Jabez Smith House

Last updated
Jabez Smith House
Jabez Smith House, Groton, CT.JPG
Jabez Smith House photographed in 2014
USA Connecticut location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location259 North Rd., Groton, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°21′11″N72°1′46″W / 41.35306°N 72.02944°W / 41.35306; -72.02944 Coordinates: 41°21′11″N72°1′46″W / 41.35306°N 72.02944°W / 41.35306; -72.02944
Area2.4 acres (0.97 ha)
Builtc. 1783 (1783)
NRHP reference No. 81000615 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 15, 1981

The Jabez Smith House is a historic house museum at 259 North Road in Groton, Connecticut. Built about 1783, it is the only 18th-century farmhouse to survive on Groton's Poquonock Bridge area, which was once its principal agricultural area. It is owned by the town of Groton and open to the public on weekends from April through November. It features 18th and 19th-century antiques. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1981. [1]

Contents

Description and history

The Jabez Smith House is located in a rural-suburban area east of downtown Groton, on the east side of North Road near its junction with Newtown Road. The house is a 1+12-story Cape style house, with a side gable roof, central chimney, and an exterior finished in a combination of wooden shingles and clapboards. It is five bays wide, with a center entrance topped by a four-light transom window. The interior follows a typical center chimney plan, and is simply finished, with original plaster and woodwork. [2]

The house was built about 1783, presumably by Jabez Smith, the great-grandson of one of Groton's first proprietors, Reverend Nehemiah Smith. The house stands on a foundation built by Jabez's grandfather c. 1663. It is the only 18th-century farmhouse to survive on Groton's Poquonock Bridge area, which was once its principal agricultural area. Other foundations dot the property, including that of a 19th-century barn, and another of an outhouse, on which a modern reproduction has been built. The house remained in the hands of Smith descendants until 1974, when it was given to the town. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

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." Weston was incorporated in 1787, and Easton was split out and incorporated in 1845.

Bush Hill Historic District United States historic place

The Bush Hill Historic District encompasses a historic rural landscape in central northern Brooklyn, Connecticut. It extends along parts of Bush Hill Road, Connecticut Route 169, and Wolf Den Road. The area has a remarkable concentration of farmhouses and agricultural outbuildings dating to the early 19th century or earlier. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

South Britain Historic District United States historic place

The South Britain Historic District encompasses the core of the unincorporated village of South Britain in Southbury, Connecticut, United States. The village arose in the 18th century as an industrial center serving the surrounding agricultural community, powered by the Pomperaug River, and rivalled the town center of Southbury in importance. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Perkins-Bill House Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Perkins-Bill House is a historic house at 1040 Long Cove Road in the Gales Ferry section of Ledyard, Connecticut. Built circa 1775 by Solomon Perkins, Sr., it is locally significant as a well-preserved gambrel-roofed Cape of the period, and for the role played by Perkins, his son Solomon, Jr., and Benjamin Bill, Jr., the house's next owner, in the American Revolutionary War. All three were defenders of the fort in Groton that was attacked by British forces under the overall command of Benedict Arnold in the 1781 Battle of Groton Heights. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Ashlawn Historic house in Connecticut, United States

Ashlawn, also called the Joshua Perkins House, is a two-story, central-hall frame farmhouse dating from the 18th century in Hanover, Connecticut. The house's namesake is its first owner, Joshua Perkins, a farmer and son of the prominent Captain Matthew Perkins, a farmer and founding member of the Hanover Society. Ashlawn's main house has a five-bay front facade with pilasters supporting broken-base pediments. The inside has well-documented woodwork for its moldings and wainscotting. The house has integrated an older structure, likely a central-chimney structure built in the second quarter of the 18th century, as an ell.

Edward Yeomans House Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Edward Yeomans House is a historic house on the waterfront of Palmer Cove on Brook Street in the Noank section of Groton, Connecticut. With its construction dating to 1713, it is believed to be Noank's oldest surviving structure, built by one of its early settlers. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978.

