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Welcome,
friend.
We
in Wethersfield are especially proud of our Broad Street Green.
We hope this touring map makes your visit more enjoyable.
As you walk along the Green's pleasant sidewalks or rest
beneath its beautiful trees, you will experience lovely vistas,
discover reminders of our country's heritage, and see many fine
examples of over three centuries of American residential architecture.
Join us now as we guide you to the many sites of interest,
beginning with a few words about our town.
Nestled
alongside the Connecticut River, just south of Hartford, lies the
town of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Wethersfield was founded in
1634, just fourteen years after the pilgrims landed at
Plymouth Rock. On the eastern side of our town is the
Wethersfield Historic District, the largest historic district
in Connecticut and certainly one of the finest in all of New England.
The historic district is important for its many reminders of our
country's early history, its architectural treasures and its
fine public parks.
Our
town sent many soldiers to battle in the American Revolution, the
War for Independence. Here, on Main Street, George Washington
visited, prayed and planned with the Compte de Rochambeau the
military campaign that ultimately led to the final battle of
the Revolution.
You
may be surprised to learn that Wethersfield was a significant inland
port for ocean-going vessels during the 18th century. Numerous
houses of that period bear the names of ship captains who saw
the world, but who called Wethersfield home.
Our
historic district also serves as a virtual reference book of early
American architecture. It includes 3 seventeenth, 87
eighteenth and 160 nineteenth century houses and buildings. We
are fortunate to have an Historic District Commission,
dedicated to preserving this legacy.
The
Broad Street Green, the subject of this map, is unique in that it
combines all three attributes of our historic district:
beautiful open space, outstanding architecture and
sites from early American history.
History
And The Green
Broad
Street has been a farming community from the beginning of human
habitation. The
Native Americans who spent their summers here called themselves
Wongunks, which means people near the bend in the river.
They called this place Pyquag, which means cleared
land. Their women
cultivated beans, corn, and squash in fields along the eastern
side of what is now Broad Street.
English explorer, John
Oldham, visited Pyquag in 1633. He returned the following year
with other English settlers, who divided the Wongunk's fields
into home lots. As part
of its Tercentenary in 1934, the Town installed plaques
identifying those early home sites.
One
of those home sites belonged to Abraham Finch (A), who was killed in
a surprise attack by Pequot warriors in 1637.
This attack prompted Wethersfield, Windsor, and
Hartford to join together for their mutual defense. In 1639,
the three river towns adopted the Fundamental Orders, which is
recognized as the first written constitution, and which was used as
a model for the U.S. Constitution, written 150 years later.
During
the 17th century, Puritan settlers faced internal demons as well as
external foes. Accusations
of witchcraft were not uncommon.
James Wakely lived on the east side of the Broad Street
Green. He was accused of witchcraft twice and escaped hanging
by fleeing to Rhode Island.
Author
Elizabeth Speare addresses the subject of witchcraft, and the ignorance
and intolerance that foster it, in her award-winning novel for
young adults, The Witch of Blackbird Pond
(Houghton Mifflin 1958).
The setting for her story is what is now the Buttolph-Williams
House Museum, at 249 Broad Street, which the Antiquarian
Landmarks Society has restored as a fine example of
a late 17th century home (B).
Nearly
one hundred years later, the Stamp Act of 1765 threatened Connecticut's
tradition of self-government. Connecticut's participation in the
War of Independence began right here in the shadow of Broad Street's
Great Elm, where 500 mounted and armed Sons of Liberty
surrounded Stamp Master Jared Ingersol.
According to contemporary sources, Ingersol took refuge
in a nearby tavern, presumably the Chester Tavern, at 138 Broad
Street (C). With
the crowd clamoring outside, he decided his job as tax agent
was not worth dying for, and he resigned.
Family
Farms On The Green
Wethersfield's
farms are often passed down from generation to generation.
On the east side of Broad Street, three generations of
the Bulkeley family built homes next to each other.
In 1764, Captain Charles Bulkeley built the Georgian
style house at 56 Broad Street (D).
