West Hartford Village Historic District

About this property

West Hartford is an unincorporated community village in the town of Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It is one of Hartford's five villages, situated on the White River and crossed by the Appalachian Trail. West Hartford no longer has a post office, but still has a local library, and a town park. The White River, is a nearby fishing site. The village's center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the West Hartford Village Historic District. West Hartford is located in far northern Hartford, seven river miles up the White River from its mouth at the Connecticut River. Its center is at geographical coordinates 43° 42′ 44" North, 72° 25′ 7" West (43.71212, -72.418541). The White River runs through the Village and along Clifford Park. The village of West Hartford was settled during the late 18th century, primarily organized around mills and outlying agricultural areas. The oldest surviving house in the village was built in 1795 by Francis and Abigail (Hazen) Savage. Abigail was the granddaughter of the area's first colonial landowner. A turnpike, now Vermont Route 14, was built along the river in 1800. The focal center of the village was established at Harper Savage Lane by construction of its first bridge to span the White River in 1820, and then by the construction of a railroad station nearby. By 1830, the village had a church and post office, and the village continued to thrive during the 19th century, mainly due to its proximity to White River Junction, an important railroad hub in the region. Much of the village was destroyed by a major flood in 1867. This natural disaster destroyed much of the local industry, with the exception of retail which continued, driven by the presence of the railroad. In the spring of 1927, the Vermont rivers flooded, taking out several bridges including the West Hartford Bridge, then a covered bridge. Shortly after the flood, the bridges were all replaced with simple contemporary bridges that were tall, green, and steel trussed. In 2006, the West Hartford Bridge was replaced with a new single-span bridge named Veterans Bridge. The old bridge had a pool off of the downstream side where locals would jump off the bridge into the water. The new bridge is in a location where it is dangerous to jump because the deep pool is no longer accessible, although teens, children, and adults still jump off the bridge. At the foot of the new bridge, there is a small area in remembrance of Hartford Veterans. Clifford Park is a town maintained park that includes nature trails, a softball field, horseshoe pits, and a picnic area on the river. Every summer, it is turned into a major landing area for the hot air balloons that have taken off at the Quechee Balloon Festival, and every Halloween it is the Haunted Area for local youths sponsored by the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department. The park is named Clifford, after the former owner of the land that now holds the park, and the land that is the Westfield Drive community.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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