Marion is a neighborhood in the town of Southington, Connecticut, United States. It is generally the area in the vicinity of the intersection of Route 322 and Marion Avenue, just north of the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

town line. The neighborhood includes the Marion Historic District, which is 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 ...

Post office

There is a post office in MarionUS Postal Service zip code lookup
accessed June 23, 2009 that was established in the 19th century. It was given the name "Marion" in reference to Marion, Alabama, where some children of prominent local residents had settled. The Marion ZIP code refers only to post office box addresses; regular mail in the Marion neighborhood is addressed as Plantsville, Connecticut.

History

Marion was settled as a farming community in 1739 when land in the area was surveyed and divided. Southington was then part of the town of Farmington. The area was called "Little Plain" and extended south from French Hill to the

town line, which was south of its current position. Little Plain's location near the foot of a high ridge made its soil desirable for agriculture. The community's 18th-century farms were located along a north–south road from

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

(now Marion Avenue) that passed through the area. During 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, the Marion community was the site of an encampment by French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau and his troops. In June 1781, French troops under Rochambeau's command left Farmington and marched to Marion, where they made their eighth camp along their route through Connecticut. They remained in the area for four days. Rochambeau and his officers took shelter in Asa Barns' tavern, and the troops set up camp on a hill on the other side of the road. The area of the encampment has since become known as French Hill, and a marker on the east side of Marion Avenue commemorates the French campsite. Rochambeau revisited Barns' tavern on the return march on October 27, 1782.H.R. Timlow,
Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn
', (1875) In 1987, the Asa Barns tavern came under the protection of the National Park Service when it was listed on the

for its architectural and historical significance.David F. Ransom (1987), , Connecticut Historical Commission The building is now a private residence. The Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike was extended through Marion in 1813, making the community a crossroads. Small-scale industrial activity began in the 19th century, including the manufacture of carriage bolts and nuts in the factory of L.B. Frost and Son, which began operation in Marion in 1842, using the water power of Humiston Brook. In modern times, Marion has primarily been a suburban community. Suburban development began in 1914, when a trolley line was built between Marion and the city of

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

. Suburban growth continued in the subsequent decades. The period from the late 1960s through the late 1980s was one of particularly strong growth.

Historic district designation

The Marion Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 21, 1988, as a result of a nomination submitted by the Connecticut Historical Commission in July 1988. The nomination described the district as being architecturally significant "as a collection of well-preserved buildings dating from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries which together reflect the historical development of the Marion community of Southington." Contributing properties in the district were described as representing three distinct periods on Marion's history: "early agricultural development" from about 1770 to 1842, "19th-century industrial activity and community growth" from 1842 to 1900, and "early suburban growth" from 1914 to 1938.

Significant properties

The historic district includes 34 primary contributing properties, two of which are across the town line in the town of

. Architectural styles in the district include

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

and Federal. Some of the more significant properties include: * Asa Barnes Tavern (also known as Levi B. Frost House), 1089 Marion Avenue, is now a private residence and in 1987 was added to the

. * Barnes-Frost House *Miles Upson House, 1316 Marion Avenue, a one-story gable front Colonial example, "perhaps the oldest house in the district to retain its original form" (See photo #3 in photos accompanying NRHP nomination) *The Lester Beecher House, 1166 Marion Avenue, has been termed a Queen Anne style house for its irregular massing and 3 story tower.

References

{{authority control Geography of Hartford County, Connecticut Geography of New Haven County, Connecticut Neighborhoods in Connecticut Cheshire, Connecticut Southington, Connecticut Historic districts in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic districts in New Haven County, Connecticut Historic places on the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut

Post office

History

Historic district designation

Significant properties

See also

References