The Windsor Farms Historic District encompasses a large historically agricultural area and the historic town center of

South Windsor, Connecticut South Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 26,918 at the 2020 census. History In 1659, Thomas Burnham (1617–1688) purchased the tract of land now covered by the towns of South Windsor and East Har ...

. Its built environment extends mainly along Main Street, between Interstate 291 in the south and Strong Road in the north, with a diversity of architecture spanning three centuries. The district includes agricultural fields on both sides, many of which remain in

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

cultivation. 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 1986.

Description and history

South Windsor was part of

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 ...

, when that town was settled in the 17th century, and was separately incorporated in 1768. It was always an agricultural community, owing the rich farmlands along the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

, which separates it from its parent town.

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

was from an early date a significant crop, which did particularly well, and was the source of the town's fortunes in the 19th century. Tobacco farmers in the town introduced techniques for regulating temperatures in the sheds used for drying and curing tobacco, which still dot the landscape today. Shade-grown tobacco, particularly prized for use as the wrapping of cigars, was introduced in the town in 1901, and remained an important crop into the 1970s. The Windsor Farms area was the principal settlement in colonial South Windsor. It stretched along Main Street, which was laid out near the edge of a terrace above the bottomlands of the Connecticut River. Houses lined the street, with narrow strips of farmland extending west to the river, and eastward as well. The historic district encompasses all of these resources, an area over in size. In many instances, houses have been replaced by later construction, resulting in a wide variety of architectural styles, despite some consistence in spacing and scale. The district includes the 1845 Greek Revival, First Congregational Church, a district schoolhouse also built in 1845, and the Classical Revival Wood Memorial Library building (1926). The oldest house in the district was built in 1694.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut Victorian architecture in Connecticut Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut South Windsor, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References