The Five Mile River Landing Historic District encompasses a predominantly 19th-century residential area in the

Rowayton Rowayton is an affluent coastal village in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, roughly from New York City. The community is governed by the Sixth Taxing District of Norwalk and has a number of active local associations, including the Civic Assoc ...

section of Norwalk, Connecticut. It extends along Rowayton Street from Witch Lane to Pennoyer Street, and includes all of the properties on the latter as well. The area was a major local center of the shipping industry in the 19th century. The historic 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 2009.

Description and history

The Five Mile River Landing area is located in the heart of Norwalk's

area, in the far southwest of the city, on the eastern bank of the

Five Mile River The Five Mile River is a river located in Connecticut's Northeast Corner and flows through the towns of Thompson, Putnam, and Killingly.The original Nipmuc name was ''Assawaga'', meaning "place between" or "halfway place". The Assawaga received ...

, which separates Norwalk from Darien. The historic district is roughly linear, extending from Witch Lane in the north to a triangular traffic island at Wilson Avenue in the south, and then easterly on Pennoyer Street. This area is reflective of the area's early settlement pattern, and contains a diversity of residential architectural styles of the 19th century. It also includes Pinkney Park, where the site of a period shipyard can be found, a boathouse now on the park grounds, the Rowayton Methodist Church, and a building original constructed as a hotel. The Rowayton area was settled by English colonists early in the 18th century, and was largely agricultural for most of that century. In the 19th century, the harvesting of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

s developed as an industry, and the shipyard established at what is now Pinkney Park was founded in the early 19th century. Oystering reached its peak in the second half of the 19th century, when the village began to develop as a summer resort area. Vacationing New Yorkers were boarded in local houses, and the Rowayton Hotel was opened c. 1848 to serve a larger influx of tourists. The streetcar was introduced to Rowayton in 1890, beginning the transformation of the area into a more suburban area for workers employed in South Norwalk. The residential architecture of the district is reflective of these phases of the area's development.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Norwalk, 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

Description and history

See also

References