Noank Historic District

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Noank Historic District
Noank Baptist Church.jpg
Noank Baptist Church
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LocationMain Street, Groton, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°19′28″N71°59′20″W / 41.32444°N 71.98889°W / 41.32444; -71.98889 Coordinates: 41°19′28″N71°59′20″W / 41.32444°N 71.98889°W / 41.32444; -71.98889
Area140 acres (57 ha)
Built1840
ArchitectMultiple
Architectural style Greek Revival, Gothic, Stick-Eastlake
NRHP reference # 79002656 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 10, 1979

The Noank Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic main part of the village of Noank in the town of Groton, Connecticut. The district contains a distinctive assortment of mid-to-late 19th-century residential architecture that is notable for its often picturesque woodwork. At the time of their construction, the village was primarily a worker village for nearby shipyards. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. [1]

Groton, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is located in Groton, and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer is also a major employer. Avery Point in Groton is home to a regional campus of the University of Connecticut. The population was 40,115 at the 2010 census.

National Register of Historic Places Federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.

Contents

Description and history

The district boundaries includes almost all of what is known as Noank, which occupies a peninsula on the west side of the bay at the mouth of the Mystic River. It includes Elm Street, Prospect Hill Road, and Noank Peninsula east of Route 215, but it excludes certain areas. The nearby Goat Island was excluded from the district, because all early buildings were destroyed by the New England Hurricane of 1938, and various streets near Elm are lined with modern houses that significantly postdate the district. Its streets are mainly winding residential lanes, with a cluster of commercial and institutional buildings at Main and Pearl Streets. [2]

Mystic River (Connecticut) river in Connecticut, United States

The Mystic River is a 3.4-mile-long (5.5 km) estuary in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Its main tributary is Whitford Brook. It empties into Fishers Island Sound, dividing the village of Mystic, Connecticut between the towns of Groton and Stonington. Much of the river is tidal. The Mystic River was the location of three large shipbuilding firms during the 19th-century, and it is now the home of the Mystic Seaport maritime museum. The name Mystic is derived from the Pequot term "missi-tuk", describing a large river whose waters are driven into waves by tides or wind, according to the Mystic River Historical Society.

Most prominent is the Baptist church, located at the high point on the peninsula. It is an Italianate structure that was constructed in 1867; it originally featured twin towers, although they were swept away in 1938. Another important feature is the Noank Shipyard, at the location of the historic Palmer Shipyard, which was one of the village's primary employers in the 19th century. [2] One significant industrial building is a former velvet mill built in 1905, which also was used by the state as a lobster hatchery. The building was used for a time by the University of Connecticut Marine Research Station. [2] :4 [3]

Italianate architecture 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture

The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture.

Lighthouse, at end of peninsula Morgan Point Lighthouse.jpg
Lighthouse, at end of peninsula

Other contributing properties include:

Ashlar Finely dressed stone and associated masonry

Ashlar is finely dressed stone, either an individual stone that was worked until squared or the structure built from it. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, or less frequently trapezoidal. Precisely cut "on all faces adjacent to those of other stones", ashlar is capable of very thin joints between blocks, and the visible face of the stone may be quarry-faced or feature a variety of treatments: tooled, smoothly polished or rendered with another material for decorative effect.

There are about 260 houses in the district; their significance was the primary reason for the district's designation. Many of the houses are built with a variety of Greek Revival, Gothic, and Eastlake features, which present a consistent 19th appearance by means of elements such as porches, fences, and pilasters. [2]

Greek Revival architecture architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. It revived the style of ancient Greek architecture, in particular the Greek temple, with varying degrees of thoroughness and consistency. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture, which had for long mainly drawn from Roman architecture. The term was first used by Charles Robert Cockerell in a lecture he gave as Professor of Architecture to the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 1842.

Pilaster decorative architectural element giving the appearance of a supporting column

A pilaster is an architectural element in classical architecture used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall surface, usually treated as though it were a column, with a capital at the top, plinth (base) at the bottom, and the various other column elements. In contrast to a pilaster, an engaged column or buttress can support the structure of a wall and roof above.

See also

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

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

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clouette, Bruce (July 26, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Noank Historic District". National Park Service. and Accompanying 30 photos, from 1978
  3. The University of Connecticut's marine station is now part of its campus at Avery Point.