Historic Properties Inventory

About This Site

This web site has been made possible through a unique partnership between the Town of Wethersfield, Connecticut, the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, paid consultants, Town staff and volunteers.

Funding was provided from a series of technical assistance grants from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation through the Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grant program. The Town of Wethersfield provided matching funds to support these grants.

Information on this site has been taken from the Town's Assessor information and survey data available from the records of the Historic District Commission.

This web-based data management system was designed to consolidate within a single system photographs, survey data and historical research pertaining to properties in Wethersfield's Historic District in order to provide easy access for the property owners, who are custodians of these historic resources. This system will enable Historic District commissioners and staff to locate examples of appropriate additions and alterations to buildings of a particular period or style, as they assist owners who wish to make changes to one of these historic resources.

In the future the Town of Wethersfield will be expanding the capabilities of this website to include the following information:

• Permit records from the decisions of the Historic District Commission
• Older photographs of the structure taken in the 1960s and 1970s

Survey Methodology

The Historic and Architectural Resource Survey of the Old Wethersfield Historic District, Wethersfield, Connecticut, was completed by Stacey Vairo of Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc. Copies of the final report were delivered to the Wethersfield Town Clerk, the Wethersfield Historical Society, the Wethersfield Public Library, and the Connecticut Historical Commission, 59 Prospect Street, Hartford, Connecticut, 06106-1901.

The survey represents an inventory of specific architectural and historic resources in the Old Wethersfield Historic District, Wethersfield, Connecticut. Archeological sites were not investigated in this report.

Area Surveyed and Criteria for Selection

The Historic and Architectural Resource Survey of Old Wethersfield Historic District, Wethersfield, Connecticut, was conducted in accordance with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Identification and Evaluation (National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1983). Criteria used for evaluation of properties were based on those of the National Register of Historic Places, administered by the National Park Service under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior.

This survey goes slightly beyond the strict criteria of National Register eligibility to include structures that may not meet those standards, but that may be associated with important persons of local or regional significance. In some cases the person may be of national significance but live in a home that may not necessarily be significant architecturally. Other homes may not be exceptional, but may represent an important pattern in the development of the town or represent a style of building that is significant for the area. The original National Register nomination for the district is included for reference as an appendix to this report.

A total of 1100 sites were included in this study. Digital photos were taken of each property from November 2002 - June 2003. Those properties without photographs were not accessible from the road and the owner's permission could not be obtained.

Terms Used

• HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL OVERVIEW

  The architectural and historical overview of the sites and structures within The Old Wethersfield Historic District was prepared by utilizing primary and secondary sources. Each property was examined in the field and the appropriate sources were employed to complete the evaluation. The most significant sources included municipal land records, assessor cards, maps and directories. The Wethersfield Historical Society was a rich source of historic photographs, newspapers, written and oral histories and secondary works. Finally the Connecticut State Archives in Hartford and the Connecticut Historical Commission both provided a great deal of information on the history and architectural history of the district.

• INVENTORY FORM

  The standard Connecticut Historic Resources Inventory Form was completed for each property according to the guidelines set forth by the Connecticut Historical Commission.

  Each form consists of three sections: the name and location, the architectural description and the local, state, and national significance. Sites are organized alpha-numerically by street name and street number. Each site is numbered on the inventory form and corresponds to the number on both the map and the list of digital photographs. All names of owners as of 2000 were taken from GIS maps. Approximate dimensions were obtained from the Wethersfield Assessor's Office.

  This survey concentrated on exterior architectural evaluation only. All structural systems were determined by educated guesses corroborated by research from the assessor's office and building records. While many houses in the area are definitive examples of a particular architectural style, others are simply defined as "vernacular." Vernacular can loosely be defined for the purposes of this survey as a structure without any particular association with a specific style (e.g. Greek Revival or Federal). The survey was completed using the terminology set forth in Virginia and Lee McAlester's Field Guide to American Houses (New York, 1984), and John B. Blumenson's Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600-1945 (New York, 1981).

• DATES OF CONSTRUCTION/DIMENSIONS

  Dates of construction were based upon architectural evaluation supported by Wethersfield Tax Assessor's records, land records, map research and records kept at the Wethersfield Historical Society. All of the dates of construction on the survey forms are circa, meaning they generally represent the middle of a ten-year period of time, unless sufficient evidence to prove the exact date of construction was found. Additional information was obtained from the Wethersfield Historic District Commission files and local historian Anne Kuckro.

  The Wethersfield's Assessor's records were also used to determine the dimensions of buildings. These records were also used to back up visual analysis of

• MATERIALS and CONDITIONS

  As can be expected many of the homes in Wethersfield have been altered in some way or another. Despite this fact, the condition of most of the buildings in this survey were categorized as "good." The categorization of "good" is used to describe buildings without any visible deterioration or other obvious problems. A rating of "fair" means that there are some exterior problems such as missing or cracked details, badly peeling paint and/or any other obvious deterioration. Only a few "deteriorated" structures made it on to the list due to the fact that a deteriorated structure may not merit inclusion if it has been left without maintenance for too long. "Deteriorated" buildings have very obvious exterior problems and appear to receive no maintenance to rectify those problems. Any known threats to surveyed structures were noted.

• SIGNIFICANCE

  The architectural significance of a property is assessed by evaluating not only the aesthetics of the structure, but more importantly by determining if a structure has or appears to have retained the majority of its historic building fabric. Does the building itself add to the character of the particular area? Is it a good example of a particular or particularly innovative style or architect? Are the materials used unusual or interesting in any way? Does it embody or evoke a period of time with its design and style? In this instance, since the area being surveyed is already an existing National Register district, a certain level of significance is assumed to be extant.

  The historical significance of each structure was evaluated by using historical maps, and records. Miscellaneous materials available at the historical society such as newspapers and photographs were also utilized. In Wethersfield, a number of the structures have been inhabited by locally, regionally and in some cases nationally significant people. In a few rare cases, structures were built by architects of national significance, such as Edward Tuckermann Potter, architect of Trinity Episcopal Church, and Mark Twain House, both constructed between 1871-71.

Disclaimer

This site is a compilation of surveys of historic resources from a specific time period. Therefore changes will inevitably have occurred, and we ask for your help in making corrections or additions to the information presented. If you believe that any data provided here is inaccurate, or if you have any questions about the information, please contact us. We will update the site as new documentation becomes available. Please click CONTACT US with documentation for corrections and updates.

Resource information varies in the amount of detail available and the information provided in this inventory is not intended to be the complete story on a given property. We acknowledge that some properties have been missed during the surveying process. Additional efforts are underway to document and add these properties to this site.

Acknowledgments

The following professionals provided their expertise towards the completion of this project:

Project Historian

Stacey Vairo of Fitzgerald and Halliday provided a history and evolution of the development of the district and surveyed 500 buildings in the District.

Web Site and Information Technology Manager

Jonathan Biebesheimer and Abram Sirignano at Enterity, Inc. developed the database management system and the web site for the project.

Photography

During 2002 and 2003 Lois Clark took 2400 digital photographs of the buildings within the District. The set of photographs that John Willard took in 1962, when the District was established, and the other set that Edward Bachtell took in 1978, will be added to the data base as soon as they can be digitally scanned by volunteers.

The following volunteers provided invaluable expertise to this project:

Project Coordinator

Anne Kuckro provided grant writing, editing, coordination and project management skills for all aspects of the project.