56-456: The Bradford-Huntington House is a historic house at 16 Huntington Lane in the Norwichtown section of Norwich, Connecticut , United States. The house was built in stages, beginning around 1691, and is one of the oldest to survive in the area. It was owned by American Revolutionary War officer Jabez Huntington . It is claimed that Huntington hosted George Washington here. The house
112-507: A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA), and the historic commission or architectural review board may decide upon the changes. The COA process is carried out with all aspects of due process, with formal notification, hearings, and fair and informed decision-making. According to the National Park Service, historic districts are one of the oldest forms of protection for historic properties. The city of Charleston, South Carolina
168-444: A State Historic Preservation Office, not all states must have a "state historic district" designation. As of 2004, for example, the state of North Carolina had no such designation. Local historic districts usually enjoy the greatest level of protection legally from any threats that may compromise their historic integrity because many land-use decisions are made at the local level. There are more than 2,300 local historic districts in
224-580: A federal designation, such as granting qualifications and tax incentives. In addition, the property can become protected under specific state laws. The laws can be similar or different from the federal guidelines that govern the National Register. A state listing of a historic district on a "State Register of Historic Places", usually by the State Historic Preservation Office , can be an "honorary status", much like
280-408: A historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts vary greatly in size and composition: a historic district could comprise an entire neighborhood with hundreds of buildings, or a smaller area with just one or a few resources. Historic districts can be created by federal, state, or local governments . At the federal level, they are designated by
336-596: A historic district per U.S. federal law , last revised in 2004. According to the Register definition, a historic district is: a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A district may also comprise individual elements separated geographically but linked by association or history. Districts established under U.S. federal guidelines generally begin
392-549: A hotel is also located on Chelsea Parade. Joseph Teel of Preston built the Hotel in 1789. The Hotel was known for its fine halls and splendid ballrooms. After Mr. Teel's death, the hotel was converted into a boarding school and day school. Today the Teel House is a residence. The house has an impressive center hall plan and contains eight fireplaces. One of the main streets running through Norwichtown and adjacent to Chelsea Green
448-544: A mesh of structures, streets, open space, and landscaping to define a historic district's character. As early as 1981, the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified 882 American cities and towns that had some form of "historic district zoning " in place--local laws meant specifically to protect historic districts. Before 1966, historic preservation in the United States was in its infancy. That year
504-514: A price per square foot basis increased in value significantly more than non-designated properties. The original concept of an American historic district was a protective area surrounding more important, individual historic sites. As the field of historic preservation progressed, those involved came to realize that the structures acting as "buffer zones" were key elements of the historical integrity of larger landmark sites. Preservationists believed that districts should be more encompassing, blending
560-456: A separate process unrelated to zoning. Local historic districts are identified by surveying historic resources and delineating appropriate boundaries that comply with all aspects of due process . Depending on local ordinances or state law, property owners' permission may be required; however, all owners are to be notified and allowed to share their opinions. Most local historic districts are constricted by design guidelines that control changes to
616-423: A specific definition in relation to the National Register. All but the eponymous district category are also applied to historic districts listed on the National Register. A listing on the National Register of Historic Places is a governmental acknowledgment of a historic district. However, the Register is "an honorary status with some federal financial incentives." The National Register of Historic Places defines
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#1732787857349672-654: A three-bay Georgian Section. The house has been restored and it still has original fireplaces including a nine- foot cooking fireplace. Samuel Huntington , signer of the Declaration of Independence , president of the Continental Congress , first President of the United States under the Articles of Confederation , and governor of Connecticut, lived in Norwichtown. His house is located to the east of
728-614: Is Washington Street. Along Washington Street is the house of Charles A. Converse. This gothic-styled house was built c. 1870 and is most notable for its steeply pitched roofs and the red and gray roof slates. However, the owner, Charles Converse, is noted more for the Converse Art Gallery that he gave to the Norwich Free Academy , less than a block away. Traveling further down Washington Street away from Norwich town there are many other Historic Houses, such as
784-407: Is credited with beginning the modern-day historic districts movement. In 1931, Charleston enacted an ordinance which designated an "Old and Historic District" administered by a Board of Architectural Review. Charleston's early ordinance reflected the strong protection that local historic districts often enjoy under local law. It asserted that no alteration could be made to any architectural features
840-767: Is defined to exclude a large commercial mall, the Norwichtown Mall, and other non-historic areas. Two "outstanding" buildings in the district, both located on the Norwichtown Green, are the Dr. Daniel Lathrop School and the Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop . The school, built in 1783, is believed to be one of the earliest brick schoolhouses still surviving in Connecticut. There are five separately NRHP-listed buildings in
