Aspetuck is a village, which in Connecticut is an unincorporated community on the Aspetuck River, in Fairfield County, Connecticut, mostly in the town of Easton but extending also into Weston. It is significant for being the location of the Aspectuck Historic District, a well-preserved collection of houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. The area was settled in the 17th century. It was a long-time home of Helen Keller. According to a New York Times real estate section article, "The district gets its name from the Aspetuck Indians, who lived along the river. In 1670, they sold the land to English settlers for cloth, winter wheat and maize valued at $.36." [1] Weston was incorporated in 1787, and Easton was split out and incorporated in 1845. [1]
Aspetuck Historic District | |
![]() Dam at the grist mill | |
Location | Roughly, Redding Rd. from jct. with Old Redding Rd. to Welles Hill Rd. and Old Redding Rd. N past Aspetuck R., Towns of Easton and Weston, Connecticut |
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Coordinates | 41°13′24″N73°19′24″W / 41.22333°N 73.32333°W |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Greek Revival, Colonial |
NRHP reference No. | 91000437 [2] |
Added to NRHP | August 23, 1991 |
The Aspetuck Historic District is a historic district that preserves part of the historic village. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. [2] It occupies about 80 acres (32 ha) on the banks of the Aspetuck River and includes the oldest section of Easton. The 22 houses in the historic district date from 1750 to 1850. [1] Some structures in the district are examples of Colonial Revival architecture. [2] The district is considered significant for being a "Connecticut farming community that hasn't seen much change" and the home of Helen Keller in her later years. [1] Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, often walked through the neighborhood by herself, using as her guide a fence that extended down to the Aspetuck River. [1]
The historic district is defined to "exclude excessive back acreage" and also "the district stops short of the historical extent of the community in order to exclude an area where the majority of buildings would be noncontributing due to alterations or recent origin." [3] : 19
The district "is significant because it embodies the distinctive architectural and cultural-landscape characteristics of a farming community from the late colonial and early national periods.... The widely spaced distribution of houses, most accompanied by a barn and all with ample yards that once served as pasture, field or garden recalls the appearance of an inland Connecticut farming community when agriculture was the basis of the local economy. The predominant type of building in the district—the traditional center-chimney, gable-roofed dwelling—is also characteristic of Connecticut farming communities of the late 18th and early 19th centuries...." [3] : 12
The district is significant because a house on Redding "was the long-time home of Helen Keller, who lost her hearing and sight at an early age, and whose long struggle to overcome these handicaps has provided inspiration to millions...." [3] : 12
Significant structures in the district include:
Easton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,605 at the time of the 2020 census. Easton contains the historic district of Aspetuck and the Plattsville census-designated place. Part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, which is in turn a part of the New York metropolitan statistical area, it is bordered by the towns of Fairfield, Connecticut to the south, Redding to the north, Weston to the west, and Monroe and Trumbull to the east.
Redding is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region.
Weston is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,354 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. The town is served by Route 57 and Route 53, both of which run through the town center. About 19% of the town's workforce commutes to New York City, about 45 miles (72 km) to the southwest.
The Saugatuck River is a 23.7-mile-long (38.1 km) river in southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It drains part of suburban and rural Fairfield County west of Bridgeport, emptying into Long Island Sound.
Route 58 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut connecting the towns of Fairfield and Bethel. Route 58 is 18.58 miles (29.90 km) long and is one of the primary routes to the downtown Danbury area via Routes 302 and 53.
Route 59 is a north–south state highway in Connecticut, running from Bridgeport to Monroe. Between Bridgeport and Easton, Route 59 used to be the Stratfield and Weston Turnpike, which operated from 1797 to 1886. Modern Route 59 was designated along the turnpike route in 1932 with a northward extension to the Upper Stepney section of Monroe.
