EARLY HOUSES OF NORWICH, VER
MONT, by Philip Aylwin White '37 and Dana Doane Johnson '37. Edited by Hugh S. Morrison '26. Dartmouth College, 1938. p. 51 + 7. $1.50.
The Department of Art and Archaeology is to be congratulated upon the appearance of this fascinating study of the early houses of Norwich. Not only is it a well directed and very much worth while piece of student research, but it satisfies the long felt desire of multitudes of Dartmouth men for more light on the history and architecture of the delightful old New England village just across the Connecticut. Indeed, the Early Houses of Norwich might well be made a bit of required freshman reading for it would add much to the pleasure and educational value of the old familiar student walk through Norwich village and over Meeting-House Hill.
The authors have organized their study admirably. A preliminary chapter, devoted to historical background, sketches the settlement and growth of Norwich with a few timely paragraphs on the story of the famous old Hanover-Norwich bridges. In the second chapter the reader is given a brief but excellent account of the evolution of New England domestic architecture with particular reference to the appearance and importance of the several styles, Colonial, Georgian, Post Colonial and Greek Revival in Norwich. Attention is also called to the architectural debt which Norwich owes to the lower Connecticut valley from whence came many of its early settlers.
Having supplied the reader with this essential background material, the authors devote succeeding chapters to the older wooden houses of the village, the coming of the delightful brick houses which add so much to the architectural attractiveness of Norwich, and the work of Norwich's master builders—the Emerson Brothers. Special chapters deal with the story of the Norwich Meeting-Houses and Norwich University. A concluding chapter discusses briefly the building of the later nineteenth century. Of this, fortunately, there was very little. Indeed, the great days of building in Norwich were over by 1830 for reasons that belong to the history of northern New England. In all of these chapters, in addition to the architectural detail, as much light is thrown on the history and owners of the various houses described as the more reasonably accessible records made possible. And this historical and biographical detail adds greatly to the interest of the study.
Throughout, the book is well supplied with illustrations. Floor plans, examples of exterior and interior detail, and numerous pictures of the old houses themselves all aid in making more vital the textual material. Among the houses illustrated Dartmouth men will doubtless recognize many of their old favorites: the Hatch-Peisch House at the entrance to the village, the brick houses now owned by the Converse family, the Emerson houses with their delightful exterior detail, the lovely Georgian, Murdock-Pierce, house, half-way up Meeting-House Hill and the Olcott-Johnson House at Norwich Center. They are all here with many others, such as the FreelonAustin House and the old Loveland place on the river, to stir recollections of pleasant rambles through old Norwich.
The Early Houses of Norwich represents a type of student investigation and report that should be encouraged. Furthermore, the interesting experiment of reproducing the study for publication by the multilith process may well help in determining the financial possibility of putting in more permanent form other outstanding pieces of student work.