896-471: Is little more than recognition by the government that the resource is worthy of preservation. Generally, the criteria for acceptance to the National Register are applied consistently, but there are considerations for exceptions to the criteria, and historic districts influence some of those exceptions. Usually, the National Register does not list religious structures, moved structures, reconstructed structures, or properties that have achieved significance within
952-488: Is not involved, then the listing on the National Register provides the site , property or district no protections. For example, if company A wants to tear down the hypothetical Smith House and company A is under contract with the state government of Illinois, then the federal designation would offer no protections. If, however, company A was under federal contract, the Smith House would be protected. A federal designation
1008-715: Is now the central administration for the Norwich Public School System. North of the town's first schoolhouse is the Colonial Cemetery where four Connecticut governors are buried. Four houses from the 17th century remain standing north of the Green area is Meeting House Hill, a cliff of large rocks that is also known as the Meeting House Rocks. It was on this cliff that the village's second and third meetinghouses were established, with
1064-538: The Bradford-Huntington House at 16 Huntington Lane; and the Gen. Jedidiah Huntington House at 23 E. Town Street. Norwichtown was the old center of Norwich, when the town was settled primarily as a farming community in the late 17th century. By the early 18th century, the focus of Norwich became the harbor facilities in the adjacent Chelsea neighborhood east and south of the town center, and eventually
1120-519: The Marquis de Lafayette at his home. The house is of architectural interest for its complex construction history, exhibiting differing construction methods over time. Norwichtown, Connecticut Norwichtown is a historic neighborhood in the city of Norwich , Connecticut . It is generally the area immediately north of the Yantic River between I-395 and Route 169 . The portion of
1176-604: The National Park Service and listed on the National Register of Historic Places ; this is a largely honorary designation that does not restrict what property owners may do with a property. State -level historic districts usually do not include restrictions, though this depends on the state. Historic districts created by local municipalities, however, almost always protect historic properties by regulating alterations, demolition, or new construction within
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#17327878573491232-560: The U.S. Conference of Mayors penned an influential report which concluded, in part, that Americans suffered from a sense of "rootlessness." They recommended historic preservation to help give Americans a sense of orientation. The creation of the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, on the heels of the report, helped instill that sense of orientation the mayors sought. The mayors also recommended that any historic preservation program not focus solely on individual properties but also on "areas and districts which contain special meaning for
1288-459: The 'center' of Norwich became the small urban center at Chelsea, which was also ringed with industrial mills. The establishment of the city of Norwich in 1784 centered on the Chelsea neighborhood necessitated the distinction of calling the old town center 'Norwichtown'. The city of Norwich was consolidated with the town of Norwich in 1952 relegating Norwichtown to become a residential neighborhood of
1344-636: The 17th century: the 1660 Bradford-Huntington House, built c. 1660; the Olmstead-Lathrop House, dating to c. 1659-1745; Leffingwell House Museum, built c. 1675; and the Simon Huntington House, built c. 1690. The First Congregational Church, built in the Federal style in 1801, was the third building to house the local congregation. Many older homes in the district have been converted to commercial use. The John Mason School
1400-522: The Green and he is buried in the Old Norwichtown Burying Ground. Samuel Huntington Elementary School on West Town Street in Norwichtown, a public school operated by Norwich Public Schools , is named for him. Fairview Reservoir, one of Norwich's backup reservoirs , is between Canterbury Turnpike and Scotland Road in Norwichtown. This district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1973. By then,
1456-777: The Learned-Aiken House, Vernet-Lee House, the Eliza Huntington Memorial Home, and the Lathrop-Brewer House. Running parallel to Washington Street is Broadway. One interesting House located at 189 Broadway is the De Witt House-Lydia Huntley Sigourney School. The house was built in the late eighteenth century. In 1812 the house was used a school for young ladies. Lydia Huntley conducted the school with her friend Nancy Maria Hyde until she
1512-470: The National Register of Historic Places. If such an objection occurred, then the nomination would become a determination of National Register eligibility only. This provision is controversial because of the presumption that owners who do not file a formal objection support the designation, placing the burden on opponents. Most U.S. state governments have a listing similar to the National Register of Historic Places. State listings can have similar benefits to
1568-669: The National Register. For example, in Nevada , listing in the State Register places no limits on property owners. In contrast, state law in Tennessee requires that property owners within historic districts follow a strict set of guidelines from the U.S. Department of Interior when altering their properties. Though, according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, all states must have
1624-424: The United States is primarily based on arguments that such laws creating such districts restrict the supply of affordable housing, and thus the result of such districts is that of enforcing caste structures and class divisions by region and segments of urban areas. Several historic districts have been proposed not for a true preservation purpose but to prevent development. The issue of local historic districts and
