The Hazardville Historic District 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 ...

in the Hazardville section of Enfield,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, that 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 ...

Description

The district consists of what was essentially a company village associated with the manufacture of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

between 1835 and 1913. It is an irregularly shaped area of historic resources that surround two interior areas that are not historical. and The historic district encompasses a section of Hazard Avenue ( Connecticut Route 190 and adjacent roads, as well as a now-parklike section of the banks of the Scantic River, where the operations of the Hazard Powder Company were located. The district is dominated by four public buildings constructed of

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

with

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

trim: a public school, the Hazardville Institute, the former St. Mary's Episcopal Church, now incorporated as Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, and the Hazardville United Methodist Church. The school and the institute are both of Italian Renaissance Revival design and were built in 1864 and 1869, respectively. The Episcopal church is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

structure built in 1863. The Methodist church, built in 1872, is in the

Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

. The public school is now used as a

day care center Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

. A former horse barn of the Hazard Powder Company, located at 32 South Maple Avenue, was turned into a square dancing hall in 1959 and is now used as a venue for special events.Town of Enfield Plan of Conservation and Development
November 2009. Hazardville Historic District, pages 165-166. The foundations of 21 buildings of the original gunpowder factory complex (originally 200 buildings) can still be found near the Scantic River within

Scantic River State Park Scantic River State Park is a public recreation area consisting of several separated parcels totaling along the Scantic River in the towns of Enfield, East Windsor, and Somers, Connecticut. The state park is suitable for hiking, fishing, and ...

. The Hazardville Institute building, at the corner of Hazard and Maple avenues, was used for many years as a public hall and community center. It was abandoned in the 1970s and was saved from demolition when it was leased to the Hazardville Institute Conservancy. The building is currently undergoing renovation. When renovation is complete, there are plans for the building to include an exhibit about the history of the Hazard Powder Company.Around the State: Hazardville
Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, undated news story, retrieved August 11, 2010 The district was listed on the

in 1980.

Partial building listing

Other significant contributing properties in the district include: * 7 Cooper Street, from 1850 * 9 Cooper Street, from 1850 * 269-271 Hazard Street,

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

from 1840, with additional Greek Revival wing added later * 273-275 Hazard Street, vernacular with Greek Revival elements, from 1845 * 325 Hazard Street, 1850, Greek Revival and Italianate * 329 Hazard Street, 1865, Italianate and Second Empire * 353-355 Hazard Street, 1850, Greek Revival * Town Hall, 359 Hazard Avenue, Renaissance Revival (but tower and pavilion replaced by an addition in the 20th century) * Old Methodist Church, 292-294-296-298 Hazard Avenue, c. 1830-1850, was prior Methodist church (see accompanying photo #9) * 358 Hazard Avenue, 1850, Greek Revival * Cedar Street Cemetery (see accompanying photo #8) * St. Mary's Episcopal Church (see accompanying photo #11) * Superintendent's House (see accompanying photo #15) * Queen Anne house on School Street (see accompanying photo #17) * Worker's house on Cedar Street (see accompanying photo #19) * Cottage with wave molding ( bargeboards) on South Maple Street (see accompanying photo #21)

References

External links

Colonel Augustus Hazard

Enfield Hazardville Photographic Tour
{{National Register of Historic Places Enfield, Connecticut Renaissance Revival architecture in Connecticut Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Description

Partial building listing

See also

References

External links