The West Granby Historic District is a historic district in

Granby, Connecticut Granby is a town in far northern Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,903 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined as a census-designated place known as Salmon Brook. Other areas in town include North Granby a ...

. It encompasses the historic village of West Granby, which extends along Simsbury Road between Firetown Road and Hartland Road. Although this area was settled in the 18th century, and has a few surviving buildings from that time, its most significant period of development was in the 19th century, when industry came to play a role in the area. The district 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 1992.

Description and history

The area that is now West Granby village was first settled in the early 18th century, and was largely agrarian, with a sawmill established on the West Branch Salmon Brook about 1742. In 1784, the water power of the brook was harnessed for a gristmill, carding mill,

trip hammer A trip hammer, also known as a tilt hammer or helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer. Traditional uses of trip hammers include pounding, wikt:decorticate, decorticating and polishing of grain in agriculture. In mining, trip hammers were used f ...

facility, and gin distillery. By 1819 it was one of the town's most important economic centers. These small industries survived roughly until the

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

, after which they were unable to compete with similar businesses of larger scale in urban settings. The area experienced an agricultural revival in the early 20th century, when shade-grown

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

was introduced. The district is roughly linear in shape, extending along Simsbury Road from Hartland Road in the north to Firetown Road in the south, with several listed buildings on Hartland Road and West Granby Street. Most of the district's 113 buildings primary buildings are residential, although there are many agricultural outbuildings and garages. The houses are typically in simple vernacular interpretations of architectural styles popular during their construction, and represent a cross section of 19th-century and early 20th-century architecture. There are only a few minor instances of the village's industrial buildings that survive, and one church.

References

{{Hartford County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut Neighborhoods in Connecticut Granby, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References