1680-425: The United States. Local historic districts can be administered at the county or the municipal level; both entities are involved in land use decisions. The specific legal mechanism by which historic districts are enacted and regulated varies from one state to the next. In some areas, they are a component of zoning (where they are sometimes referred to as "overlay districts." In other places, they are created under
1736-668: The Vieux Carré Commission and authorizing it to act to maintain the historic character of the city's French Quarter . Other localities picked up on the concept, with the city of Philadelphia enacting its historic preservation ordinance in 1955. The regulatory authority of local commissions and historic districts has been consistently upheld as a legitimate use of government police power, most notably in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York (1978). The Supreme Court case validated
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1792-587: The city of Norwich. As Chelsea Parade became a more populated residential district, the residents wanted a church closer than those in Norwichtown. Therefore, the Park Congregational Church was built right next to Chelsea Parade. Stephen C. Earle of Worcester Massachusetts designed the Park Congregational Church and the church was built in 1873. The church was built in the Romanesque revival style . The Teel House originally built, as
1848-542: The clock. Also, in 1776 supposedly George Washington ate breakfast at the Leffingwell Inn. Further into Norwich town is the Joshua Prior House. Joshua Prior built the house in 1766. The house still has the original fluted pilasters over the doorways and six-paneled raised double front door. Dr. Joshua Lathrop House was built in 1763. This house was built in two sections, a saltbox section and then
1904-421: The designation process through a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official recognition by the U.S. government of cultural resources worthy of preservation. While designation through the National Register does offer a district or property some protections, it is only in cases where the threatening action involves the federal government . If the federal government
1960-477: The district was already a local historic district. The National Register application was promoted by the local historic commission, in connection to its opposition to the demolition of a building in the district area. The local commission sought the listing "for the prestige and status that is sometimes found in the recognition by not only a State agency but the Federal government." The district includes much of
2016-668: The district. Much criticism has arisen of historic districts and the effect protective zoning and historic designation status laws have on the housing supply. When an area of a city is designated as part of a 'historic district', new housing development is artificially restricted and the supply of new housing permanently capped in area so designated as 'historic'. Critics of historic districts argue that while these districts may offer an aesthetic or visually pleasing benefit, they increase inequality by restricting access to new and affordable housing for lower and middle class tenants and potential home owners. Housing advocates have argued that
2072-461: The district: the Bradford-Huntington House , at 16 Huntington Lane; Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop , at 71 E. Town Street; the 1798 East District School , at 365 Washington Street; the Gen. Jedidiah Huntington House , at 23 E. Town Street; and Leffingwell Inn , a saltbox at 348 Washington Street, in the southeast corner of the first part of the district. Washington Street includes many pre-1800 homes. The historic district includes part of
2128-528: The historic designation process has in many places been hijacked by NIMBY homeowners to block housing. The first U.S. historic district was established in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931, predating the U.S. federal government designation by more than three decades. Charleston city government designated an "Old and Historic District" by local ordinance and created a board of architectural review to oversee it. New Orleans followed in 1937, establishing
2184-627: The impact on property values concerns many homeowners. The effects have been extensively studied using multiple methodologies, including before-and-after analysis and evaluating comparable neighborhoods with and without local designation status. Independent researchers have conducted factual analysis in several states, including New Jersey, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, Colorado, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, and elsewhere. As stated by economist Donovan Rypkema, "the results of these studies are remarkably consistent: property values in local historic districts appreciate significantly faster than
2240-406: The last 50 years. However, if a property falls into one of those categories and are " integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria", then an exception allowing their listing will be made. Historic district listings, like all National Register nominations, can be rejected based on owner disapproval. In the case of historic districts, a majority of owners must object to nullify a nomination to
2296-507: The leadership of Major John Mason and bought land from Uncas , sachem of the Mohegans , was centered on the Norwichtown Green. The Green is triangular in shape, with an area of about 1.75 acres (0.71 ha). It is surrounded by shade trees and bordered by Town Street, East Town Street and Elm Avenue. These streets are lined with 18th and 19th houses and shops that face the Green. There are four houses in Norwichtown that were built in
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2352-545: The market as a whole in the vast majority of cases and appreciate at rates equivalent to the market in the worst case. Simply put – historic districts enhance property values." In a 2011 study Connecticut Local Historic Districts and Property Values , it was found that "property values in every local historic district saw average increases in value ranging from 4% to over 19% per year." Similarly, in New York City between 1980 and 2000, local historic district properties on
