New Milford Center Historic District

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New Milford Center Historic District

NewMilfordCT TownHall.jpg

New Milford Town Hall
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Location Bennett and Elm Sts., Center Cemetery, East, S. Main, Mill, and Railroad Sts., New Milford, Connecticut
Area 55 acres (22 ha)
Built 1870 (1870)
Architect Northrup,Joseph W.; Et al.
Architectural style Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian, Greek Revival
NRHP reference # 86001255 [1]
Added to NRHP June 13, 1986

The New Milford Center Historic District encompasses much of the traditional civic and commercial heart of New Milford, Connecticut.

New Milford, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, located in Western Connecticut. The town is located 14 miles (23 km) north of Danbury, on the banks of the Housatonic River. It is the largest town in the state in terms of land area at nearly 62 square miles (161 km2). The population was 28,142 according to the 2010 Census. The town center is also listed as a census-designated place (CDP). The northern portion of the town is situated in the region considered Northwestern CT and the far eastern portions are part of the Litchfield Hills region.

Contents

Description and history

New Milford's town center was originally focused around its town green, a long three-block greensward located just east of the present downtown area. This remained the focus of civic and commercial activity until the Housatonic Railroad opened in 1840. The area between the green and the railroad then developed as a commercial hub, as the town grew to become a major service center for surrounding communities. Later in the 19th century, as tobacco became a major crop in the Housatonic River valley, New Milford also became a center for the drying and processing of tobacco leaves, an industry that was one of its largest employers. As a result of these growth patterns, the downtown area features architecturally significant buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and some of its surrounding residential areas have significant housing stock from that period. [2]

The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.

Tobacco agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana

Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant by curing them. The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. While more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is also used around the world.

Housatonic River river in the United States of America

The Housatonic River is a river, approximately 149 miles (240 km) long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about 1,950 square miles (5,100 km2) of southwestern Connecticut into Long Island Sound. Its watershed is just to the west of the watershed of the lower Connecticut River. Birds and fish who live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and present health risks.

The historic district is roughly bounded on the east by East Street and South Main Street, the south by Mill Street, the west by South Main Street and Railroad Street (excluding many of the buildings on the latter roadway), and on the north by Bennitt and Elm Streets. Prominent features include one of the state's longest town greens, which is lined mainly by civic and residential buildings, and the cluster of commercial brick and stone buildings along Bank and Main Streets near the southern end of the green. Residential areas with fine 19th-century Victorian houses fringe the district, on South Main, East, and Bennitt Streets. Separately listed buildings on the National Register that are in the district include the United Bank Building and the E. A. Wildman & Co. Tobacco Warehouse; the district excludes the separately listed railroad station. [2]

United Bank Building building in New Milford, Connecticut, United States

The United Bank Building is a historic commercial building at 19-21 Main Street in downtown New Milford, Connecticut. Designed by Wilson Potter and built 1902-04, it is a prominent local example of Classical Revival architecture, built to house two banks whose previous buildings had been destroyed in a devastating fire. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is a contributing element of the New Milford Center Historic District.

E. A. Wildman & Co. Tobacco Warehouse

The E.A. Wildman & Co. Tobacco Warehouse is a historic commercial/industrial building at 34 Bridge Street in New Milford, Connecticut. Built in 1870, it is the oldest of the surviving tobacco warehouses in the town, which was a major tobacco processing center in the region. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The building has most recently served as a hotel.

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

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References