Nichols, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in southeastern Trumbull
Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull, a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut in the New England region of the United States, is bordered by the towns of Monroe, Shelton, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Easton along Connecticut's Gold Coast. The population was 36,018 according to the 2010 census.Family Circle magazine...
on the Gold Coast (Connecticut)
Gold Coast (Connecticut)
The Gold Coast, also known as Southwestern Connecticut or Lower Fairfield County, is a region of the state of Connecticut, United States, that includes the entire southern portion of Fairfield County as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Super-Public Use Microdata Area Region 09600.This area is...
of Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
, was named after the family who maintained a large farm in its center for almost 300 years. The Nichols Farms Historic District
Nichols Farms Historic District
According to Stratford land records, Abraham Nichols purchased several old farms and large parcels of land in 1696. Nichols exchanged his land for of Lt. Joseph Judsons old farm which had a barn on it, or half the land owned by Jeremiah Judson, and of land from Benjamin Curtiss...
, which encompasses part of the village, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Nichols was originally entirely part of the coastal settlement of Stratford
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. It was founded by Puritans in 1639....
, settled in 1639, and used primarily for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and animal husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
. In the mid nineteenth century, manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
of carriages and saddle trees was established. By the early twentieth century, after the mass production of the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
, Nichols became an affluent suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
for the nearby cities of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, Stratford
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. It was founded by Puritans in 1639....
and Shelton
Shelton, Connecticut
Shelton is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,559 at the 2010 census.-Origins:Shelton was settled by the English as part of the town of Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639...
. The construction of the Merritt Parkway
Merritt Parkway
The Merritt Parkway is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the...
through Nichols Center in 1939, and the closing of local factories, turned the village into a bedroom community for lower Fairfield County.
History
It is not known exactly when English settlers took up land in Nichols, due to the fact that the first volume of Stratford land records were destroyed in 1650. In 1661, the Stratford selectmen voted to allow all inhabitants the liberty of taking up a whole division of land anywhere they could find fit planting ground as long as it was not within two miles (3 km) of the town meeting house and they were prohibited from making it their dwelling place without consent. Elder Phillip Groves, Captain William Curtiss and Lt. Joseph JudsonJoseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
, early landowners in Nichols, were named to a committee to lay out the land as they saw fit.
Before 1661, people were free to take up planting grounds anywhere within the township. The common land in Nichols Farms was divided and granted to individuals beginning in 1670 as a part of the three-mile or woods division and continued up to 1800.
Agriculture
Mischa Hill is located in the geographic center of Nichols. The area was first called Misha Hill or Lt. Joseph Judson's Farm in the land records. It was the first area within Trumbull to be farmed and settled due to its fertile soils, spring-fed ponds, natural meadows and its close proximity to the main village, just three miles away.The first landowners were among the first settlers to arrive at Stratford or their son's, namely; William Beardsley, Richard Booth, Zachariah Bostick, John Brinsmaid, John Curtiss, Benjamin Curtiss, Joseph Curtiss, Captain William Curtiss, Ebenezer Curtiss, Zachariah Curtiss
Zachariah Curtiss House
The Zachariah Curtiss Houses are located in New England, and are Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber frame farm houses. The older house of the two was built by Zachariah I around 1686 and the second house was built by his son Zachariah II around 1721 in the Georgian architectural style...
, Joseph Fairchild, Elder Philip Groves, Mr. Joseph Hawley (Captain)
Joseph Hawley (Captain)
Joseph Hawley , born in Parwich, Derbyshire, England, was the first of the Hawley name to come to America in 1629. He settled at Stratford, Connecticut in 1650, becoming the town's first town clerk or record keeper, tavern keeper and a shipbuilder.-Surname:The surname of Hawley is one of locality...
, Samuel Hawley, Ephraim Hawley
Ephraim Hawley House
The Ephraim Hawley House, located in New England, is a Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber-frame farm house built between 1670 and 1690...
, John Hurd, Lt. Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
, Jeremiah Judson, Isaac Judson, Isaac Nichols, Caleb Nichols, Abraham Nichols, Samuel Uffoot and Reverend Zachariah Walker.
Lt. Joseph Judson, Sgt. Jeremiah Judson and Joseph Curtiss established their farms on Mischa Hill before 1658, the year in which they were all elected as freeman (Colonial)
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
by the legislature of the Connecticut Colony
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
. To be elected as a freeman at this time, an individual had to own real property in his own name.
Religious rift
In the 1660s, Lt. Joseph JudsonJoseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
began a disagreement with the majority of elders in town as he and others tried to introduce the half way covenant. In 1671, Judson obtained permission from then Governor John Winthrop, Jr. to remove with other families and settle a new town called Woodbury
Woodbury, Connecticut
Woodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....
. Judson and the other Woodbury founders, either sold, gifted or abandoned their farms in Nichols.
In 1688, John Curtiss removed to Woodbury, gifting his entire farm on Mischa Hill to his son Benjamin who had married Joseph Judson's daughter.
Shortly after Judson and the others had abandoned their farms in Nichols to remove to Woodbury in 1673, the area was commonly referred to as Old Farm, Old Farms and Judson's Farm's in the Stratford land records.
Abraham Nichols
It was previously thought that Abraham Nichols made the first permanent settlement within Trumbull around 1690 or 1700, depending on the source, and that others soon followed venturing into the wilderness to establish mills, churches, and schools. Abraham Nichols landholdings were said to total 1000 acres (4 km²) with much of it remaining in the Nichols family for over two centuries. The last of the line was Florence Nichols who married George Woods in 1903. Soon after their deaths in 1973 and 1972 respectively, the property was deeded to the Nichols Methodist Church from whom the town of Trumbull purchased it in 1974. This tract was then known as the Woods Estate and is now the home of the Trumbull Historical Society. Recent research has determined that Nichols holdings actually were around 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land of which 55 acre (0.2225773 km²) remains as open space today.According to Walter Nicholls, who wrote the History of the Nichols family in 1909, Abraham did not accompany his father to Woodbury in 1673, but remained in Trumbull to oversee the plantation. However, since Abraham was only eleven at the time (born 1662), it is likely that he did remove to Woodbury with his family and returned to Trumbull between 1696 and 1700.
Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation
The Golden Hill Paugussett Indian NationGolden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation
The Golden Hill Paugussetts are the Connecticut state-recognized tribal descendents of the Paugussett Nation of Native Americans that occupied much of western Connecticut prior to the arrival of Europeans...
is a Connecticut state-recognized tribal descendents of the Paugussett (also Paugusset) Nation of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
that occupied much of western Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
prior to the arrival of Europeans. While state-recognized, they have been denied federal recognition
Native American recognition in the United States
Native American recognition in the United States most often refers to the process of a tribe being recognized by the United States federal government, or to a person being granted membership to a federally recognized tribe. There are 565 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States...
. The tribe lives in Colchester, Connecticut
Colchester, Connecticut
Colchester is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 14,551 at the 2000 census. In 2005 it was ranked 57th on the "100 Best Places to Live" in all of the United States, conducted by CNN...
, where it has a 106 acre (0.42896716 km²) reservation, and also has a 1/4 acre reservation in Nichols, which is considered to be the oldest continuing reservation in Connecticut and the smallest in the US.
Development
Nichols is named for the family that maintained a large farm in its geographic center for almost three hundred years. In May of 1725, the northwest farmers of Stratford petitioned the Colony of Connecticut to form their own villageVillage
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
. The farmer's wished to call their new Parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
Nichol's Farm's. The legislature approved their new village in October of 1725, but named the new parish Unity. Unity became a part of North Stratford in 1744 when it merged with the parish of Long Hill, Trumbull, Connecticut
Long Hill, Trumbull, Connecticut
Long Hill is a village located in the western section of Trumbull in Fairfield County, Connecticut in New England. It is an area lying west of the Pequonnock River and north of the Merritt Parkway. The main thoroughfare is Connecticut Route 111, present-day Main Street.-History:Long Hill was...
which had been founded in 1740. The Nichols village became a school and taxing district as a part of the town of Trumbull, when it incorporated in 1797.
Nichols Green
The green in Nichols, known as the Nichols Green or N.I.A. Green, is owned and maintained by a private trust called the Nichols Improvement Association, established in 1889 to beautify and improve Nichols.- A memorial to those residents who fought in World Wars I and II is located on the south end of the green.
- An 80' tall pine flagpole brought through the Panama CanalPanama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
from Washington was erected on the green in 1932. This pine pole replaced an earlier 115' chestnut flagpole erected on July 4, 1892 that carried a 25' by 15' flag and was believed by some to be the highest flag flown in the state at the time.
