the "Nichols Houses", at 155 Rose Hill Road, 494 Harbor Road, 534 Harbor Road *three Victorian era houses at 658 Pequot Road, 418 Harbor Road, 385 Harbor Road *798 Harbor Road, now a house, the main part of which was a store in the 1850s. In 1894 it was the "Bachelor's Comfort, and Married Men's Relief" club, during World War I it was a British War Relief something, and later it was the first clubhouse for the Pequot Yacht Club. *Tide Mill Building, at 95 Harbor Road *668-670 Harbor Road *62 Center Street, a Greek Revival house

Pequot Library The Pequot Library is an association library, association and :Rare book libraries in the United States, special collections library in Southport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1887, and opened in 1894. The library is known for its robust speci ...

, at 720 Pequot Avenue

Harbor Road

Harbor Road runs along the harbor and all of it is included in the district File:Captain Ward Bulkley House, 298 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Captain Ward Bulkley House, 298 Harbor Road File:Zalmon Wakeman House, 418 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Zalmon Wakeman House, 418 Harbor Road File:Captain William Webb Wakeman House, 478 Harbor Road (formerly 137 Rose Hill Road), Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Captain William Webb House, 478 Harbor Road File:Allen Nichols House, 494 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Allen Nichols House, 494 Harbor Road File:Barnabas Sturges House, 534 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Barnabas Sturges House, 534 Harbor Road File:Charles Perry House, 564 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Charles Perry House, 564 Harbor Road File:Henry Sturges House, 608 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Henry Sturges House, 608 Harbor Road File:Wakeman Memorial, 648 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Wakeman Memorial, 648 Harbor Road File:Austin Perry House, 712 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Austin Perry House, 712 Harbor Road File:Oliver H. Perry House, 750 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Oliver H. Perry House, 750 Harbor Road File:Gurdon Perry House, 780 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Gurdon Perry House, 780 Harbor Road File:William Bulkley House, 824 Harbor Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, William Bulkley House, 824 Harbor Road

Pequot Road

Part of Pequot Road is included in the district. Newer, commercial parts are not. File:C. O. Jelliff Company, 354 Pequot Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, C. O. Jelliff Company, 354 Pequot Road File:Trinity Church (P. E.), 651 Pequot Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Trinity Church (P. E.), 651 Pequot Road File:Trinity Parish Chapel (P. E.), 651 Pequot Road (Southport, Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Trinity Parish Chapel, 651 Pequot Road File:Benjamin Pomeroy Carriage House, 658 Pequot Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Benjamin Pomeroy Carriage House File:Benjamin Pomeroy House, 658 Pequot Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Benjamin Pomeroy House File:Francis D. Perry House, 678 Pequot Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Francis D. Perry House, 678 Pequot Road File:Oliver T. Sherwood House, 683 Pequot Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Oliver T. Sherwood House, 683 Pequot Road

Gallery: Other

File:46 Station Street (House), Southport (Fairfield County, Conncecticut).jpg, 46 Station Street File:Connecticut Bank, Mill River Branch, 227 Main Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Connecticut Bank, Mill River Branch, 227 Main Street File:Francis Jelliff House, 212 Center Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Francis Jelliff House, 212 Center Street File:Henry Perry House, 45 Westway Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Henry Perry House, 45 Westway Road File:John Hoyt Perry House, 134 Center Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, John Hoyt Perry House, 134 Center Street File:Julius Pike House, 62 Center Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Julius Pike House, 62 Center Street File:Moses Bulkley House, 176 Main Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Moses Bulkley House, 176 Main Street File:Nehemiah Jennings Block, 668-70 Main Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Nehemiah Jennings Block, 668-70 Main Street File:New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Freight House, Station Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Freight House File:New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Station, Railroad Place, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Station File:Paschal Sheffield House, 104 Old South Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Paschal Sheffield House, 104 Old South Road File:Pequot School, 214 Main Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Pequot School, 214 Main Street File:Simon C. Sherwood House, 67 Westway Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Simon C. Sherwood House, 67 Westway Road File:Southport Congregational Church, 1966.jpg, Southport Congregati... File:Southport Harbor, Mill River, Southport Harbor, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Southport Harbor, Mill River File:Southport Savings Bank, 226 Main Street, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Southport Savings Bank, 226 Main Street File:Wakeman B. Meeker House, 25 Westway Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Wakeman B. Meeker House, 25 Westway Road File:Waugh House, 249 Old South Road, Southport (Fairfield County, Connecticut).jpg, Waugh House, 249 Old South Road

References

External links

Map showing approximate bounds of Southport Historic District (but not exclusion of Pequot Avenue commercial and industrial properties)

(a collection of 800 historical photos compiled by historian V. Louise Higgins. Housed at Pequot Library and accessible online.)

(New York Times photo collection) * Brilvitch, Charles. 1977.
Walking Through History. The Seaports of Black Rock and Southport
'. Fairfield Historical Society. {{National Register of Historic Places Fairfield, Connecticut Federal architecture in Connecticut Historic districts in Fairfield County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut