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The Milton Center Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Portions of the text below were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document.Â
Description
The Milton Center Historic District is located in the Town of Litchfield about four miles northwest of the center of town. The Milton Center Historic District is oriented in an east-west direction encompassing churches, schools, former water power site, and houses in the center of the village of Milton. The components of the Milton Center Historic District[1] may be broken down as follows: 11 18th-century structures; 1 19th-century structure; 1 20th-century structure; 5 parcels significant because of function or artifacts; 1 cemetery; 8 non-contributing properties; 2 bridges.
The east-west spine of the Milton Center Historic District is Milton Road running from the David Welch House on the east, westerly to the Common, Trinity Episcopal Church, Milton Hall, and Congregational Church.
The focus of the Milton Center Historic District is the Common, a triangular piece of unimproved land at the intersection of Milton Road with Headquarters Road and Shearshop Road. The Common retains its 18th- and 19th-century appearance, without plantings of trees and shrubs. At the northwest corner of the Common, the Shepaug River flows under Milton Road in a southerly direction before taking a turn to the west, where it entered Milton Pond, now drained. Waterpower provided by the Shepaug River brought the first settlers to the village. The stone lining of the river where it crosses the corner of the Common, the 19th-century iron bridge, and the Congregational Church beyond provide a view of basic components of the Milton Center Historic District.
Across Milton Road at the north end of the Common the Center includes the Congregational Church at the left followed by the Guild Tavern, Shearshop Road, Milton Hall and Trinity Episcopal Church. A picture, c.1925, shows this scene the same as it appears in 1986. The Guild Tavern is unusual for its 4-bay side elevation, while Milton Hall adds one of the few Queen Anne style touches to the district with the imbricated shingles in its gable ends. Milton Hall replaces a store that burned in the 1890s. The Milton Center Historic District now [1986] has no store. The Episcopal Church is an early (1802) example of Gothic Revival features in a building with proportions and mass that would equally well accept Greek Revival treatment.
At the south end of the Common are two Milton schools. Milton Academy (1855) still retains some original glazing and board-and-batten siding, while the Milton District School (1896) still has its distinctive tower, belfry, bell, and pyramidal roof with flared eaves.
Further to the west Milton Road is lined with historic houses and with four 20th-century houses that do not contribute to the 18th- and 19th-century character of the Milton Center Historic District. Among the historic houses, the Hugh Welch Mansion (1840) is a large square 5-bay Greek Revival structure, while across the street two smaller houses have doorways similar to one another with transom lights and plain entablatures. The first of these is sheathed on its front elevation in flush matched boarding, an unusual feature.
At the end of this section of Milton Road where it turns almost 90 degrees to the north stands the second David Welch House of 1765, impressively sited behind a picket fence. The house is large and its parcel is large, 90 acres.
The Shepaug River, whose power potential attracted the first settlers to Milton, flows from the north through the village in two branches. The East Branch enters the Milton Center Historic District at Shearshop Road, cuts across the corner of the Common and turns 90 degrees to the west where the Milton Pond was located for two centuries. The dam for the pond was at Sawmill Road. The East Branch continues westerly beyond the location of the dam to the western boundary of the district where it joins the West Branch and the single stream flows south.
Even though the dam at Sawmill Road, first built about 1740, survived until the flood of 1955, no picture of it has come to hand. Sawmill Road ran across the top of the dam, the highway sloping down to its height, and then up again. Now the East Branch flows through a concrete culvert. Earth has been piled on top of the culvert, making Sawmill Road run almost flat instead of dipping down as it did for centuries. The site of the former pond is now marshland with secondary forest growth. A nail forge was located on the edge of Milton Pond. Low walls still in place at the northwest corner of the parcel near the road demonstrate that a rectangular building, running parallel with the road, once stood there. The gorge west of the site of the dam was the site of the Seelye Sawmill and Hutchinson Cider Mill. Several masonry artifacts are found along the edges of the stream and the steep banks of the ravine. Halfway up the south bank is a portion of a masonry wall and a cavity that may have been part of the waterpower system. Several brownstone ashlar blocks at the water's edge are left from a building that once stood nearby.
While there appear to be no extant pictures of the dam, the pond, or mills that stood near them, there is a 1910 photograph of the Smith carriage factory that stood at the western edge of the district. Foundations of a structure are on the site. The carriage factory location is shown on an 1852 map.
Near the western edge of the Milton Center Historic District the Milton Cemetery lies behind a stone wall of massive granite blocks with 19th-century iron gates. Milton citizens who fought in the Revolutionary War and many other distinguished Milton men and women are buried there.
Significance
The Milton Center Historic District contains several excellent examples of pre-Revolutionary War architecture and later 19th-century structures. These buildings, which continue to exist in their original relationship to one another, together form an entity of quality and integrity that is architecturally significant. The buildings and sites depict the 18th- and 19th-century origin and development of the district, based on the waterpower potential of the Shepaug River. There have been few intrusions. The presence of early industrial sites offers the potential for developing useful information through their examination.
Milton's History
The area now known as Milton was called West Farms. It was settled and developed because of its attractive potential for water power development. Among the first settlers, who arrived before 1740, were Justus Seelye, David Welch and Jeremiah Griswold from New Milford. Welch engaged in the iron business as a merchant, buying and selling ore mined in northwestern Connecticut. One of the men he dealt with was Ethan Allen, the Revolutionary War hero. Welch also brought ore to Milton and processed it in a puddling furnace located north on Shearshop Road behind his house.[5] Griswold, a builder, constructed the dam at Sawmill Road, which formed Milton Pond, and also the second David Welch House.
Others took advantage of the waterpower available from the Shepaug River at several sites. In the district the Seelye Sawmill, Pratt Nail Forge, and Hutchinson Cider mill were located near the dam at Milton Pond.
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