The Gurleyville Historic District encompasses a formerly industrial rural crossroads village in

Mansfield, Connecticut Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 25,892 at the 2020 census. Pequot and Mohegan people lived in this region for centuries before the arrival of English settler-immigrants in the late 17th cen ...

. Centered on Gurleyville and Chaffeeville Roads, it includes a collection of mainly vernacular 19th-century residences, a stone

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

dating to about 1749, and the archaeological remains of later industrial endeavours. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975.

Description and history

Gurleyville is located what is now a rural setting of north-central

. The historic district is bounded on the west mostly by the

Fenton River 300px, Fenton River along the Nipmuck Trail just north of CT Route 44 (UConn Forest) The Fenton River is a major water source for the University of Connecticut that runs through Mansfield, Storrs, and Willington, as well as small parts of Wi ...

, historically the source of power for the village's mills, and the south by the junction of Stone Mill and Grist Mill Roads. It is basically linear in character, extending northward along Chaffeeville Road to its junction with Gurleyville Road, and then westward along the latter road to the river. Its boundary crosses to the west side of the river north of Gurleyville Road, to include the archaeological remains of a mill site. Industrial features in the historic district include a stone

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

and dam on the river that were constructed beginning in 1749 by Benjamin Davis, and include operable 19th-century equipment. Other features include foundations and other ruins of a small 19th-century

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

known as Royce Silk Mill, and the foundation of a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

dating from 1724. There are roughly one dozen historic homes, as well as several buildings originally built for commercial purposes and now used as residences. These houses are typically vernacular in style, with only minimal nods to architectural fashions of the 19th century. Meadowland surrounding the village is included in the district to preserve the village in relation to its historical agricultural setting. and The ruins of the Gurley-Mason Mill, a sawmill built by Zebulon Gurley around 1778, are located two miles to the north along the Fenton River. Connecticut Governor Wilbur Cross was a native of Gurleyville.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Mansfield, Connecticut Italianate architecture in Connecticut Historic districts in Tolland County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Tolland County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References