2408-413: The middle of each of two gambrel-roofed wings. It is 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 stories in height, with a gambrel-roofed main section and a clapboarded exterior. The interior has many well-preserved features, including exposed chamfered summer beam, wide floorboards and a winding staircase in the front entry vestibule. The oldest portion of the house, part of its main block, dates to no later than 1691, when it
2464-572: The neighborhood from the Norwichtown Green and east of it is a locally designated historic district that was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as the Norwichtown Historic District . The district includes 48 contributing buildings and one other contributing site over 110 acres (45 ha) area. The earliest settlement of Norwich, in 1659, was in Norwichtown. Initial settlement, by 35 English settlers who relocated from Saybrook Fort under
2520-433: The original area of the 1660 settlement of Norwichtown. More than 300 years later, the pattern of development is still similar. Historic district (United States) Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, archaeological resources, or other properties as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects, and sites within
2576-588: The original settlement area of the town. It includes the Norwichtown Green and Old Norwichtown Burying Ground and "has irregular boundaries on the radiating streets." The district consists of two parts: one includes the Green and stretches down to the Leffingwell museum at Washington and Town Streets. A smaller, separated part includes six buildings on Harland Road and/or Harland Place. The district's 110 acres (45 ha) area includes 48 contributing buildings and one other contributing site. The district
2632-467: The properties included in the district. Many local commissions adopt specific guidelines for each neighborhood's " tout ensemble " although some smaller commissions rely on the Secretary of Interior Standards. For most minor changes, homeowners can consult with local preservation staff at the municipal office and receive guidance and permission. Significant changes, however, require homeowners to apply for
2688-435: The property owner's consent or compensation for the historic overlay. Historic districts are generally two types of properties, contributing and non-contributing. Broadly defined, a contributing property is any property, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make a historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Different entities, usually governmental, at both
2744-516: The protection of historic resources as "an entirely permissible governmental goal." In 1966, the federal government created the National Register of Historic Places, soon after a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors had stated Americans suffered from "rootlessness." By the 1980s, there were thousands of federally designated historic districts. Some states, such as Arizona, have passed referendums defending property rights that have stopped private property from being designated as historic without
2800-713: The public could view from the street. Local historic districts, as in New Orleans and Savannah, Georgia , predate the Register by ten years or more as well. Local historic districts are most likely to generate resistance because of the restrictions they tend to place on property owners. Local laws can cause residents "to comply with (local historic district) ordinances." For example, homeowners may be prevented from upgrading poorly insulated windows unless they spend tens of thousands of dollars on identical styles. Criticism of historic districts in Chicago and elsewhere in
2856-481: The right of the entrance is the original part of the house and exhibits one of the few remaining, completely paneled rooms from the century. The House also includes fine works from Norwich silversmiths and clock makers of the 1700s. Christopher Leffingwell, the son of Thomas commissioned Thomas Harland to design a clock for the North Parlor that is still hung in the same exact place that Christopher originally hung
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#17327878573492912-549: The site used as a lookout point. The memorial on top of the rocks and pathway are cared for by the First Congregational Church. Five buildings included in the historic district are separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These are the saltbox Leffingwell Inn , the Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop , built c. 1772-1774; the Dr. Daniel Lathrop School , one of Connecticut's oldest remaining brick schoolhouses , which dates to 1782;
2968-525: The state and national level in the United States, have differing definitions of contributing property, but they all retain the same basic characteristics. In general, contributing properties are integral parts of a historic district's historical context and character. In addition to the two types of classification within historic districts, properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are classified into five broad categories. They are: building, structure, site, district, and object; each one has
3024-542: Was described as the "new dwelling house" of John Bradford. The house was enlarged in stages by members of the Huntington family, who were early settlers of Norwich. Jabez Huntington, its owner in the late 18th century, was a major general (the highest rank awarded) in the state militia during the American Revolutionary War . In this role, he is believed to have hosted both George Washington and
3080-527: Was forced to close the school once Hyde became ill. Continuing down Washington Street toward Norwich town is the most famous of historic homes in Norwich, the Leffingwell Inn . Stephen Backus built the original house in 1675. In 1700, Thomas Leffingwell 2nd, the son of Norwich co-founder Thomas Leffingwell, bought the house and converted the original two-room house into an inn. The Tavern Hall, to
3136-399: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It is also a contributing property in the Norwichtown Historic District (which was listed on the National Register in 1973). The Bradford-Huntington House is located northeast of the Norwichtown green, on the west side of Huntington Lane. It stands facing south on a stone foundation, with a large brick fireplace and chimney in
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