Beaver Hills is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

in the city of

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. The older, east central portion of the neighborhood is 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 ...

as the Beaver Hills Historic District. The southwest portion is a state historic district called the Fairlawn-Nettleton Historic District. The name “Beaver Hills” dates to the Colonial era, when it was a piece of high ground near several "

beaver pond A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers to create a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way th ...

s".

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

James Dwight Dana James Dwight Dana Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcano, volcanic activity, and the ...

later attributed the "Beaver Pond" to natural

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

s, rather than the activity of

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

s.James Dwight Dana (1870)
Geology of the New Haven Region: With Special Reference to the Origin of its Topographical Features
Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor The Beaver Hills Historic District covers of the neighborhood north of Goffe Street and east of Ella Grasso Boulevard. It was listed on the

in 1986 and included 235

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. The listing recognized the district's significance as a nearly intact example of an early 20th-century

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

an residential subdivision. The district in 1986 was composed mostly of single-family homes built between 1908 and 1936. One feature of note was the presence of "one of the city's best collections of early 20th-century garages." The district includes brick gateway piers at the intersections of Goffe Terrace with Norton Parkway and with Ellsworth Avenue, at the south end of the district. The piers include "tile plaques depicting beavers" and "were constructed by the Beaver Hills Company in 1908 to define the southern terminus of the neighborhood." and Significant

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

in the historic district include the Pitkin House (1931

Tudor Revival style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

house at 207 Colony Road) and the Alan Krevit House (1936

Colonial Revival style The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

house at 186 Colony Road)

References

External links

Beaver Hills Historic District
New Haven Preservation Trust website (text adapted from NRHP nomination, plus gallery of 7 photos) Neighborhoods in New Haven, Connecticut {{Connecticut-geo-stub