Neighborhoods of Norwich, Connecticut
Several neighborhoods of Norwich, Connecticut maintain independent identities and are recognized by official signs marking their boundaries.
Bean Hill was originally a separate village, located about a mile from the center of Norwich in close proximity to the Norwichtown Green.
In the early 19th century it was the site of the Norwich Methodist Episcopal Church, which met in a building that also housed a classical academy and a free school.
[1] The African American abolitionist David Ruggles grew up in Bean Hill[1] and had an Underground Railroad stop in this area in one of the houses.
Modern Bean Hill grew in all directions with the coming of a highway on and off ramp depositing into the area just below the green.
Because of Norwich's industrial and commercial nature, this neighborhood is quite large, with its borders extending from Washington Street in the west to Burnham Square in the east.
[2] The majority of big business, including the Wauregan Hotel, Reid and Hughes, Sears, Woolworth's and Chelsea Groton Bank, developed around Centennial Square before either closing altogether or moving out of the city or to East Great Plain with the economic tide.
The offices of the Norwich Bulletin are located in the former railroad station, most recently the site of the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen.
Several important buildings in downtown have been renovated, specifically the Wauregan Hotel, Chelsea Landing and Otis Library.
As of March 2015, the building remains mostly vacant except for serving as a turnaround for the region's Southeast Area Transit Authority (SEAT) buses.
The harbor area and Howard T. Brown Park are popular for summertime music concerts and various annual festivals, including the Taste of Italy (Labor Day weekend), Juneteenth, and the Rotary Club of Norwich's summer carnival Named from at least 1890,[4] this section of Norwich is located in the southwest part of the city and is centered around the junction of New London Turnpike and Route 82.
Stanton Elementary School is located in East Great Plains next to the second of Norwich's synagogues, Beth Jacob.
The area has not lost its ethnic character, as new Asian grocery stores open up alongside old Italian shops.
Recently in a local ceremony, the fountain was reestablished in a small flowered alcove underneath a parking lot.
Mills were quickly built along the Shetucket River during the mid-19th century to take advantage of this water power.
While originally Irish, it now also serves growing Hispanic and Haitian populations, regularly offering masses in Spanish and Creole.
The area is entirely residential and very rural, with one main route (Plain Hill Road) connecting to side streets.
The city's meetinghouse for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is located on Plain Hill near the Sprague border.
Named after the founder of the large textile mill in 1866, Taftville is north of Greeneville and west of the Shetucket River.
Hosting small riverside businesses, this neighborhood intermixes local commerce and residential properties along Route 32 and the areas inland (West)to East Great Plains.
Home to the American Ambulance headquarters and another office building designed by Richard Sharpe and Associates, Thamesville brings new air to the traditional architecture that dominated the area.
Next to the Uncasville border, a string of car dealerships has earned this portion of Route 32 the nickname, "The Auto Mall".
The area's Shipping Street, site of the former Lehigh Oil Company complex, is one of Norwich's numerous blighted, abandoned manufacturing districts.
The largest structure in the city, Saint Patrick's Cathedral,[6] stands at the intersection of Broadway and Union Street just above Little Plains Park.
Around Chelsea Parade is the Masonic Temple (since demolished in order to preserve an ancient Mohegan Indian burial ground), the Blackstone Apartments and smaller mansions.
[8] It contains small businesses, houses, some hotels, two highways, a railroad, a firehouse and its picnic grounds, and the mill buildings.
Nearby, Sunnyside Street crosses the Yantic River over a unique stone bridge whose western end is flanked by two small towers.
However, plagued by financial and construction mis-management since 1995, it has been the latest failed attempt to revitalize the economic vitality of the once thriving village.
