The Calhoun–Ives Historic District, or more formally the Calhoun Street–Ives Road Historic District, is a locally and nationally designated rural agricultural
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...
in the town of
Washington, Connecticut
Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the North Eastern region of the United States. The population was 3,646 at the 2020 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active ...
.
It is located a mile north of the village of
Washington Depot, Connecticut.
It runs along Calhoun Street and Ives Road. It is characterized by modestly scaled 18th and 19th century farmhouses, together with accompanying agricultural outbuildings, farm fields, and fruit orchards, set along roads lined by stone walls.
The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1995.
Description and history
The Calhoun-Ives area of northwestern Washington was first settled in the 1730s, when it was part of the towns of
Woodbury and
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. The earliest settlers, members of the Calhoun, Ives, and Averill families, purchased land from Native Americans. At first, the local farmers engaged in subsistence farming, but by the mid-19th century a trend toward market-driven dairy farming took hold, and is reflected in the changed layouts and outbuildings of the district's farm properties.
[
The historic district encompasses virtually all of the properties fronting in Calhoun Street and Ives Road. Including the agricultural fields, the district is about in size, including a land area extending to Baldwin Hill Road in the south, Kielwasser Road in the north, and in part to Bee Brook Road in the east. The oldest house, built by James Calhoun c. 1765, is at 156 Calhoun Street. There are many examples of 19th-century barns and other farm outbuildings, and several of the house are high-quality examples of Greek Revival architecture.][
]
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun-Ives Historic District
Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut
Colonial architecture in Connecticut
Washington, Connecticut
Historic districts in Litchfield County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut