Poquetanuck is a village in the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Preston, Connecticut
Preston is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,788 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Long Society, Preston City, and Poquetanuck.
History
In 1686, Thomas Parke, Thomas Tracy, and seve ...
, located near the banks of a bay known as Poquetanuck Cove that opens to the
Thames River
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. The village includes 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 ...
(NRHP)-listed Poquetanuck Village Historic District.
History
Historically, Poquetanuck was one of three distinct settlements in the town of Preston, the others being
Preston City and
Long Society. The village of Poquetanuck was the site of
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...
activity.
The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 22, 1996. It includes representations of
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 ...
, Mid 19th Century Revival, and Late Victorian architectural styles. At the time of the 1996 listing, there were 39
contributing building
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
s, two other contributing structures, and one contributing site in the district.
[ In its National Register nomination, the district was described as "a well-preserved, cohesive, and densely built concentration of primarily 18th-century and early 19th-century village residences....]t has
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
the identity of location, feeling, and association of a center of 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 ...
and early 19th-century daily life."[ and ]
One contributing property in the historic district is a home built in 1754 by sea captain William Gonzales Grant which currently houses a bed and breakfast inn.
Route 2A, a two-lane undivided highway, passes through Poquetanuck. Increased traffic volumes on this road, attributed to the nearby Foxwoods
Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more th ...
and Mohegan Sun casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s, are considered to be a threat to the historic character of the village.
A tract with about one mile of shore frontage on Poquetanuck Cove belongs to The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
, which maintains it as Poquetanuck Cove Preserve.[Carolyn Battista]
Nature Preserved By the Gifts Of 2 Women
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', Sunday, June 19, 1988
See also
*
References
External links
preston-ct.org
Heritage landscape and resource planning report andrecommendations.
captaingrants.com
Bed and breakfast inn including several properties in the historic district
{{authority control
Villages in New London County, Connecticut
Villages in Connecticut
Connecticut placenames of Native American origin
Historic districts in New London County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut
Preston, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut