Woodstock Hill Historic District is located in the south-central portion of the town of Woodstock. It is a town-center village of more than 65 properties extending along Route 169 on a ridge in the south-central section of Woodstock, Connecticut. The settlement has a central north-south spine, formed by Plaine Hill Road and Route 169, from which a number of side streets extend at odd angles. The center of the Woodstock Hill Historic District is defined by a small level, open area known as the Woodstock Common, on the east side of Route 169 between the 1821 Congregational meetinghouse and the 1873 Woodstock Academy building. Immediately to the east of the Common is the Woodstock Hill Burial Ground, a small cemetery established in 1686, which contains numerous examples of 18th and 19th-century gravestone carvings. The Woodstock Hill Historic District's historic buildings are generally well-preserved, with appropriate siding material, sash, and brick or stone chimneys. Not many have been substantially altered, and few buildings are of modern construction. [NR & 2]

Architecture, Exploration/Settlement, Social History:The Woodstock Hill Historic District is significant for its historical associations with institutions and people important in the development of the area as a town center; for the architectural qualities of its buildings, many of which represent well-preserved examples of particular periods and styles of architecture; and for the landscape qualities of its common, a small ornamented park that was created by a local philanthropist in the spirit of the village improvement movement. Woodstock Hill was the location of the town's first Congregational church, burying ground, and common. Here were held the religious services, town meetings, and militia-company drills that formed the basis of community life in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Later, other institutions were established in the village on the hill, notably the town's academy, a public library, the Grange hall, and a building for town offices. The Woodstock Hill Historic District also includes numerous historic houses associated with prominent Woodstock families, such as that of Henry Bowen, who was responsible for such civic endeavors as the 1873 Woodstock Academy building and the transformation of part of the common into a small park-like village green. The Woodstock Hill Historic District's many well-preserved dwellings and barns from the 18th and 19th centuries, along with its churches, halls, cemetery, and the Common itself, all combine to make Woodstock Hill a unique village in the northeastern Connecticut countryside. [NR]

[1] District information retrieved from the town website http://www.townofwoodstock.com/.
[2] Inventory of Properties, Woodstock Hill Historic District Study Report, The Woodstock Hill Study Group and The Woodstock Historic Districts Study Committee, 1995, SHPO Library, Hartford.
[3] GIS District map retrieved from the website http://wincog-gis.org/.
[4] Assessors information and Parcel IDs retrieved from [2].
[NR] Clouette Bruce and Tinh Hoang, Woodstock Hill Historic District, National Register Nomination Number- 98001578 NRIS, National Park Service, 1998 - http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/98001578.pdf; http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Photos/98001578.pdf.

The boundary of the National Register district embraces nearly the same properties as that of the Woodstock Hill local historic district. [NR]