- Another well known landmark near the green is the Bunny Fountain. The fountain, was a gift from the Peet family to the citizens of Nichols in 1895. The fountain was moved from its original location at the intersection of Huntington Turnpike and Shelton Road to the intersection of Huntington Turnpike and Unity Road in 1931 after being damaged by a car. It was moved to its present location and restored in the spring of 1971 and underwent restoration again in 1992.
- An old grinding stone from the 1826 Fairchild (Paper) Mill is placed at the south end of the green. The mill was located at a place commonly called the Falls of the Pequonnock RiverPequonnock RiverThe Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
beginning in 1674, at present it is the town boundary with Bridgeport called Fairchild Park. - A piece of the original 1940 Merritt ParkwayMerritt ParkwayThe Merritt Parkway is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the...
bridge that was built over Route 108 is on the green. The concrete ornament is a likeness of the town of Trumbull official seal. The bridge was demolished in 1979 when the interchange was updated.
Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake is a natural lake located on the west side of tall Mischa Hill in the Nichols Farms Historic District section of Trumbull, Connecticut.-Pinewood Lake Association:...
is best known for serving as the summer rehearsal headquarters of the Group Theatre (New York) when it was called Pine Brook Country Club
Pine Brook Country Club
-Introduction:Pine Brook Country Club began when Benjamin Plotkin purchased Pinewood Lake and the surrounding countryside on Mischa Hill in the historic village of Nichols, Connecticut. Plotkin built an auditorium with a revolving stage and forty rustic cabins and incorporated as the Pine Brook...
. The Group Theatre (New York) was formed in New York City in 1931 by Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
, Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director.Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation, she moved to New York City and enrolled at the Theatre Guild's school...
and Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
and was made up of actors, directors, playwrights and producers. The Group gathered every summer during the 1930s at the natural lake. During this time, they produced works by the most important American playwrights of the time on real life subject matter which changed stage and film forever.
Nichols Avenue
The road linking the village of Nichols to Stratford center, three miles (5 km) to the south, was first called the Farm Highway, now called Nichols Avenue or (Route 108Connecticut Route 108
Route 108 in the U.S. state of Connecticut, also called Huntington Turnpike and Nichols Avenue, is a two-lane state highway that runs northerly from US 1, Boston Post Road in Stratford, through Trumbull, to Route 110 in downtown Shelton...
). The historic road was laid out or surveyed to the south side of Mischa Hill in Nichols on December 7 1696. The highway was described as being completed to the south side of Mischa Hill and at Zachariah Curtiss
Zachariah Curtiss House
The Zachariah Curtiss Houses are located in New England, and are Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber frame farm houses. The older house of the two was built by Zachariah I around 1686 and the second house was built by his son Zachariah II around 1721 in the Georgian architectural style...
, his land, and at Captain's Farm.
In October 1725, when the Connecticut Colony
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
approved the Parish of Unity, they referred to the Farm Highway as Nickol's Farm's Road. The Nichols Avenue portion of Route 108 in Trumbull is the third-oldest documented highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
in Connecticut, after the Mohegan Road, Connecticut Route 32 in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
(1670) and the King's Highway
King's Highway
King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria* Kings Highway , Australia* King's Highway , United States* King's Highway King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway (ancient) an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria*...
, or Boston Post Road
Boston Post Road
The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States.The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York...
Route 1 (1673).
Merritt Parkway
The Merritt ParkwayMerritt Parkway
The Merritt Parkway is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the...
was built directly through the original Nichols center in the late 1930s and displaced the old Nichols Store, which was razed, and the Trinity Church which was moved. The large 5' by 6' natural stepping stone was the only item saved from the Nichols Store and was relocated to the front of the Ephraim Hawley House
Ephraim Hawley House
The Ephraim Hawley House, located in New England, is a Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber-frame farm house built between 1670 and 1690...
. In the early 1980s, the original Huntington Turnpike bridge
Merritt Parkway Bridges
The 69 original bridges of the Merritt Parkway were designed by George L. Dunkelberger. Each bridge had a unique design that represented various 1930s architectural styles, such as Art Deco, Art Moderne, French Renaissance, Gothic, Neoclassicism, and Rustic. Some of the bridges have been...
was demolished when the interchange was updated.