Torringford Street Historic District
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The Torringford Street 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 ...
on the east side of the city of
Torrington, Connecticut Torrington is the most populated municipality and only city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut and the Northwest Hills (Connecticut), Northwest Hills region. It is also the core city of Greater Torrington, one of the ...
. The district includes properties along Torringford Street ( Route 183), the main thoroughfare of the Torringford section of the city, between
United States Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massa ...
and West Hill Road. The road is one of the oldest in Torrington, and this section is notable for containing a cross-section of well-preserved architecture from the 18th to the mid-20th centuries. 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 v ...
in 1991.


Description and history

The land that makes up the city of Torrington was settled in the 1730s and incorporated as a town in 1740. Its bounds were determined by the colonial legislature in 1732, at which time the route of Torringford Street was also laid out. The area's economy was based on agriculture, and it gained a separate identity from the town center due to geographic separation. A separate church was approved for the Torringford district in 1763 and built in 1768; it has not survived, but its location near West Pearl Street is marked. The area flourished with modest commerce in the mid-19th century, but became economically flat when focus of economic development moved to the town center with the arrival of the railroad in 1849. The area has remained largely agricultural since then, with some residential subdivision taking place. and The historic district covers some , extending along Torringford Street from US 202 to West Hill Road. All of the district's buildings face Torringford Street, except one property on Hayden Hill Road, which contributes to the visual landscape. The modern road's roughly straight alignment is essentially what was laid out in 1732. The district includes 119 historically significant buildings, most of the modest wood frame residential structures. Notable early buildings include the c. 1757 Shubael Griswold Tavern, which was one of the first taverns in the community.


See also

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield Cou ...


References

{{authority control Torrington, Connecticut Federal architecture in Connecticut Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut Neighborhoods in Connecticut Historic districts in Litchfield County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut