East Granby Historic District
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The East Granby Historic District encompasses a predominantly rural and agricultural area of the town of
East Granby, Connecticut East Granby is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,214 at the 2020 census. History Original inhabitants of the current East Granby area were Native American peoples, including the Algonquin/Poquonock, th ...
. Extending northward from the town center and covering some two square miles, it includes one of the state's highest concentrations of surviving 18th and early 19th-century farmsteads, and a relatively little-altered landscape. 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 1988.


Description and history

The town of East Granby, originally known as Turkey Hills, was settled in the early 18th century as part of
Simsbury Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 24,517 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. History Early history At the beginning of the 17th century, th ...
, was incorporated as part of Granby in 1786, and was separately incorporated in 1858. Throughout most of its history it has been an agricultural community, although there have been suburban development pressures beginning in the 20th century. Early settlers laid out strips of land along North and South Main Street, on which they lived and farmed, also engaging in other trades. It was a basically subsistence economy until the early 19th century, when more market-oriented agriculture began to take place. The town was bypassed by railroads, and had little industry, resulting in a slow pace of development. The town center has significant modern elements, but retains aspects of its early rural period, which are also part of the historic district. The historic district is roughly centered on the town center, extending southward from the Suffield town line to about one mile south of the center. Most of this area is still in agriculture, and the area north of the center has a large concentration of late 18th and early-to-mid-19th century farmsteads. Most of the early farmsteads have either colonial Georgian, or later Federal and Greek Revival styles; later buildings tend to be vernacular, lacking Victorian ornamentation. There are two institutional buildings in the district: the stone Congregational Church, located in the town center, and a school building that was repurposed as a library. Most of the buildings are wood frame; only two houses are brick.


See also

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


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 Colonial architecture in the United States Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut East Granby, Connecticut