Broad Street Historic District (Middletown, Connecticut)


The Broad Street Historic District encompasses a well-preserved 19th-century residential area in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. Centered on Broad and Pearl Streets west of Main Street, the area was developed residential in response to local economic development intended to revitalize the city, whose port was in decline. The district includes the city's largest concentration of Greek Revival houses, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Description and history

Middletown developed in the 18th century as a major port on the Connecticut River, but was in decline by the 1830s. Community leaders revitalized the local economy by founding Wesleyan University in 1831, and investing in textile and machine industries. The Wesleyan campus was laid out west of High Street, and the area between it and Main Street, originally open land used mainly for gardening, was developed residentially. Although there had been some houses built during the Federal period, the amount of housing stock in this area tripled between 1830 and 1850. The area was substantially built out by 1900, with only relatively minor additions and alterations since then.
The historic district is bounded on the north and south by Broad and Church Streets, and the west by High Street, and generally does not include buildings on those streets. Its Broad Street is its eastern boundary; it includes all of the houses on its west side, and only a few on the east side between Court and Washington Streets. College and Court Streets are the main cross streets in the district, and also including contributing properties.

Broad Street Historic District inventory

According to the NRHP nomination, the district includes the following contributing properties: