Connecticut’s building
stock is one of the most complex and fascinating in the country, but it is
surprisingly little known. As one of the first states settled by Europeans, Connecticut has taken part in all the major periods of America’s
economic growth—agricultural, mercantile, maritime, industrial, and suburban.
Each of these periods produced characteristic buildings, and each, as it has
peaked and faded, has left its history behind in a priceless heritage of towns
and buildings.
To help the public know about and understand
Connecticut’s built environment, the Connecticut Trust for Historic
Preservation is creating Buildings of
Connecticut, a statewide architectural
guidebook which will focus on a wide range of periods and building
types, as well as landscape and engineering sites that go beyond the usual idea
of “architecture”—Victorian Main Streets, lakeside bungalows and yacht clubs on
the Sound, tobacco barns and glass office towers, the great textile mills of
the eastern valleys and the great estates of Greenwich, model workers’ housing
in Bridgeport, timeless hill towns in Windham County, the Merritt Parkway, the
white spire on Farmington’s meeting house and the onion dome on Saint Philip’s
Catholic Church in Ashford—these and many more form a living record of a unique
regional building culture and of the people who have made and remade it over a
period of nearly four centuries, and are continuing to do so today.
Buildings of
Connecticut is expected to contain:
-
500 pages
-
800-1,000 entries, covering all of Connecticut’s
169 towns
-
350 illustrations, including modern and historic photographs, drawings, and
plans
-
geographic organization, including up to 55 maps to guide users
-
introduction to Connecticut’s
history and architecture
-
10-12 sidebars with supplementary information
-
bibliography, glossary, and index
Buildings of Connecticutis expected to be a part ofBuildings
of the United States, a series of books on American architecture
compiled and written on a state-by-state basis. The primary objective of the
series is to identify and celebrate the rich cultural, economic, and
geographical diversity of the United
States as it is reflected in the
architecture of each state. The series has been commissioned by the Society of
Architectural Historians, an organization dedicated to the study,
interpretation, and preservation of the built environment throughout the world.
Christopher
Wigren, the primary author and editor, is Deputy Director of the Connecticut
Trust for Historic Preservation. An architectural historian trained at the University of Virginia, he edits the Trust’s
bimonthly magazine, Connecticut Preservation News. He also writes about
architecture and historic preservation for the Hartford Courant and has
authored or co-authored National Register nominations for the Merritt Parkway, a
district in Guilford, and individual buildings
in New Haven and Orange, Connecticut.
A team of contributors is being assembled to complete the book.
Support Buildings
of Connecticut
To donate to the project or learn more
about it, call the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation at (203)
562-6312 or send an email to Christopher Wigren, cwigren@cttrust.org.
To help the public know about and understand
Connecticut’s built environment, the Connecticut Trust for Historic
Preservation is creating Buildings of
Connecticut, a statewide architectural
guidebook which will focus on a wide range of periods and building
types, as well as landscape and engineering sites that go beyond the usual idea
of “architecture”—Victorian Main Streets, lakeside bungalows and yacht clubs on
the Sound, tobacco barns and glass office towers, the great textile mills of
the eastern valleys and the great estates of Greenwich, model workers’ housing
in Bridgeport, timeless hill towns in Windham County, the Merritt Parkway, the
white spire on Farmington’s meeting house and the onion dome on Saint Philip’s
Catholic Church in Ashford—these and many more form a living record of a unique
regional building culture and of the people who have made and remade it over a
period of nearly four centuries, and are continuing to do so today.
Buildings of
Connecticut is expected to contain:
Buildings of Connecticut is expected to be a part of Buildings
of the United States, a series of books on American architecture
compiled and written on a state-by-state basis. The primary objective of the
series is to identify and celebrate the rich cultural, economic, and
geographical diversity of the United
States as it is reflected in the
architecture of each state. The series has been commissioned by the Society of
Architectural Historians, an organization dedicated to the study,
interpretation, and preservation of the built environment throughout the world.
Christopher
Wigren, the primary author and editor, is Deputy Director of the Connecticut
Trust for Historic Preservation. An architectural historian trained at the University of Virginia, he edits the Trust’s
bimonthly magazine, Connecticut Preservation News. He also writes about
architecture and historic preservation for the Hartford Courant and has
authored or co-authored National Register nominations for the Merritt Parkway, a
district in Guilford, and individual buildings
in New Haven and Orange, Connecticut.
A team of contributors is being assembled to complete the book.
