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Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)
Encyclopedia
The Main Street Historic District in Danbury
, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties
, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural style
s from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown in Connecticut to not have developed around water, either in the form of port facilities or a mill.
It was called Town Street when Danbury was first settled in the late 17th century. For over a century afterwards the "long, straggling street" was synonymous with Danbury, to the point that farmers in the area referred to it as Danbury Street. The Revolutionary War
in that area of Connecticut began in the future district, where a marker indicates the first shot fired at the British. As the city began growing toward the mid-19th century, its development was shaped by the arrival of the railroads, which helped the city's hatmakers dominate their industry.
In the mid-20th century the area began to decline. Hats became less popular after World War II
, causing the hat factories to close. The floods of 1955 took a toll, with some businesses choosing not to rebuild. Other businesses left later for a new shopping mall
elsewhere in the city. Main Street was largely spared the demolition that accompanied urban renewal
elsewhere in the country, and it was recognized as the city's only historic district
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1983. Its contributing properties
, ranging from the 1780s to the 1930s, reflects a diversity of uses and styles
with a heavy concentration of the Italianate
commercial architecture of the late 19th century.
Today, downtown Danbury is once again thriving due to a variety of factors. Businesses formed a special taxing district to raise money for infrastructure maintenance and improvement, and the city used state grants to build popular attractions near downtown like a rail museum
and ice arena
. Danbury's population has also increased in the late 20th century as it became a popular exurban enclave for New York metropolitan area
commuters, and Latin American immigrants
have settled in and established businesses along Main Street despite tensions with the city's mayor.
CT 53) from 34 and 43 Main (the John Rider House
, now the city's historical museum) at the south end to White Street at the north. At both ends there are distinct changes—a shift to more modern construction at the south end and the flood control
measures along the Still River at the north—that distinguish the district from adjacent areas. Portions of nine side streets are included, varying from most of the adjacent blocks of Elm, Keeler, West and White streets and Library Place to single properties on Boughton Street and Post Office Place. The entire Wooster Street Cemetery is within the district as well. At the northeast corner, Ives Street is also included to Delay Place and Railroad Street. The geographic center of Danbury is close to 238 Main Street. The terrain slopes slightly from south to north along the Still's flood plain, but appears level.
To the north Main Street continues to be predominantly commercial, all the way to Interstate 84
(also, at that point, US 6
/7
/202
) a mile (1.6 km) north. Large-scale residential development mixes with the commercial development south of the district, to where Route 53 leaves to follow South Street towards Bethel
. East downtown continues a few blocks to the railroad tracks and the train station
), with a small residential neighborhood intervening between downtown and Western Connecticut State University
. Residential neighborhoods are to the west.
The district is a heavily developed urban core with mostly commercial buildings, predominantly two-story structures fronting on Main Street, some mixed use
with apartments on the upper stories. Among them are some government buildings such as the post office and courthouse and churches such as St. Peter's, whose 175 feet (53.3 m) spire dominates the city's skyline. Single- and multiple-unit residential properties are generally on the side streets. In addition to the parking lots, there is some open space
, most significantly Elmwood Park, in the center of from roughly north of Park Place to south of Center Street. From there to the district's north end it continues as a narrow planted median strip.
Within the district's 47 acres (19 ha) area are 132 properties, 97 of which are contributing
to the district's historic character. One, the John Rider House
, currently used as a local historical museum, is also listed on the Register individually. The architectural style
s represented run from the Georgian
houses contemporary with the Riders near the south end of the district, its oldest area, to Colonial Revival
and Modernist
buildings near its north end, reflecting the business district's expansion in that direction over the course of that time. There are also several historical monuments considered contributing.
Another mode of transportation, the automobile, began having an adverse effect on Main Street in the 20th century, routing traffic away from it and making outlying areas more commercially viable and accessible. Revitalization measures by the city have offset this effect somewhat, as has the area's attractiveness to immigrants from Latin America.
to start an agricultural community on the frontier in 1684 called it Town Street. Their success led to the subsequent establishment of smaller communities like New Milford
, Newtown
and Ridgefield
on the periphery of the new community. Danbury's location at the junction of the main north-south route up the Housatonic
valley and the east-west route coming into Connecticut from New York's Hudson Valley
to the west helped it prosper further. For these early settlers, the center of community life was the Congregationalist church they built on what is now the site of the Wooster Street cemetery.
Most of the early buildings were destroyed in a British raid during 1777. During the Revolutionary War
Danbury was a supply depot for the Continental Army
due to its location. An army hospital was also established, and local artificers manufactured nails, wagons, shoes and harnesses for military use.
Shortly after independence, in 1784, Danbury was designated a half-shire town, essentially sharing county seat
functions with Fairfield
. The Congregationalist church that had been the village's first center moved north a few blocks to the West Street corner in 1785, spurring some development there as it remained the center of community life. In 1792, the first courthouse and jail were built on the sites occupied by the modern buildings today.
, and were followed by local makers of boots, shoes, saddles and horn combs. Some buildings from this period remain, such as the 1790 John Dodd shop now on the Rider House museum property, the oldest extant commercial building in the city.
In 1801 the land that is now Elmwood Park was donated to the village for use as a town common
. It would be used as a drilling area for the local militia
and the early fairs of the Fairfield County
Agricultural Society, which later became Danbury Fair
. Today's side streets had existed since the late 18th century, but Danbury during this period was still seen by outsiders as "...built principally upon one street, which for more than a mile exhibits an almost continued range of buildings, consisting of dwelling houses, mercantile stores, hat factories, mechanic shops and churches." Farmers who came into town referred to it as Danbury Street.
In 1822, the state granted borough
status to Main Street and the area around it. That allowed it to form fire companies and develop a water supply system. Growth continued, and a branch of the Fairfield County Bank was opened in 1826. Two years later a new jail was built on the same site as the current former jail building. In 1829 the last parcel belonging to the Congregational church, a large lot on the west side of the common, was sold and subdivided to pay a departing minister. Large double houses, such as 101–103 and 105–107 Main, were built on the land in the following decade. A Universalist
church was built on the common in 1833. The Fry & Gregory saddle factory, built in 1836 at 68 Main Street, is one of the extant buildings exemplifying commercial activity during this period.
The first local bank, the Savings Bank of Danbury, was established by local businessmen in the home of treasurer George Ives, grandfather of composer Charles Ives
, on Main Street. Soon after, downtown would reach its modern extent in 1852 with the coming of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad
. The landowners of northern Main Street, also stockholders in the railroad, had its passenger depot built at the present location of the post office, helping to increase the value of their land and businesses. A promised secondary depot at the common was never built, and the northern Main Street landowners also defeated a proposal to expand the common into a "central park". The landowners and businessmen of southern Main Street spent their own money to remake the common into Elmwood Park, planting it with elm trees and a hay crop.
. Large steam-powered hat factories were built, bringing new workers to Danbury. In addition to internal migrants from the rural towns in the area, they were English
, Irish
and German
immigrants
. The combined town and borough population nearly doubled between 1850
and 1860
, even though Bethel became a separate town during that time. In 1851 the Irish immigrants bought the Universalist Church on the common for their growing St. Peter's church; moving to a newer structure when it was consecrated
in 1876.
As a result, Main Street became more commercial. The hatters were skilled workers who could afford to buy or even build their own homes rather than live in crowded tenement
s, and found the side streets to the west ideal for this purpose. To the east of Main commercial development continued, with the hat factories concentrated in the north, near the river. Wooster Square, the intersection of Main, Elm and White, became a focal point of northern downtown due to the train station's presence. Lumberyards and frame stores opened along White. In 1856 Isaac Ives, Charles's uncle, opened the street that bears the family name.
After the Civil War
, another new bank, Union Savings, was founded by hatmakers and merchants. In the 1870s more new public buildings were erected. In 1873, the current jail building replaced the one built in 1828, by then inadequate, and a High Victorian Gothic library was donated to the borough five years later by Alexander White, one of the leading hat industry executives. That same year, the new Danbury News building went up at 288 Main Street, home to editor James Montgomery Bailey
, whose humorous pieces as "The Danbury News Man" brought him national renown. A Soldier's Monument commemorating the local war dead was built at Main and West in 1880. Three years later the city built a new firehouse on Ives Street, and a new City Hall at Main and West where the library now stands.
The Main and West intersection, now called City Hall Square, became the new center of the district, finally displacing the old Congregational church site to the south. The private sector responded with architectural statements of their own. New commercial blocks began to reach three and four stories, and in 1887 the Union Savings Bank moved into its current building at 226–228 Main Street. Commercial development pushed eastward, leading Isaac Ives to open Keeler Street for development that same year.
The 1880s culminated with the borough of Danbury becoming a city, and the merger of the three railroads that had served the city (the Housatonic
and New York and New England
, in addition to the Danbury and Norwalk) becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
, referred to locally as the Consolidated due to this absorption. These changes had a profound effect on the community. Main Street was paved with granite
blocks between Elmwood Park and White Street. Flagstone
sidewalks, sewers, electric arc lights
and a horse railway were installed.
At the end of the 1890s Danbury's 35 hat factories led the nation in production, employing 5,000 directly and indirectly. A neon sign
with a derby hat on a crown and the legend "Danbury Crowns Them All" greeted arrivals at the new train station (now the Danbury Railway Museum
) just east of downtown. The city overcame opposition from Bridgeport
and persuaded the county legislature to appropriate funds for the current courthouse. Downtown also became an educational center for the region, as Danbury High School
was housed on the third floor of the Union Savings Bank building, joining St. Peter's School at 98 Main Street, the first parochial school
in Danbury when it was built in 1885.
As the 20th century began the city was at its industrial peak. Newly designated U.S. highways 6
, 7
and 202
followed Main, West and White streets through downtown, bringing in automobile traffic. Main Street became a local retailing
center, with Woolworth's
, McCrory
and Sears
opening department store
s in the new century's early decades, drawing customers from the smaller nearby towns in Connecticut and the adjacent towns across the New York state line in Dutchess
and Putnam
counties. Car traffic also led to the establishment of dealerships on Main Street, primarily in the areas south of Elmwood Park. The demolition of older buildings to make way for them shaped the future historic district.
. Americans, particularly men, began wearing hats less frequently, forcing cutbacks or closings at the hat factories. In 1955, the flooding of the Still that followed hurricanes Connie
, Diane
and Ione
badly damaged many businesses, particularly in the Wooster Square and White Street areas. In their wake some of the first preservation
efforts began. The Dodd Shop was saved from demolition by a move to its current location in 1958, and the Blackman House at 59 Main Street was converted
into office space.
The next year, 1959, the city and town of Danbury were merged as the state eliminated most county government functions. Downtown merchants who had been affected by the flood reacted by moving to newer and larger space on routes 6,7, 37
and 202 outside of the city center. The empty, damaged space they left behind on the north and northwest of downtown was addressed by urban renewal
programs of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which demolished whole blocks, partly to accommodate the rechanneling of the Still for flood control
.
In the 1970s the completion of Interstate 84
dealt Main Street another setback. All three of Danbury's U.S. highways were rerouted
onto the expressway as well and away from downtown. In combination with the expressway bypasses built for US 7 both north and south of the city, this made the outlying properties businesses had been moving to more accessible and competitive with downtown locations. Remaining business owners responded by renovating and restoring
their own properties, and the scope of preservation efforts began to expand from the old houses on the south end.
The Danbury Preservation Trust, which had been formed in the late 1950s, received a state grant in 1979 to survey and inventory the historic buildings on Main and the nearby side streets. Eventually the effort looked at 300 buildings before settling on the area that would become today's historic district
. It was designated and added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1983, after an intensive survey of the area by the Danbury Preservation Trust as part of an effort by the Connecticut Historical Commission to catalog the state's historic resources for inclusion on the Register. The city has special zoning regulations to maintain its historic character.
During the 1980s downtown faced its greatest challenge. In 1981, after the last Danbury Fair
was held, Wilmorite Properties of Rochester, New York
, bought the fairground and began developing it into a shopping mall. When it opened in 1988, its location near the junction of I-84 and the southern US 7 freeway made it attractive and convenient for shoppers in the region. Main Street's merchants formed a special taxing district, CityCenter Danbury
, downtown. For a while both they and the mall remained prosperous, although they knew Main Street would never be the center of local retailing again. But when the economy fell into recession in the early 1990s, they feared shoppers would return to the mall and not Main Street. The 1991 closure of Steinbach's
, the last department store on Main Street, seemed to affirm this fear.
With state grants, the city built a parking garage on some of the land marked for redevelopment after the flood, in order to free up other scattered parking space. It was the start of a planned complex that would include a movie theater, retail space and condominiums, all meant to attract middle class
residents to the city. The city also hired a consultant to look at plans to cluster similar retailers so downtown could match the mall in offering that to shoppers as well.
and Duracell
building major facilities in the area and new housing going up in the areas on the city's periphery as commuters sought less expensive housing still within commuting distance of Manhattan. In 1996 Danbury's industrial space was 93% occupied, and office space vacancy rates were under 15%. Ives Street was reinvented as a Dining and Entertainment District, with the vacant buildings converted into restaurants and nightclubs. "We feel that the downtown is coming back strong", said one local bank president. The community rallied after arson
severely damaged the library in 1996. Voters passed a bond issue to fund improvements and expansions to city hall and rebuild the library. The Danbury Ice Arena
, later home to several minor league ice hockey teams, most recently the Danbury Whalers
, was also built near Main Street in 1999. It offered a visitor attraction to complement the former train station which had become the Danbury Railway Museum
.
As they had in the mid-19th century, immigrants helped revitalize downtown in the early 21st century. This time they were from Latin America
, primarily Ecuador
and Brazil
, working as day labor
at construction sites all over Fairfield County. Not all of them were in the U.S. legally
, and this created tensions between their community and Mayor Mark Boughton, who unsuccessfully asked Governor Jodi Rell
to have city police deputized as Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) agents so they could legally enforce federal immigration laws. The immigrant community was in turn angered by police efforts to close down their volleyball
games and sting operation
s that turned some of them over to the BCIS. In 2005 they staged a mile-long march down Main Street in protest.
, was listed on the National Register prior to the district's creation. Another, the former jailhouse, was determined eligible for listing.
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown in Connecticut to not have developed around water, either in the form of port facilities or a mill.
It was called Town Street when Danbury was first settled in the late 17th century. For over a century afterwards the "long, straggling street" was synonymous with Danbury, to the point that farmers in the area referred to it as Danbury Street. The Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
in that area of Connecticut began in the future district, where a marker indicates the first shot fired at the British. As the city began growing toward the mid-19th century, its development was shaped by the arrival of the railroads, which helped the city's hatmakers dominate their industry.
In the mid-20th century the area began to decline. Hats became less popular after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, causing the hat factories to close. The floods of 1955 took a toll, with some businesses choosing not to rebuild. Other businesses left later for a new shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
elsewhere in the city. Main Street was largely spared the demolition that accompanied urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
elsewhere in the country, and it was recognized as the city's only historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983. Its contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
, ranging from the 1780s to the 1930s, reflects a diversity of uses and styles
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
with a heavy concentration of the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
commercial architecture of the late 19th century.
Today, downtown Danbury is once again thriving due to a variety of factors. Businesses formed a special taxing district to raise money for infrastructure maintenance and improvement, and the city used state grants to build popular attractions near downtown like a rail museum
Danbury Railway Museum
The Danbury Railway Museum is housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern...
and ice arena
Danbury Ice Arena
The Danbury Arena is a 2,212-seat multi-purpose arena in Danbury, Connecticut. It was built in 1999 and renovated and expanded in 2004. The Danbury Arena was the former home of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League from 2004-2006, and the New England Stars of the North Eastern Hockey...
. Danbury's population has also increased in the late 20th century as it became a popular exurban enclave for New York metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
commuters, and Latin American immigrants
Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
have settled in and established businesses along Main Street despite tensions with the city's mayor.
Geography
The district follows a three-quarter–mile (0.75 miles (1.2 km)) section of Main Street (state highwayState highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
CT 53) from 34 and 43 Main (the John Rider House
John Rider House
The John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century....
, now the city's historical museum) at the south end to White Street at the north. At both ends there are distinct changes—a shift to more modern construction at the south end and the flood control
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
measures along the Still River at the north—that distinguish the district from adjacent areas. Portions of nine side streets are included, varying from most of the adjacent blocks of Elm, Keeler, West and White streets and Library Place to single properties on Boughton Street and Post Office Place. The entire Wooster Street Cemetery is within the district as well. At the northeast corner, Ives Street is also included to Delay Place and Railroad Street. The geographic center of Danbury is close to 238 Main Street. The terrain slopes slightly from south to north along the Still's flood plain, but appears level.
To the north Main Street continues to be predominantly commercial, all the way to Interstate 84
Interstate 84 in Connecticut
Interstate 84 is an East–West Interstate highway across the state of Connecticut into Danbury, Waterbury, Hartford and Union.-Route description:...
(also, at that point, US 6
U.S. Route 6 in Connecticut
U.S. Route 6 is the portion of the cross-country U.S. Route 6 within the state of Connecticut. West of Hartford, the route either closely parallels or runs along Interstate 84. Interstate 84 has largely supplanted Route 6 as a through route in western Connecticut. East of Hartford, the route serves...
/7
U.S. Route 7 in Connecticut
In the state of Connecticut, U.S. Route 7 runs from Canaan to Norwalk.-Route description:U.S. 7 in Connecticut is mostly a surface road but has two short expressway sections in the Norwalk and Danbury areas. US 7 begins in Norwalk with a expressway to nearly the Wilton town line...
/202
U.S. Route 202 in Connecticut
In Connecticut, U.S. Route 202 is usually signed as an east–west route. It enters from the New York state line in Danbury overlapped with U.S. Route 6 and ends at the Massachusetts state line in Granby overlapped with Route 10. US 202 is overlapped with other routes for most of its...
) a mile (1.6 km) north. Large-scale residential development mixes with the commercial development south of the district, to where Route 53 leaves to follow South Street towards Bethel
Bethel, Connecticut
Bethel is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, about sixty miles from New York City. Its population was 18,584 at the 2010 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place...
. East downtown continues a few blocks to the railroad tracks and the train station
Danbury (Metro-North station)
The Danbury Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of Danbury, Connecticut and surrounding areas at the north terminus of the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
), with a small residential neighborhood intervening between downtown and Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, WestConn has an arts and sciences curriculum, a business school, and several professional programs including elementary and secondary education, nursing, music performance, and social work...
. Residential neighborhoods are to the west.
The district is a heavily developed urban core with mostly commercial buildings, predominantly two-story structures fronting on Main Street, some mixed use
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
with apartments on the upper stories. Among them are some government buildings such as the post office and courthouse and churches such as St. Peter's, whose 175 feet (53.3 m) spire dominates the city's skyline. Single- and multiple-unit residential properties are generally on the side streets. In addition to the parking lots, there is some open space
Open space
Open space may refer to:In urban planning and conservation ethics* Landscape, areas of land without human-built structures*Open space reserve, areas of protected or conserved land on which development is indefinitely set aside...
, most significantly Elmwood Park, in the center of from roughly north of Park Place to south of Center Street. From there to the district's north end it continues as a narrow planted median strip.
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the district's historic character. One, the John Rider House
John Rider House
The John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century....
, currently used as a local historical museum, is also listed on the Register individually. The architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s represented run from the Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
houses contemporary with the Riders near the south end of the district, its oldest area, to Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
and Modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
buildings near its north end, reflecting the business district's expansion in that direction over the course of that time. There are also several historical monuments considered contributing.
History
For the first century and a half of its existence, Danbury and Main Street were one and the same. The arrival of the railroads in the mid-19th century and the growth of the city's hatmaking industry began to expand it beyond Main's immediate neighborhood, and by the end of the century what had been a small village was a city with Main Street as its civic and commercial core.Another mode of transportation, the automobile, began having an adverse effect on Main Street in the 20th century, routing traffic away from it and making outlying areas more commercially viable and accessible. Revitalization measures by the city have offset this effect somewhat, as has the area's attractiveness to immigrants from Latin America.
1684–1800: Settlement
Danbury began with Main Street. The first eight families who moved up from NorwalkNorwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
to start an agricultural community on the frontier in 1684 called it Town Street. Their success led to the subsequent establishment of smaller communities like New Milford
New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford is a town in southern Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States north of Danbury, on the Housatonic River. It is the largest town in the state in terms of land area at nearly . The population was 28,671 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimates...
, Newtown
Newtown, Connecticut
Newtown is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 27,560 at the 2010 census. Newtown was founded in 1705 and incorporated in 1711.-Government:...
and Ridgefield
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
on the periphery of the new community. Danbury's location at the junction of the main north-south route up the Housatonic
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound...
valley and the east-west route coming into Connecticut from New York's Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
to the west helped it prosper further. For these early settlers, the center of community life was the Congregationalist church they built on what is now the site of the Wooster Street cemetery.
Most of the early buildings were destroyed in a British raid during 1777. During the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
Danbury was a supply depot for the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
due to its location. An army hospital was also established, and local artificers manufactured nails, wagons, shoes and harnesses for military use.
Shortly after independence, in 1784, Danbury was designated a half-shire town, essentially sharing county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
functions with Fairfield
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
. The Congregationalist church that had been the village's first center moved north a few blocks to the West Street corner in 1785, spurring some development there as it remained the center of community life. In 1792, the first courthouse and jail were built on the sites occupied by the modern buildings today.
1801–1851: Early industrialization
Postwar rebuilding led to the establishment of the industries that made Danbury prosperous for over a century. Hatmaking had existed there even before the Revolution, but in the decades afterwards the village led the country in the field. By 1800 its hatters were producing 20,000 annually. They established retail outlets in the Southern statesSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, and were followed by local makers of boots, shoes, saddles and horn combs. Some buildings from this period remain, such as the 1790 John Dodd shop now on the Rider House museum property, the oldest extant commercial building in the city.
In 1801 the land that is now Elmwood Park was donated to the village for use as a town common
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
. It would be used as a drilling area for the local militia
Militia (United States)
The role of militia, also known as military service and duty, in the United States is complex and has transformed over time.Spitzer, Robert J.: The Politics of Gun Control, Page 36. Chatham House Publishers, Inc., 1995. " The term militia can be used to describe any number of groups within the...
and the early fairs of the Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
Agricultural Society, which later became Danbury Fair
Danbury Fair
The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society...
. Today's side streets had existed since the late 18th century, but Danbury during this period was still seen by outsiders as "...built principally upon one street, which for more than a mile exhibits an almost continued range of buildings, consisting of dwelling houses, mercantile stores, hat factories, mechanic shops and churches." Farmers who came into town referred to it as Danbury Street.
In 1822, the state granted borough
Borough (Connecticut)
In the U.S. state of Connecticut, a borough is an incorporated section of a town. Borough governments are not autonomous and are subordinate to the government of the town to which they belong...
status to Main Street and the area around it. That allowed it to form fire companies and develop a water supply system. Growth continued, and a branch of the Fairfield County Bank was opened in 1826. Two years later a new jail was built on the same site as the current former jail building. In 1829 the last parcel belonging to the Congregational church, a large lot on the west side of the common, was sold and subdivided to pay a departing minister. Large double houses, such as 101–103 and 105–107 Main, were built on the land in the following decade. A Universalist
Universalism
Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
church was built on the common in 1833. The Fry & Gregory saddle factory, built in 1836 at 68 Main Street, is one of the extant buildings exemplifying commercial activity during this period.
The first local bank, the Savings Bank of Danbury, was established by local businessmen in the home of treasurer George Ives, grandfather of composer Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
, on Main Street. Soon after, downtown would reach its modern extent in 1852 with the coming of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad
Danbury and Norwalk Railroad
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad was an independent American railroad that operated between its namesake cities in Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1887...
. The landowners of northern Main Street, also stockholders in the railroad, had its passenger depot built at the present location of the post office, helping to increase the value of their land and businesses. A promised secondary depot at the common was never built, and the northern Main Street landowners also defeated a proposal to expand the common into a "central park". The landowners and businessmen of southern Main Street spent their own money to remake the common into Elmwood Park, planting it with elm trees and a hay crop.
1851–1945: Industrial peak
The railroads brought significant change to downtown. During the 1850s the first multi-story brick commercial blocks were erected downtown, starting with Phineas Crosby's Block at 225–229 Main Street. In 1852 it was followed by the Benedict and Nichols Building at 191–193 Main. Its cofounder David Nichols had already built the borough's first grocery 1838, and later served as a state legislator and state treasurerConnecticut State Treasurer
The Connecticut State Treasurer serves the office of treasurer for the state of Connecticut.-List of State Treasurers:-External links:***...
. Large steam-powered hat factories were built, bringing new workers to Danbury. In addition to internal migrants from the rural towns in the area, they were English
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
, Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
and German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
immigrants
Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
. The combined town and borough population nearly doubled between 1850
United States Census, 1850
The United States Census of 1850 was the seventh census of the United States. Conducted by the Bureau of the Census on June 1, 1850, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876 — an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons enumerated during the 1840...
and 1860
United States Census, 1860
The United States Census of 1860 was the eighth Census conducted in the United States. It determined the population of the United States to be 31,443,321 — an increase of 35.4 percent over the 23,191,875 persons enumerated during the 1850 Census...
, even though Bethel became a separate town during that time. In 1851 the Irish immigrants bought the Universalist Church on the common for their growing St. Peter's church; moving to a newer structure when it was consecrated
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
in 1876.
As a result, Main Street became more commercial. The hatters were skilled workers who could afford to buy or even build their own homes rather than live in crowded tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
s, and found the side streets to the west ideal for this purpose. To the east of Main commercial development continued, with the hat factories concentrated in the north, near the river. Wooster Square, the intersection of Main, Elm and White, became a focal point of northern downtown due to the train station's presence. Lumberyards and frame stores opened along White. In 1856 Isaac Ives, Charles's uncle, opened the street that bears the family name.
After the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, another new bank, Union Savings, was founded by hatmakers and merchants. In the 1870s more new public buildings were erected. In 1873, the current jail building replaced the one built in 1828, by then inadequate, and a High Victorian Gothic library was donated to the borough five years later by Alexander White, one of the leading hat industry executives. That same year, the new Danbury News building went up at 288 Main Street, home to editor James Montgomery Bailey
James Montgomery Bailey
James Montgomery Bailey was an American journalist who won an ephemeral popularity as the "Dansbury News Man."-Biography:He was born at Albany, New York, and after receiving a common school education, learned the trade of a carpenter...
, whose humorous pieces as "The Danbury News Man" brought him national renown. A Soldier's Monument commemorating the local war dead was built at Main and West in 1880. Three years later the city built a new firehouse on Ives Street, and a new City Hall at Main and West where the library now stands.
The Main and West intersection, now called City Hall Square, became the new center of the district, finally displacing the old Congregational church site to the south. The private sector responded with architectural statements of their own. New commercial blocks began to reach three and four stories, and in 1887 the Union Savings Bank moved into its current building at 226–228 Main Street. Commercial development pushed eastward, leading Isaac Ives to open Keeler Street for development that same year.
The 1880s culminated with the borough of Danbury becoming a city, and the merger of the three railroads that had served the city (the Housatonic
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.The...
and New York and New England
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...
, in addition to the Danbury and Norwalk) becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
, referred to locally as the Consolidated due to this absorption. These changes had a profound effect on the community. Main Street was paved with granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
blocks between Elmwood Park and White Street. Flagstone
Flagstone
Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...
sidewalks, sewers, electric arc lights
Arc lamp
"Arc lamp" or "arc light" is the general term for a class of lamps that produce light by an electric arc . The lamp consists of two electrodes, first made from carbon but typically made today of tungsten, which are separated by a gas...
and a horse railway were installed.
At the end of the 1890s Danbury's 35 hat factories led the nation in production, employing 5,000 directly and indirectly. A neon sign
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
with a derby hat on a crown and the legend "Danbury Crowns Them All" greeted arrivals at the new train station (now the Danbury Railway Museum
Danbury Railway Museum
The Danbury Railway Museum is housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern...
) just east of downtown. The city overcame opposition from Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
and persuaded the county legislature to appropriate funds for the current courthouse. Downtown also became an educational center for the region, as Danbury High School
Danbury High School
Danbury High School is a public high school in Danbury, Connecticut. Despite Danbury's population of 81,000, there is only one public high school, along with several small private schools, and one vocational high school. Danbury High School is supplemented by a magnet program called the Alternative...
was housed on the third floor of the Union Savings Bank building, joining St. Peter's School at 98 Main Street, the first parochial school
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
in Danbury when it was built in 1885.
U.S. Route 6 in Connecticut
U.S. Route 6 is the portion of the cross-country U.S. Route 6 within the state of Connecticut. West of Hartford, the route either closely parallels or runs along Interstate 84. Interstate 84 has largely supplanted Route 6 as a through route in western Connecticut. East of Hartford, the route serves...
, 7
U.S. Route 7 in Connecticut
In the state of Connecticut, U.S. Route 7 runs from Canaan to Norwalk.-Route description:U.S. 7 in Connecticut is mostly a surface road but has two short expressway sections in the Norwalk and Danbury areas. US 7 begins in Norwalk with a expressway to nearly the Wilton town line...
and 202
U.S. Route 202 in Connecticut
In Connecticut, U.S. Route 202 is usually signed as an east–west route. It enters from the New York state line in Danbury overlapped with U.S. Route 6 and ends at the Massachusetts state line in Granby overlapped with Route 10. US 202 is overlapped with other routes for most of its...
followed Main, West and White streets through downtown, bringing in automobile traffic. Main Street became a local retailing
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
center, with Woolworth's
F. W. Woolworth Company
The F. W. Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores. The first successful Woolworth store was opened on July 18, 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as "Woolworth's Great Five Cent Store"...
, McCrory
McCrory Stores
J.G. McCrory's or McCrory Stores was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch counter or snack bar...
and Sears
Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation is a retail conglomerate formed in 2005 by the merger of Sears, Roebuck and Co., of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with Kmart Holdings Corporation, of Troy, Michigan...
opening department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s in the new century's early decades, drawing customers from the smaller nearby towns in Connecticut and the adjacent towns across the New York state line in Dutchess
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
and Putnam
Putnam County, New York
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County. , the population was 99,710. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of Carmel...
counties. Car traffic also led to the establishment of dealerships on Main Street, primarily in the areas south of Elmwood Park. The demolition of older buildings to make way for them shaped the future historic district.
1946–1995: Decline
Danbury's fortunes changed after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Americans, particularly men, began wearing hats less frequently, forcing cutbacks or closings at the hat factories. In 1955, the flooding of the Still that followed hurricanes Connie
Hurricane Connie
Hurricane Connie was the first in a series of hurricanes to strike North Carolina during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season. Connie struck as a Category 1, causing major flooding and inflicting extensive damage to the Outer Banks and inland to Raleigh....
, Diane
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was one of three hurricanes to hit North Carolina during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season, striking an area that had been hit by Hurricane Connie five days earlier...
and Ione
Hurricane Ione
Hurricane Ione was a strong, Category 3 hurricane that affected North Carolina in September 1955, bringing high winds and significant rainfall. It came on the heels of Hurricanes Connie and Diane, and compounded problems already caused by the two earlier hurricanes...
badly damaged many businesses, particularly in the Wooster Square and White Street areas. In their wake some of the first preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
efforts began. The Dodd Shop was saved from demolition by a move to its current location in 1958, and the Blackman House at 59 Main Street was converted
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
into office space.
The next year, 1959, the city and town of Danbury were merged as the state eliminated most county government functions. Downtown merchants who had been affected by the flood reacted by moving to newer and larger space on routes 6,7, 37
Connecticut Route 37
Route 37 is a north–south state highway in Connecticut running for from Route 39 in Danbury, through New Fairfield, to U.S. Route 7 in New Milford...
and 202 outside of the city center. The empty, damaged space they left behind on the north and northwest of downtown was addressed by urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
programs of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which demolished whole blocks, partly to accommodate the rechanneling of the Still for flood control
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
.
In the 1970s the completion of Interstate 84
Interstate 84 (east)
Interstate 84 is an Interstate Highway extending from Dunmore, Pennsylvania at an interchange with Interstate 81 to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, at an interchange with the Massachusetts Turnpike . I-84 has mile-log junction numbering in Pennsylvania; otherwise, exit numbers are roughly sequential...
dealt Main Street another setback. All three of Danbury's U.S. highways were rerouted
Concurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
onto the expressway as well and away from downtown. In combination with the expressway bypasses built for US 7 both north and south of the city, this made the outlying properties businesses had been moving to more accessible and competitive with downtown locations. Remaining business owners responded by renovating and restoring
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
their own properties, and the scope of preservation efforts began to expand from the old houses on the south end.
The Danbury Preservation Trust, which had been formed in the late 1950s, received a state grant in 1979 to survey and inventory the historic buildings on Main and the nearby side streets. Eventually the effort looked at 300 buildings before settling on the area that would become today's historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
. It was designated and added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983, after an intensive survey of the area by the Danbury Preservation Trust as part of an effort by the Connecticut Historical Commission to catalog the state's historic resources for inclusion on the Register. The city has special zoning regulations to maintain its historic character.
During the 1980s downtown faced its greatest challenge. In 1981, after the last Danbury Fair
Danbury Fair
The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society...
was held, Wilmorite Properties of Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, bought the fairground and began developing it into a shopping mall. When it opened in 1988, its location near the junction of I-84 and the southern US 7 freeway made it attractive and convenient for shoppers in the region. Main Street's merchants formed a special taxing district, CityCenter Danbury
CityCenter Danbury
CityCenter Danbury is a redevelopment project located in the downtown core of Danbury, Connecticut. The special taxing district was formed by Main Street's merchants in the late 1980's with the goal of bringing more people and businesses into the Danbury city center, and to revitalize the downtown...
, downtown. For a while both they and the mall remained prosperous, although they knew Main Street would never be the center of local retailing again. But when the economy fell into recession in the early 1990s, they feared shoppers would return to the mall and not Main Street. The 1991 closure of Steinbach's
Steinbach (store)
Steinbach was a department store chain based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.- History :Steinbach was founded in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and maintained branch stores along the New Jersey shore, and in the central part of New Jersey. The company was at one time affiliated with the Kresge-Newark...
, the last department store on Main Street, seemed to affirm this fear.
With state grants, the city built a parking garage on some of the land marked for redevelopment after the flood, in order to free up other scattered parking space. It was the start of a planned complex that would include a movie theater, retail space and condominiums, all meant to attract middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
residents to the city. The city also hired a consultant to look at plans to cluster similar retailers so downtown could match the mall in offering that to shoppers as well.
1996–present: Revitalization
By the middle of the decade these efforts had succeeded, helped in part by Danbury's transformation from industrial town to distant exurb of New York City, with corporations such as CartusCartus
Cartus Corporation is a services corporation specializing in employee relocation, including home sale and home purchase, household-goods shipping, move management, property management, rental and temporary housing, settling-in, spouse/partner career transition assistance, visa and immigration...
and Duracell
Duracell
Duracell is a brand of batteries manufactured by Procter & Gamble.Additionally, Duracell owns the Procell professional-use brand.-Products:Duracell manufactures alkaline batteries in many common sizes, such as AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V...
building major facilities in the area and new housing going up in the areas on the city's periphery as commuters sought less expensive housing still within commuting distance of Manhattan. In 1996 Danbury's industrial space was 93% occupied, and office space vacancy rates were under 15%. Ives Street was reinvented as a Dining and Entertainment District, with the vacant buildings converted into restaurants and nightclubs. "We feel that the downtown is coming back strong", said one local bank president. The community rallied after arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
severely damaged the library in 1996. Voters passed a bond issue to fund improvements and expansions to city hall and rebuild the library. The Danbury Ice Arena
Danbury Ice Arena
The Danbury Arena is a 2,212-seat multi-purpose arena in Danbury, Connecticut. It was built in 1999 and renovated and expanded in 2004. The Danbury Arena was the former home of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League from 2004-2006, and the New England Stars of the North Eastern Hockey...
, later home to several minor league ice hockey teams, most recently the Danbury Whalers
Danbury Whalers
The Danbury Whalers are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Federal Hockey League that began play in the 2010-11 season. Based in Danbury, Connecticut, the Whalers play at the Danbury Ice Arena, located in CityCenter Danbury...
, was also built near Main Street in 1999. It offered a visitor attraction to complement the former train station which had become the Danbury Railway Museum
Danbury Railway Museum
The Danbury Railway Museum is housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern...
.
As they had in the mid-19th century, immigrants helped revitalize downtown in the early 21st century. This time they were from Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, primarily Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, working as day labor
Day labor
Day labor is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work.-Types:Day laborers find work through three common routes....
at construction sites all over Fairfield County. Not all of them were in the U.S. legally
Illegal immigration to the United States
An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
, and this created tensions between their community and Mayor Mark Boughton, who unsuccessfully asked Governor Jodi Rell
Jodi Rell
Mary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and was the 87th Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor,...
to have city police deputized as Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) agents so they could legally enforce federal immigration laws. The immigrant community was in turn angered by police efforts to close down their volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
games and sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
s that turned some of them over to the BCIS. In 2005 they staged a mile-long march down Main Street in protest.
Significant contributing properties
Some of the district's properties are architecturally or historically noteworthy in themselves. One, the John Rider HouseJohn Rider House
The John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century....
, was listed on the National Register prior to the district's creation. Another, the former jailhouse, was determined eligible for listing.
- American Legion Hall, 32–52 Elm Street. The open expanses of brick wall surface with round-arched windows on this 1927 building typify the work of local architect Philip Sunderland.
- Benedict & Nichols Building, 191-193 Main Street. When built in 1852 this transitional Greek RevivalGreek Revival architectureThe Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
-ItalianateItalianate architectureThe Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
commercial structure was the first three-story block in Danbury. - Chiarella Block, 272 Main Street. This 1914–15 mixed-use structure is one of the earliest in the district to show signs of the Colonial RevivalColonial Revival architectureThe Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style. - Commercial Building at 131 Main Street. Built in 1931, it is the youngest contributing property in the district. Its modernistModern architectureModern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
design has some Art DecoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
elements. - Commercial Building at 141 Main Street. The dedication plaque of this 1907 late ItalianateItalianate architectureThe Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
building is inscribed in both English and ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. - Commercial Building at 279–283 Main Street. First built as a Greek Revival commercial structure in 1853, later sales to different owners led to portions of the facade being redone in TudorTudorbethan architectureThe Tudor Revival architecture of the 20th century , first manifested itself in domestic architecture beginning in the United Kingdom in the mid to late 19th century based on a revival of aspects of Tudor style. It later became an influence in some other countries, especially the British colonies...
and modernist styles. - Crofut Block, 253–255 Main Street. This brick 1876 building with wooden pedimentPedimentA pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
ed window hoods, corner quoinQuoin (architecture)Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
s and pressed tin ceiling in the store interior at 255 is an excellent example of the high commercial application of the Italianate style. - Danbury News Building, 288 Main Street. This 1873 building had a distinctive Queen AnneQueen Anne Style architectureThe Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
tower added in 1893. - Old Danbury Library, 254 Main Street. Donated to the city in 1878 by fur-processing executive Alexander Moss White, its brick facadeFacadeA facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
with polychromaticPolychromaticThe term polychromatic means having several colours.It is used to describe light that exhibits more than one color. In a technical respect, this can also mean that it contains radiation of more than one wavelength. The study of polychromatics is particularly useful in the production of diffraction...
sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
trim and slate-shingled gable roof make it the only High Victorian Gothic building extant in the Danbury area. - John Dodd Shop, 43 Main Street, rear. Moved from its original site to preserve it, this small 1790 frame building is the oldest commercial building in the district.
- Elmwood Park, in center of Main Street between South and Wooster streets. Originally donated to town as a commonCommon landCommon land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
, it was the last home of the Congregationalist church that was the focal point of the early village of Danbury. Later used for growing hay and turned into a public park. - Fairfield County Courthouse, 71 Main Street. An 1899 Beaux Arts structure designed by Warren Briggs that now serves as juvenile courtJuvenile courtA juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
. - Hornig Block, 10–16 Elm Street. This 1882 Italianate commercial building is the only one in the district with pressed-metal siding.
- Houses at 101–103 and 105–107 Main Street. Two double houses, Greek Revival and Federal in style respectively, that reflect Danbury's early industrial growth in the 1830s.
- Humane Hose Co. No. 1 Firehouse, 6 Boughton Street. The only property on Boughton is a 1911 stuccoStuccoStucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
Italianate firehouse still in public use as a police garage. - Old Fairfield County Jail, 80 Main Street. An 1872 Second Empire building used for its original purpose until 1969. Today it has been converted mostly to senior housing, with part of the ground floor set aside as a small museum. It was determined eligible for the National Register in 1980 but has not been formally listed.
- Old Fire Station, 5-7 Ives Street. When this slate-roofed brick building went up in 1883 it was one of Danbury's first major public buildings. After being taken out of service in 1969, it has been converted into apartments.
- Old Post Office, 258 Main Street. Built in 1876, this Italianate brick building has corbelCorbelIn architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ed window hoods. Its original corniceCorniceCornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
is missing. - Old Saddle Factory, 68 Main Street. An 1836 wood frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
building later used as housing and today as office space. - Old Southern New England Telephone Company Building, 31 West Street. This 1908 brick building has some Dutch Colonial Revival touches, most significantly its prominent stepped-gabled roof.
- John Rider HouseJohn Rider HouseThe John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century....
, 43 Main Street. This 1785 wooden house is the oldest property in the district. It is currently home to the Danbury Historical Society and Museum, and the only property in the district individually listed on the National Register. - Seifert Armory, 5–15 Library Place. This five-story 1891 brick building with brownstone lintels and iron cornice has been remodeled into apartments.
- St. James Episcopal Church, 25 West Street. A granite Gothic Revival church completed in 1872, making it the oldest extant church building in the district. The parish hall and rectory were added in 1929.
- St. Peter's Catholic Church, 119 Main Street. The 175 feet (53.3 m) spire of this 1870s building dominates the Danbury skyline. It was the first Catholic church established in northern Fairfield County, later the centerpiece of a small complex of associated buildings.
- St. Peter's Convent, 88 Main Street. An 1895 Renaissance Revival three-story brick building with copper hipped roofHip roofA hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
. - St. Peter's Rectory, 104 Main Street. A three-story 1891 Richardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
brick building with two projecting octagonal towers. - St. Peter's School, 98 Main Street. An 1895 Italianate flat-roofed brick building with bell towerBell towerA bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
. A rear extension was added in 1909. - Sears Building, 129 Main Street. Built by the retailer in 1929, it was one of the first modernistModern architectureModern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
buildings in the district. - Thomas Settle Building, 248 Main Street. Warren Briggs designed this Richardsonian Romanesque 1887 commercial structure of rusticatedRustication (architecture)thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
brownstoneBrownstoneBrownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
for the Danbury National Bank. Its original roof and gableGableA gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s were removed after a 1973 fire. - Soldiers' Monument, Main and West streets. This granite statue of a Union ArmyUnion ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
soldier atop a 12 feet (3.7 m) column with the names of Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
battles engraved in it was erected in 1878 to memorialize local war dead. - Union Savings Bank, 226–228 Main Street. A Louis SullivanLouis SullivanLouis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
-inspired building in brick with terra cottaArchitectural terracottaTerracotta, in its unglazed form, became fashionable as an architectural ceramic construction material in England in the 1860s, and in the United States in the 1870s. It was generally used to supplement brick and tiles of similar colour in late Victorian buildings.It had been used before this in...
that was considered one of the city's most distinctive upon its 1887 completion.
- U.S. Post Office, 265 Main Street. Oscar Wenderoth designed this two-story brick Georgian RevivalGeorgian architectureGeorgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
building with a limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
marbleMarbleMarble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and stainedWood stainA wood stain consists of a colorant suspended or dissolved in a 'vehicle' or solvent. The suspension agent can be water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, or the actual finishing agent...
oak interior. - Wooster Cemetery, Wooster Street behind old jail building. Danbury's oldest cemetery, with some graves dating to ca. 1700.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Fairfield County, Connecticut
External links
- Main Street Danbury, blog with photos and information on many buildings in district.