page_title: Downtown Waterbury Historic District
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Downtown Waterbury Historic District / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: An ornate window on the south façade of Immaculate Conception church in the Downtown Waterbury Historic District
context_page_description: The Downtown Waterbury Historic District is the core of the city of Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a roughly rectangular area centered on West Main Street and Waterbury Green, the remnant of the original town commons, which has been called "one of the most attractive downtown parks in New England."
  The Green was the city's first center, with the buildings around it representing all types of uses, from residences to churches to public buildings. Many early buildings were cleared as the city grew and industrialized. Nearby Exchange Place, the junction of the city's streetcar lines, later emerged as a center for retailing. A devastating 1902 fire in that area led to more clearing and rebuilding. In its wake the city's government buildings were moved to a new municipal complex on Grand Street designed by Cass Gilbert, in accordance with the principles of the City Beautiful movement.
  Most of its buildings, large commercial blocks, date to the peak years of the city's industrial prosperity, the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A few earlier buildings survived a devastating 1902 fire.
context_section_description: The district is a 75-acre (30 ha) area between the railroad tracks along the Naugatuck River and the Waterbury branch campus of the University of Connecticut. It is an intensively developed urban area, with many multi-story mixed-use buildings. There are 130 in total, with six objects and one structure counted among the contributing resources. Seventeen of the buildings are considered non-contributing, either due to construction outside the period of significance or later alterations. The oldest date to the 1805s; there is some modern infill.
  Among the buildings are large parking lots, and two small parks, Waterbury Green and Library Park, provide open space. The terrain is generally flat, the former flood plain of the river valley. To the south Interstate 84 crosses the city and valley on an elevated viaduct, affording a panoramic view of the skyline to eastbound traffic on the upper level.
  The northwestern corner is the intersection of State and West Main streets. The district boundary follows the middle of West Main for two blocks to Park Place, where it turns north, excluding the Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center and including Immaculate Conception Church and other properties on the north side of West Main. At North Main Street it turns south again, then east along East Main to the eastern corner of the district, the open square at the junction of that street and North and South Elm streets.
  From there it follows a diagonal course along property lines, crossing Scovill and South Main streets to the junction of Bank and Grand streets. There it follows Grand westward, including the properties on the south side west of Cottage Place. It detours down Field Street in order to include the armory, then all of Library Park and the former American Brass Company headquarters. After following Meadow Street back to Grand, it follows State Street back to the northwest corner.
  Leavenworth Street, in the middle of the district, divides the two major uses of the district. To its east are more commercial blocks, with buildings packed densely, covering most of their lots, centered on Exchange Place, the blocks between East Main, Leavenworth, Bank and Grand. West, the buildings are primarily institutional, dominated by the row of buildings forming part of the Waterbury Municipal Center Complex, with large setbacks from the street and each other. There are some commercial buildings among them, and one major institutional building, the post office, is located in the eastern half.
caption: An ornate window on the south façade of Immaculate Conception church at the Waterbury Green
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