The Hartford Colony 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 coast of

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

Waterford, Connecticut Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,571 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 3,074 ...

, which was developed as a summer resort area for the wealthy and elite of

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. The district extends along Leonard Court, New Shore Road, and Shore Road, and includes properties directly abutting the Sound as well as those with views of it that are on higher ground. The area was developed beginning in 1891 by Henry Cooke White, whose summer estate is located on White Point. The area includes a number of large high-quality Shingle style residences, and includes the work of architects

Wilson Eyre Wilson Eyre, Jr. (October 30, 1858 – October 23, 1944) was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the Philadelphia area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in ...

and Briton Martin. The district was added to 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 2005.

Description and history

The Hartford Colony is located in the central portion of Waterford's southern coastline. It is set on the southwest side of a lobe of land that forms the east side of Jordan Cove, and includes the south-facing Magonk Point (the district's southern and eastern limit) and southwest-facing White Point, and is roughly bounded on the north by Pleasure Beach and Lindros Lane. A significant number of the properties in the district have shore frontage, and are accessed via either New Shore Road or Shore Road. Other properties in the district also front on those roads. The southern portion of the district is characterized by large lots with multi-building estates, while the northern section includes an area of densely built houses close to the road. The colony was the development brainchild of Henry C. White, an artist born into a wealthy

family who first saw the area on a summer trip in 1891. He purchased land at what is now called White Point, and had a Shingle-style mansion built there to a design by

, a prominent Philadelphia architect. The area then attracted a number of high-profile members of Hartford's business and cultural upper crust, including Mary Batterson Beach, the daughter of James Batterson, founder of the

Travelers Insurance Company The Travelers Companies, Inc., commonly known as Travelers, is an American insurance company. It is the second-largest writer of U.S. commercial property casualty insurance, and the sixth-largest writer of U.S. personal insurance through indepen ...

. The Beach estate, also in the Shingle style, overlooks Magonk Point. William Putnam, a friend of White, purchased land for more speculative development at the northern end of the district.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Shingle Style architecture in Connecticut Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut Historic districts in New London County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Waterford, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References