The Pine Meadow Historic District encompasses most of the historic 19th-century village of Pine Meadow in
New Hartford, Connecticut
New Hartford is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut, Northwest Hill ...
, United States. Located at a bend in the West Branch of the
Farmington River
The Farmington River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river located in northwest Connecticut, with major tributaries extending into southwest Massach ...
southeast of
New Hartford center, it is a well-preserved example of a rural industrial village. 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 1996.
[
]
Description and history
The town of New Hartford was settled in the 18th century, but its principal villages developed in the 19th century around water sources that powered its industries. Pine Meadow was one of these villages, whose origins lie in the damming of the West Branch Farmington River in 1806 by Roger Sheldon. Sheldon dug a power canal
A power canal is a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport of watercraft. The power canal was a major factor in the Industrial Revolution in New England in the 19th century. Most early power canals were mill races ...
across the bend in the river that forms the village's north and east bounds, that was located between what are now Wickett and Main streets. Main Street, now U.S. Route 44
U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonks ...
, was then the Albany Turnpike, and Wickett Street is named for the control structures on the canal that provided water to the various industries powered by the dam. Industrial uses included a brass foundry, textile mill, and the woodworking factory of the Chapin family, which became one of the village's dominant businesses. Most of the industrial facilities of the village have been lost, leaving a combination of worker housing and higher-quality homes of business managers and owners.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, ...
or 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 ...
. The most prominent house in the district is the Philip Chapin House, one of New Hartford's finest examples of Italianate architecture; it was built by one of the business owners. There are many examples of housing built for workers, ranging from small single-family houses to multi-story tenement
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...
s. A focal point of the village is the triangular green formed by Main Street and Church Street, where the Chapin House and St. John's Episcopal Church, a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
, stand side by side.[
]
Gallery
NewHartfordCT PineMeadowHD 1.jpg
File:PhilipChapinHouseNewHartfordCT.jpg, Philip Chapin House
NewHartfordCT PineMeadowHD 4.jpg
File:45_Church_Street,_Pine_Meadow,_CT_-_c._1910.jpg
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Historic districts in Litchfield County, Connecticut
New Hartford, Connecticut
Federal architecture in Connecticut
Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut
Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut