Brooklyn Green Historic District - Brooklyn, CT - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"Brooklyn Green Historic District is a historic district on Route 169, Route 205, U.S. Route 6, Wolf Den, Brown, Prince Hill, and Hyde Roads in the town of Brooklyn, Connecticut. The district is notable for its Greek Revival, Colonial, and Federal architecture. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The district has significance as an illustration of certain broad patterns of development in Connecticut, for its collection of architecture, and for its association with historically important individuals.

The centerpiece of the district is the Brooklyn Green, a 1.75-acre (7,100 m2) village green in the center of the town. The Green is roughly a square bounded on four sides by streets. There are also two streets cutting across diagonally, resulting in four separate triangular sections. The eastern triangle contains the Brooklyn Meeting House. The area around the Green contains various important town buildings, including the town hall, town library, two churches (Trinity Episcopal and Federated Church of Christ), and several historic residences dating from the mid-18th century. The roads around the Green are Route 169 on the east, Putnam Place on the north and west, Brooklyn Common on the south. The diagonal streets are Wolf Den Road (northwest to southeast) and U.S. Route 6 (northeast to southwest).

The Green's adjacent buildings were photographed in the Historic American Buildings Survey program. A HABS summary is:

Little altered since the mid-nineteenth century, Brooklyn Green is significant as a small, rural area that still retains much of its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century material heritage. The physical organization of the area reflects the historical development of the town and the region, including its growth in the first half of the nineteenth century and decline in the decades that followed. Many of the buildings and structures located near the Brooklyn Green are architecturally significant, exemplifying the styles that were popular between 1750 and 1850, the area's period of greatest significance. Finally, some of the buildings and structures are associated with the lives of prominent individuals in Brooklyn history, including Israel Putnam (1718-1790) and Daniel Tyler, Jr. (ca. 1700-1800)." SOURCE

"Brooklyn was once part of the lands claimed by the Mohegan chief, Uncas. The land, deeded in 1680 to Capt. James Fitch, was sold to the first local settlers in 1703. It was settled as part of the towns of Canterbury and Pomfret with the Northeastern third having separate existence as the manorial estate of Mortlake.

Mortlake had been purchased in 1686 as a refuge for Puritans who were forced out of England with the Stuart restoration. It was not part of any town and hence neither collected taxes nor provided services to the tenants residing within its bounds. Mortlake was finally included in the community in 1752 and grew and prospered.

The Town of Brooklyn was incorporated in 1786 and in 1819 became the county seat. The large homes, the jail, the courthouse now used as the Town Hall, all reflect this period of prominence which continued through part of the nineteenth century. The Agricultural Association was formed about 1820 and continues to attracts visitors with the annual fair.

Eastern Connecticut was very much involved in the Civil War and Brooklyn was no exception. A glance at the monument will show that local men served in most of the famous battles. Mills provided clothing and the records of churches and organizations list substantial contributions in manpower. Eventually areas like West Wauregan and East Brooklyn were built around textile mills. For a time, the center of Brooklyn supported a bank (now the library), and a newspaper, as well as several stores.

In more recent times Brooklyn has developed into two distinct areas. The central and western parts have continued along a residential and rural path, whereas the eastern sector has become predominantly commercial. Many of the old churches and homes have been restored. The old Court House has been internally renovated to provide town office facilities, but the colonial exterior was left unchanged." SOURCE

Here is an extensive description of the Brooklyn Green Historic District.

And here is the National Register of Historic Place Inventory - Nomination Form.