Sharon Valley Historic District
Sharon Valley Historic District | |
![]() Valley Tavern, 2008 | |
Location | Jct. of Sharon Valley and Sharon Station Rds., Sharon, Connecticut |
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Coordinates | 41°53′2″N 73°29′32″W / 41.88389°N 73.49222°W |
Area | 110 acres (45 ha) |
Built | 1825 |
Architectural style | Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 82004478[1] |
Added to NRHP | September 9, 1982 |
The Sharon Valley Historic District is located around the junction of Kings Hill, Sharon Valley and Sharon Station roads in Sharon, Connecticut, United States. It is a small community that grew up around an iron mining and refining operation during the late 19th century, the first industry in Sharon.
Many of the buildings within date from that era. Some are intact examples of their respective
Geography
The district is an irregularly shaped area of 110 acres (45 ha) mostly following the three roads whose intersection defines it in the area between Webutuck and Indian Lake creeks. Other than the area with the former lime kiln, the large town complex with garage, park and ballfields to the immediate west is not included. Its north and south boundaries are at the point where development, or at least houses from the period of significance, ends along the roads in those directions.[2]
It is a mostly level residential area with mature, tall trees remaining from the forests that preceded its agricultural use. The intersection is located roughly one mile (1.6 km) north of
Most of its several dozen
History
Sharon's economy had been exclusively agricultural throughout the colonial era and after
The Sharon Valley Iron Company's (SVI)
A few years after SVI established its furnace, Asahel Hotchkiss began his malleable iron works behind his house at 53 Sharon Valley Road. He formed
SVI went to hot blast production in 1863. After the war Hotchkiss moved to Bridgeport. The Jewett operations remained in the valley, and employed 48 in 1879. Demand declined late in the century. SVI sold out to Barnum & Morehouse in 1898, and the lime kiln and furnace shut down around two years later.[2]
Significant contributing properties
- Berlin Bridge over Webutuck Creek along Sharon Station Road. A lenticular truss bridge built by the Berlin Bridge Company in 1880 and shipped to the area for installation by local residents. It is considered the most visually distinctive of the three bridges in the district.[2]
- Asahel Hotchkiss House, 53 Sharon Valley Road. One of the oldest houses in the district was the residence of one of its major entrepreneurs.[2]
- Lime kiln ruins along Sharon Station Road at Webutuck Creek. A stone foundation and some blocks are the most that remain of any of Sharon Valley's industrial production facilities.[2]
- Valley Tavern, 34 Sharon Valley Road. The Sharon Valley Iron Company used this distinctive Carpenter Gothic house at the Sharon Station Road intersection as their office.[2]
- Abel Woods House, 36 Sharon Valley Road. Local lore dates this to 1750 but it is more likely to have been built around 1825. It is said to have some of the most elaborate Federal style interiors in the state.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bruce Clouette and John Herzan (July 28, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Sharon Valley / Sharon Valley Historic District". National Park Service. and Accompanying 22 photos, from 1979
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.