Norwichtown is a historic neighborhood in the city of Norwich, Connecticut. It is associated with the Norwichtown Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The earliest settlement of Norwich, in 1659, was in Norwichtown. Initial settlement was centered around the Norwichtown Green.[1]
The Green is surrounded by many historic houses and shops. As of 1995, three houses built in 1660 were still standing. Other structures in the district date from later in the 17th century and the 18th century. The First Congregational Church, built in the Federal style in 1801, was the third building to house the local congregation.[1] Many older homes in the district have been converted to commercial use. The John Mason School is now the central administration for the Norwich Public School System. Above the town's first schoolhouse are the old Colonial and Slave cemeteries where four Connecticut governors are buried.
Above the Green area are the Meeting House Rocks. It was on this cliff that the first meeting house was established and used as a lookout point. The memorial on top of the rocks and pathway are cared for by the First Congregational Church.
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 the 'center' of Norwich became the small urban center at Chelsea. The Chelsea harbor center was also ringed with industrial mills. Thus necessitating the distinction of calling the old town center 'Norwichtown'.
Samuel Huntington's old house is located to the east of the Green. Norwichtown extends as far south as the Norwich Free Academy. The area between the Green and Academy contain numerous historic homes, the Backus Memorial Hospital, strip commercial establishments and the historic Leffingwell Inn (now known as the Leffingwell House Museum).
Samuel Huntington School is located on West Town Street.
Fairview Reservoir, one of Norwich's backup reservoirs, is between Canterbury Turnpike and Scotland Road in Norwichtown.
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{{New London County, Connecticut}}
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Norwich, Connecticut]]