The Pines Bridge Historic District in North Haven

The Pines Bridge Historic District encompasses a historic industrial and commercial village in North Haven, Connecticut. Located just west of the Town Green and centered around the Broadway Bridge over the Quinnipiac River, the village developed first as a commercial hub around a 17th-century bridge at the site, and then as a small industrial village in the 19th century.

The Pines is a name historically associated with the head of navigation of the Quinnipiac River, which was first settled in the 1670s. Construction of a bridge made the area a small commercial center, serving travelers on the road connecting New Haven and Hartford (now roughly State Street). The area developed in the early 19th century as a brickmaking center, a business which expanded after the railroad (whose line forms the district's eastern boundary) arrived by 1840.

It became the principal commercial area of North Haven by the 1850s, but declined in importance in the mid-20th century due to increased automobile use and the construction of Interstate 91, which separated the area from the town center. The district is 40 acres in size and consists of two sections joined by the Broadway bridge.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons