Old Wethersfield, also known as Old Wethersfield Historic District, and historically known as Watertown or Pyquag, is a section of the town of

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the nam ...

, roughly bounded by the borders of the adjacent city 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 t ...

and town of Rocky Hill, railroad tracks, and

I-91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connecti ...

. The site of the first permanent European-American settlement in the state of

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 (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

,Steve Kemper
Weekend: Old Wethersfield, CT; Connecticut's oldest town and seed company
''Yankee'' magazine, it 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 ...

in 1970. The land for this

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

settlement was acquired from the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...

. Wethersfield served as a transportation hub on the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...

in the early years. The Old Wethersfield Historic District was established under town statutes in 1962, "to preserve and protect the many architectural phases of a Connecticut River Community in continual growth from 1634 to the present." Eight years later, in 1970, the Old Wethersfield Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The village includes 50 houses that were built before the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, plus about 250 additional houses built before the 20th century, about 100 of which were built earlier than the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. The historic district listed on the National Register includes 1200 structures over . Of these 100 date from colonial times. Many of the early frame and brick houses were built by sea captains around the town green. There are three

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

s in Old Wethersfield: *

Buttolph–Williams House The Buttolph–Williams House is a historic house museum at 249 Broad Street in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Built in 1711, it is one of the oldest surviving houses in the town. It is owned by Connecticut Landmarks, a historic preservation organ ...

— 249 Broad St. * Joseph Webb House — 211 Main St. * Silas Deane House — 203 Main St. Another prominent historic building in the district is: * First Church of Christ, Wethersfield The district includes Wethersfield's green, which is "a slender diamond nearly a half-mile long". and

References

External links

Historic Wethersfield
Wethersfield Tourism website
OldWethersfield.Com
maintained by the Old Wethersfield Shopkeepers' Association {{authority control National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Wethersfield, Connecticut Tourist attractions in Hartford County, Connecticut Neighborhoods in Connecticut New England town greens Federal architecture in Connecticut Populated places in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

See also

References

External links