The Simsbury Center 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 cer ...
located in the town center area of
Simsbury, Connecticut
Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 24,517 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670.
History
...
. It encompasses seven blocks of Hopmeadow Street, as well as the cluster of commercial, civic, and residential buildings along Railroad, Station, and Wilcox Streets, and Phelps Lane. Although its oldest element is the cemetery (established 1688), most of its buildings were built in the late 19th and early 20th century. It 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 ...
in 1996.
[ and ]
History
Simsbury, originally the location of a Native American settlement called Massaco, was acquired by English colonists in the 1650s, and settled beginning in the 1660s. Originally part of Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
, it was formally incorporated by the Connecticut Colony
The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...
in 1670. Hopmeadow Street (now signed United States Route 202
U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massa ...
) developed as the major north-south route on the west side of the Farmington River
The Farmington River is a river, U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in length along its main stem, located in northwest Connecticut with major tributaries ex ...
, and the town center grew near an early ferry crossing. The majority of the district's surviving 18th and early 19th-century buildings are houses, most of which have been adapted for commercial use. The district derives its character from a larger number of late 19th and 20th-century buildings, general of a civic or commercial nature. Prominent examples include Eno Memorial Hall
Eno Memorial Hall is a historic civic building at 754 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury, Connecticut. Built in 1932, it served historically as a courthouse, as a city hall, as an auditorium, and as government offices. It was designed by Roy D. Basset ...
and the Simsbury Bank and Trust Company Building; the latter, built in 1917, is one of three buildings in the district to serve as town hall. Both were designed by Smith & Bassette, a prominent 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 ...
architectural firm.
Contributing buildings
*Simsbury Free Library, 1887, 749 Hopmeadow Street[ (see #1 in photos accompanying NRHP nomination)
*]Eno Memorial Hall
Eno Memorial Hall is a historic civic building at 754 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury, Connecticut. Built in 1932, it served historically as a courthouse, as a city hall, as an auditorium, and as government offices. It was designed by Roy D. Basset ...
, 1932, 754 Hopmeadow Street, Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
[
*Pettibone House, c. 1790, 741 Hopmeadow Street, a five bay central-chimney house modified later to ]Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
style
[
*First Church of Christ, 689 Hopmeadow Street
*750-760 Hopmeadow Street (the Simsbury Bank and Trust Company Building)
*Simsbury Center Cemetery, 755 Hopmeadow Street
*783-835 Hopmeadow Street
*Methodist Episcopal Church, 799 Hopmeadow Street
*Massacoh Plantation,]
Gallery
File:Simsbury Free Library.JPG, Simsbury Free Library
File:Schoolhouse at Massacoh Plantation.JPG, Schoolhouse
File:Schoolhouse bell at Massacoh Plantation.JPG, Schoolhouse bell
File:Phelps Tavern Museum meetinghouse.JPG, Meetinghouse
File:Barn at Massacoh Plantation.JPG, Barn
File:Cottage at Massacoh Plantation.JPG, 18th Century Cottage
File:Simsbury cemetery.JPG, Simsbury Cemetery
File:Simsbury Cemetery Main Entrance.JPG, Simsbury Cemetery Main Entrance
File:SHS_Carriage_House.JPG, Carriage House
File:SHS Ice House.JPG, Ice House
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Simsbury, Connecticut
Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Colonial architecture in Connecticut
Victorian architecture in Connecticut