The Nathan B. Lattin Farm is a historic farm at 22 Walker Hill Road in Newtown, Connecticut. Founded by early colonial settlers to the area in the 18th century, it remains a good example of a rural farm property in an increasingly suburbanized area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Timothy Lester Farmstead Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Timothy Lester Farmstead, also known as the Garrison House, is a historic farmstead at Crary and Browning Roads in Griswold, Connecticut. Set on 43 acres (17 ha) of land, the farmstead retains the look and feel of an 18th-century farm property, with a c. 1741 farmhouse, and farm outbuildings dating from the 18th to 20th centuries. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1998.

Shubel Smith House Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Shubel Smith House, also known as Stonecroft, is a historic house at 515 Pumpkin Hill Road in Ledyard, Connecticut. It was built in 1807 as the estate of Shubel Smith, a sea captain, and is one of Ledyard's finest surviving farmhouses from that period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The listing included three contributing buildings on a 6.5-acre (2.6 ha) area, including the Georgian Colonial house and the "Yellow Barn" as well as a smaller outbuilding. Both of the large buildings have modernized interiors, serving as a bed and breakfast called Stonecroft Country Inn.

Salmon Falls (West) Historic District United States historic place

The Salmon Falls (West) Historic District encompasses a cluster of well-preserved buildings built before 1840, and located on the Hollis, Maine side of the rural village of Salmon Falls. In addition to its architectural significance, the area is also noted for its association with the author Kate Douglas Wiggin, whose home, Quillcote, is in the district, as is the Salmon Falls Library, established by her efforts in 1911. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

James Smith Homestead United States historic place

The James Smith Homestead is a historic house on 5 Russell Farm Road in Kennebunk, Maine. Built in 1753, it is one of the few surviving mid-18th century inland farmhouses in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is included in the Lower Alewive Historic District.

The Rural Otter Creek Valley Historic District encompasses a rural agricultural area of southern Wallingford, Vermont. It includes nine past and present farmsteads along a stretch of United States Route 7 in the Otter Creek valley, with an agricultural history dating to the early decades of the 19th century. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Simeon Smith Mansion United States historic place

The Simeon Smith Mansion is a historic farm property on Smith Road in West Haven, Vermont. The property, more than 100 acres (40 ha) includes a farmhouse dating to the 1790s, which was the seat of Simeon Smith, a prominent local doctor, politician, and landowner. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Oxbow Historic District United States historic place

The Oxbow Historic District encompasses a well-preserved rural agricultural area on United States Route 5 in northern Newbury, Vermont. It was one of the first areas to be settled in the town, and includes seven agricultural properties, with six farmhouses built before 1835 and a number of surviving 19th-century farm outbuildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Jabez Bacon House Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Jabez Bacon House is a historic house on Hollow Road in Woodbury, Connecticut. Built in 1760 for a prominent regional merchant, it is a well-preserved example of Georgian architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Pine Grove Historic District (Avon, Connecticut) United States historic place

The Pine Grove Historic District encompasses a well-preserved collection of primarily 19th-century farmsteads, located near one another and a local district school building in Avon, Connecticut. Centered around the junction of West Avon and Harris Roads are four 19th-century farmsteads, one dating to the 18th century, and the 1865 Gothic Revival Pine Grove School. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Lamb Homestead United States historic place

The Lamb Homestead is a historic farm property at 47 Lambtown Road in Ledyard, Connecticut. Developed since the early 18th century, it is one of the town's oldest farms, with a long association with the Lamb family, early settlers and important in the development of the Lambtown area of the community. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

House at 29 Flat Rock Road Historic house in Connecticut, United States

29 Flat Rock Road is a historic house in Branford, Connecticut. Probably built in the second half of the 18th century, it is a well-preserved example of a modest period farmhouse, a type of which relatively few now survive in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Goodrich Four Corners Historic District encompasses a rural 19th-century village center in rural northern Norwich, Vermont. The village arose in the late 18th century, settled by the son of one of Norwich's early proprietors. The district has well-preserved examples of architecture ranging from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

Sanford Road Historic District United States historic place

The Sanford Road Historic District encompasses a small cluster of late 18th and early 19th-century farmsteads on Sanford Road in Southbury, Connecticut. The two farmhouses on the property are both associated with the locally prominent Stiles family, and typify Southbury's rural architecture of the period. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Jabez Smith House". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-02-01.