The Mansfield Center Historic District encompasses the historic early village center of
Mansfield, Connecticut
Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 25,892 at the 2020 census.
Pequot and Mohegan people lived in this region for centuries before the arrival of English settler-immigrants in the late 17th cent ...
. First settled about 1692, it is one of the oldest settlements in
Tolland County
Tolland County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, its population was 149,788. It is incorporated into 13 towns and was originally formed on 13 October 1785 from portions of eastern Ha ...
, and retains a strong sense of 18th century colonial layout. It extends along Storrs Street (
Route 195) extending from Chaffeeville Road in the north to Centre Street in the south, and 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 v ...
in 1972.
Description and history
The area that became the town of Mansfield was first settled about 1692, when Storrs Street was laid out and 21 large house lots were allocated. Two buildings survive from the early period of settlement: the Old Uncle Hall Place, set well on the west side of the street, is a significantly altered house built about 1694, and the
Eleazer Williams House, built 1710, is a well-preserved Georgian parsonage house. The village was largely bypassed by industrial development in the town, which resulted in the creation of a number of small mill villages, and to some extent by the establishment of the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
at
Storrs to the north. The result is a cluster of mainly residential 18th and 19th-century buildings, along with the town hall, library, general store, and church. Also surviving is an early 19th-century
animal pound
An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding.
Etymology
The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...
, a rectangular stone enclosure now located on private property.
[ and ]
The district is basically linear, extending along Storrs Street between Chafeeville Road and Centre Street. The most architecturally sophisticated house, and its largest 19th-century residence, is the 1836 Fitch Mansion, a fine example of Greek Revival architecture designed by Colonel
Edwin Fitch
Edwin Fitch was an architect and builder in Connecticut.
He designed and/or built:
*one or more buildings or structures in Gurleyville Historic District, N of Mansfield Center off CT 195 at jct. of Gurleyville and Chaffeeville Rds., Mansfield Cent ...
. The First Church of Christ, (Congregational) United Church of Christ is the third to stand on the site; the current structure was built in 1866 after the second burned. The town library is a single-story Georgian Revival brick building, built in 1923 on a site that formerly housed a district school. The 1886 general store stands at the corner of Storrs and Centre Streets; it is one of a small number of surviving 19th-century general stores in the state.
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Mansfield, Connecticut
Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut
Colonial architecture in Connecticut
Federal architecture in Connecticut
Historic districts in Tolland County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Tolland County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut