Mansfield Hollow is a cohesive village of late 18th and 19th century structures, including residences, a former store and a silk mill. The district is both historically and architecturally significant. Most of the houses original owners were connected with the Hollow's early enterprises, which included grist, saw, carding, fulling, oil, cotton and silk mills and a machine shop. The importance of small-scale manufacturing to the Hollo's economy is recalled today by the stone mill, which like the earlier mills, was powered by the swift Natchaug River flowing along the District's southern boundary. The village is typical of rural Connecticut architecture and shows development of the basic farmhouse inherited from the 18th century. Most of the early inhabitants combined farming with their mill activities. Despite modifications to some of the buildings, the district's small scale and clustering of houses retain the feel of a 19th century village. [2]

Architecture, Industry- Mansfield Hollow Historic District is of local historic significance because of its association with the industrialization of the town of Mansfield. The Mansfield Hollow Historic District is also of architectural importance as a coherent collection of simple early 19th century dwellings. Mansfield Hollow is one of the best remaining examples of this pattern of small-scale industrialization. Not only are there the stone mill and the now unexposed turbine as evidence of the industrial past, but most of the houses were built for or later occupied by people who owned or worked in the various enterprises. Although only two of the buildings can be properly called mill housing, the usual pattern in the Hollow was for the leading mill owner or owners to buy most of the other houses to rent out to employees. [NR]

[1] District information retrieved from the town website http://www.mansfieldct.gov/.
[2] Mansfield Hollow Historic District, Report of the Historic District Study Committee, 1976, SHPO Library, Hartford.
[3] GIS information and Parcel IDs retrieved from http://www.mainstreetmaps.com/CT/Mansfield/. [2]
[NR] Clouette Bruce, Mansfield Hollow District, National Register Nomination Number- 79002667 NRIS, National Park Service, 1979 - http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/79002667.pdf; http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Photos/79002667.pdf.

The local historic district is contained within the larger Mansfield Hollow National Register historic district.