Milford Point Hotel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Milford Point Hotel
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1 Milford Point Rd., Milford, Connecticut |
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| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1847 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 87002417 |
| Added to NRHP | January 22, 1988 |
The Milford Point Hotel is a very old building in Milford, Connecticut. It was built way back in 1847. This makes it one of the oldest hotels by the sea still standing in Connecticut! Today, it's not a hotel anymore. It's now the visitors center for the Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point. This building is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
What is the Milford Point Hotel?
The old Milford Point Hotel is located near the very end of Milford Point. This spot is the most southwestern part of the city. Milford Point is special because it forms the eastern side of the Housatonic River's mouth. It's also a big area dedicated to protecting nature and wildlife. The state and the Connecticut Audubon Society own these lands.
A Look at the Hotel's Design
The hotel building is a two-and-a-half-story structure made of wood. It has a pointed roof, called a gabled roof. The outside walls are covered with overlapping wooden boards, known as clapboard. The building sits on a raised foundation, which is hidden by a decorative wooden screen.
A porch with a flat, slanted roof stretches across the front of the building. This porch has square posts that look like the Italianate style. These posts have fancy, cut-out wooden decorations called jigsawn brackets. Inside, the first floor still has its original layout. There are three main public rooms. Upstairs, a hallway leads to many small guest rooms, just like a hotel would have had.
A Journey Through Time: The Hotel's History
The Milford Point Hotel was built in 1847 by a person named George T. Smith. It offered a fun seaside vacation for people who traveled by train. A railroad had just been finished along the coast, making it easy for visitors to arrive.
Back then, small hotels like this were very common along Connecticut's coast. But now, you hardly ever see them. The hotel used to be closer to the water, but natural sand has built up over time. This sand has pushed the shoreline further away from the building.
The hotel probably got its Italianate look from a big update in 1875. In the 1930s, the hotel and the land around it were given to the state. This is when the wildlife management and nature preserve areas were created. During World War II, the building was even used as a military lookout station. Now, it serves as the visitors center for the Connecticut Audubon Society's Coastal Center at Milford Point.
