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The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural styles from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown of its size in Connecticut not to have developed around either port facilities or a water power site.〔 It was called Town Street when Danbury was first settled in the late 17th century. For over a century afterwards the "long, straggling street" was synonymous with Danbury, to the point that farmers in the area referred to it as Danbury Street. The Revolutionary War in that area of Connecticut began in the future district, where a marker indicates the first shot fired at the British.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.jud.state.ct.us/external/kids/history/postcards/Danbury.htm )〕 As the city began growing toward the mid-19th century, its development was shaped by the arrival of the railroads, which helped the city's hatmakers dominate their industry. In the mid-20th century the area began to decline. Hats became less popular after World War II, causing the hat factories to close. The floods of 1955 took a toll, with some businesses choosing not to rebuild. Other businesses left later for a new shopping mall elsewhere in the city. Main Street was largely spared the demolition that accompanied urban renewal elsewhere in the country, and it was recognized as the city's only historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Its contributing properties, ranging from the 1780s to the 1930s, reflects a diversity of uses and styles with a heavy concentration of the Italianate commercial architecture of the late 19th century. Today, downtown Danbury is once again thriving due to a variety of factors. Businesses formed a special taxing district to raise money for infrastructure maintenance and improvement, and the city used state grants to build popular attractions near downtown like a rail museum and ice arena. Danbury's population has also increased in the late 20th century as it became a popular exurban enclave for New York metropolitan area commuters, and Latin American immigrants have settled in and established businesses along Main Street despite tensions with the city's mayor. ==Geography== The district follows a three-quarter–mile () section of Main Street (state highway CT 53) from 34 and 43 Main (the John Rider House, now the city's historical museum) at the south end to White Street at the north. At both ends there are distinct changes—a shift to more modern construction at the south end and the flood control measures along the Still River at the north—that distinguish the district from adjacent areas. Portions of nine side streets are included, varying from most of the adjacent blocks of Elm, Keeler, West and White streets and Library Place to single properties on Boughton Street and Post Office Place. The entire Wooster Street Cemetery is within the district as well. At the northeast corner, Ives Street is also included to Delay Place and Railroad Street. The geographic center of Danbury is close to 238 Main Street. The terrain slopes slightly from south to north along the Still's flood plain, but appears level.〔 To the north Main Street continues to be predominantly commercial, all the way to Interstate 84 (also, at that point, US 6/7/202) a mile (1.6 km) north. Large-scale residential development mixes with the commercial development south of the district, to where Route 53 leaves to follow South Street towards Bethel. East downtown continues a few blocks to the railroad tracks and the train station), with a small residential neighborhood intervening between downtown and Western Connecticut State University. Residential neighborhoods are to the west.〔 The district is a heavily developed urban core with mostly commercial buildings, predominantly two-story structures fronting on Main Street, some mixed use with apartments on the upper stories. Among them are some government buildings such as the post office and courthouse and churches such as St. Peter's, whose spire dominates the city's skyline. Single- and multiple-unit residential properties are generally on the side streets. In addition to the parking lots, there is some open space, most significantly Elmwood Park, in the center of from roughly north of Park Place to south of Center Street. From there to the district's north end it continues as a narrow planted median strip.〔 Within the district's area are 132 properties, 97 of which are contributing to the district's historic character. One, the John Rider House, currently used as a local historical museum, is also listed on the Register individually. The architectural styles represented run from the Georgian houses contemporary with the Riders near the south end of the district, its oldest area, to Colonial Revival and Modernist buildings near its north end, reflecting the business district's expansion in that direction over the course of that time. There are also several historical monuments considered contributing.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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