Hanmer Park

Hanmer Park. Seafarers, Shipbuilders and Soldiers. , During the 18th century shipbuilding and maritime trade were dominant industries in Wethersfield. The height of the trading period with the West Indies was prior to and following the American Revolution. Merchants, shipmasters and sailors continued to build their substantial homes here on Main Street, close to the port and the Connecticut River. During the Revolutionary War many sea captains turned to privateering, acting as government sanctioned pirates. In 1783, by the end of the war more than 550 Wethersfield men had served as sailors, sea captains and soldiers., Hanmer Park , This one and a half acre common is Hanmer Park. The park was named for Captain John Hanmer who embarked from this point with seventy-two soldiers on the Sloop Ann for the Revolutionary War Battle of Long Island on August 23, 1776. The park was formerly the “Goose Pond” which was filled in the late 1920s., The Samuel Woodhouse Jr. House , Samuel Woodhouse Jr. was a sailor, shipbuilder and Revolutionary War soldier who fought at the Battle of Long Island in August of 1776 and was a member of the seafaring Woodhouse family. Samuel built the brick gambrel mansion house at 5 River Road just north of the common in 1783 for his family when brick was the most prestigious building material in Wethersfield. The brick house is an example of an early Georgian influenced structure. The house was one of a number in Wethersfield (including the John Francis Sr. House on Hartford Avenue) built before 1840 with the use of brick. Master builder James Francis learned construction techniques working on this house that he later applied to many of the brick houses that grace Old Wethersfield., Main Street , As you continue your walk up Main Street (originally called High Street) towards Wethersfield Cove you will notice the home sites of many Wethersfield families who made their living from the river or the sea., Samuel Woodhouse Sr. spent most of his seventy-two years at sea involved in the West Indies Trade. The house built in 1748 at 484 Main Street was purchased by Captain William Hurlbut in 1870. Hurlbut was one of Wethersfield’s last sea captains., Captain Samuel Lattimer Jr. built his 1775 Colonial at 505 Main Street. The Lattimers had a wharf at the end of Water Street (now River Road) from which produce was shipped downriver and to New York and abroad. It remained in operation until 1860, when it was taken over by the Wethersfield Wharf Company and continued to be used until the 1920s., The Titus Buck House at 538 Main Street located next to the Cove was built in 1730 and substantially enlarged in 1767. The Buck family operated a fishery on the west bank of the Cove until the early 1900s. Sophia Woodhouse, granddaughter of Titus Buck lived here and gained fame for her grass bonnets., (image caption) , Samuel Woodhouse Jr. House with Goose Pond in foreground, courtesy Mrs. Fred Woodhouse.