Cannondale Historic District is a historic district in the Cannondale section in the north-central area of the town of Wilton, Connecticut. The district includes 58 contributing buildings, one other contributing structure, one contributing site, and 3 contributing objects, over a 202 acres (82 ha). About half of the buildings are along Danbury Road and most of the rest are close to the Cannondale train station .The district is significant because it embodies the distinctive architectural and cultural-landscape characteristics of a small commercial center as well as an agricultural community from the early national period through the early 20th century....The historic uses of the properties in the district include virtually the full array of human activity in this region—farming, residential, religious, educational, community groups, small-scale manufacturing, transportation, and even government. The close physical relationship among all these uses, as well as the informal character of the commercial enterprises before the rise of more aggressive techniques to attract consumers, capture some of the texture of life as lived by prior generations. The district is also significant for its collection of architecture and for its historic significance.
The Georgetown Historic District is a historic district which covers the central portion the village of Georgetown, Connecticut. The district includes parts of Georgetown in the towns of Redding, Weston, Wilton, and Ridgefield and consists of the former Gilbert & Bennett manufacturing plant, institutional housing built for the plant workers, other private homes, and the Georgetown business district.
The Southport Historic District in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut is a 225-acre (91 ha) area historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It preserves a portion of the modern neighborhood and former borough of Southport, Connecticut. Since the British burnt almost all of Southport's structures in 1779, there is only one home built prior to that date, the Meeker House at 824 Harbor Road, which survives.
The Hotchkissville Historic District is a historic district in the town of Woodbury, Connecticut, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The district encompasses most of the historic village of Hotchkissville, which is centered at the junction of Washington and Weekeepeemee roads. The village began as a dispersed rural agricultural community, but developed in the 19th century with the arrival of industry, primarily the manufacture of textiles. Despite this, the village has retained a significantly rural character, and includes a broad cross-section of 18th- and 19th-century architectural styles.
The Compo–Owenoke Historic District encompasses an early 20th-century summer resort beach community in Westport, Connecticut. Developed between 1910 and 1940, the Compo Beach area contains one of the largest assemblages of period resort architecture in Westport, and one of the best such collections in the region. The district, covering 154 acres (62 ha) south of Compo Road South, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Marion is a neighborhood in the town of Southington, Connecticut. It is generally the area in the vicinity of the intersection of Route 322 and Marion Avenue just north of the Cheshire town line.
The North Stonington Village Historic District is a 105-acre (42 ha) historic district encompassing the historic center of the main village of North Stonington, Connecticut. The district includes a well-preserved small industrial village, which flourished in the years before the American Civil War, and declined afterward. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Aspetuck Valley Trail is a 5.9-mile (9.5 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail in the Aspetuck River Valley area of Fairfield County in the towns of Newtown, Easton and Redding Connecticut.
The Bradley Edge Tool Company Historic District encompasses the surviving remnants of a historic 19th-century industrial village in Weston, Connecticut. Extending along Lyons Plain Road near White Birch Road and the Saugatuck River, the area was home to the Bradley Edge Tool Company, which flourished here between 1834 and 1870. The principal surviving elements are residences which were built for the owners and workers of the company; the factory itself burned in 1911. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The John Glover House is a historic house at 53 Echo Valley Road in Newtown, Connecticut, USA. Built about 1708 by an early town settler, it is a remarkably well-preserved example of 18th-century residential architecture, owned for generations by a locally prominent farming family. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The Kettle Creek Historic District encompasses one of the earliest settlement areas of the town of Weston, Connecticut. It consists of a small crossroads village center, extending north from the junction of Weston Road and Broad Street to the junction with Old Weston Road, and includes a small number of well-preserved 18th and 19th-century houses. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Kings Highway North Historic District is a predominantly residential 58-acre (23 ha) historic district in Westport, Connecticut. Located on the hillside west of the Saugatuck River, this area encapsulates architecturally several major stages in the community's development, from colonial days to the 20th century. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The Aspetuck Reservoir is a large body of water in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It is formed on the Aspetuck River. All of the Aspetuck River Watershed in Redding, the easternmost quadrant of the Town, drains south to the Aspetuck Reservoir in Easton and Fairfield.
The Aspetuck Land Trust is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 that seeks to preserves open spaces in the towns of Westport, Fairfield, Weston and Easton in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In 2011 it was reported that the trust covered an area of 1,700 acres over 43 sites which include public trails.