About 1792, his cousin, Benjamin Bulkeley, built the
Federal style house at 106 Broad Street (E). In 1825,
Stephen's son, Frederick, built the Greek Revival style house at
118 Broad Street (F). Frederick's son, Stephen, built the
Italian Villa style house at 126 Broad Street (G) about 1850.
The Bulkeley houses document the different
architectural styles that were popular in Wethersfield between
the Revolution and the Civil War.
The house at 165 Broad Street is a spectacular example
of the Carpenter Gothic style.
It was built in 1878, for James R. Anderson, the
founder of Anderson Farms (H). The house and farm passed to
his son, James W. Anderson, and then to his grandson and
present owner, David Anderson.
The
house at 188 Broad Street was built about 1890 for William Morris,
founder of Morris Farms (I).
The business was carried on by William's son, John
Morris, and is now owned by William's grandson, Frank Morris. Wethersfield
residents appreciate the fresh fruit and vegetables available in
summer at both farms, which continue Broad Street's long
agricultural tradition.
The
Green, Saved!
In
the early days, the Green was used as a common pasture where
livestock could be kept safe from wolves at night. In colonial
times, the militia trained here. During the Revolution,
Colonel John Chester's Militia Company gathered here before
setting off for Boston, where they fought in the Battle of
Bunker Hill. By 1900,
the Green was just a field with high grass and a little stream
flowing down the middle. In 1927, the State wanted to improve
the route between Hartford and Middletown. It proposed a new road
right down the center of the Green. Edward Willard, Sr., who
lived at 65 Broad Street (J), led the local opposition to the
plan. The Selectmen hired the New York architect, Herbert
Swan, to prepare our 1928 Town Plan, which redirected traffic
along a new Silas Deane Highway.
This not only saved the Green, but also preserved the
entire village of Old Wethersfield as we now know it.
The
Great Elm
Having
averted the threat to the Green, the Selectmen decided to make it
more park-like. They
filled in the swampy areas, mowed the grass, and paid more attention
to the trees. The most famous tree, now dead and gone, was the massive
old elm (K). In his novel, Lady, local-born author Thomas Tryon
wrote: "In
my youth, the Green was populated not only with strollers and game-players
and children and dogs, but with the ancient elms that were the
pride of Connecticut, one of them being the largest in
America. Visitors would go out of their way to drive by and
take pictures of it, and of Lady's house. The Great Elm - what
a tree was that. It grew halfway between our house and hers,
one hundred feet high, the trunk almost forty feet in circumference,
and must have been something short of two centuries old when it
died of the Dutch blight. But while it lived, how grand it
was." There is a monument to the Great Elm at 96 Broad
Street.
Trees
Are An Invaluable Part Of The Green
Thanks
to the town and the work of many private citizens, Broad Street
Green retains its attractive tree-lined appearance. Since
1996, The National Arbor Day Foundation, the National
Association of State Foresters, and the USDA Forest Service
have recognized Wethersfield as a "Tree City USA." .Examples
of the many tree types found on the Green are highlighted on this
map. One other
tree worthy of special mention is a Cucumber Magnolia tree, which
James Anderson planted soon after his house was built; it is now one
of the largest of its kind in Connecticut (H).
The
Green Today
The
Broad Street Green is the community's gathering place.
This is where the reviewing stand is placed for the
Memorial Day Parade. There is a Fife & Drum Corps Muster and an Antiques
Show here during the Wethersfield Festival in June of each
year, and a Craft Fair during the Corn Fest every September. Carolers
lift their voices in song at Christmas. Little Leaguers swing their
bats in season, while walkers, joggers, and bikers traverse
the Green's one-mile circumference all year round. We hope you
enjoy your visit to this special place and will come back
often.
This
brochure is a 2001 project of The Wethersfield Village Improvement
Association. Artwork by Phil Lohman and Merle Nacht. Text by
Cindy Clancy, Anne Kuckro, Arthur Nacht, Doug Ovian, Joyce
Rossignol. Tree descriptions by Corinne Willard. Tree identification
by John Lepper, Lisa Leonard and John Winiarski.
Click
hereto find out where to pick up your free copy of the printed brochure.
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