Trowbridge Square

Trowbridge Square is the anchor of a historic neighborhood in the Hill section of New Haven. The square itself dates to 1830, when abolitionist Reverend Simeon Jocelyn decided to create an integrated village on the outskirts of New Haven in what was at the time a shantytown for blacks. Jocelyn envisioned a village with a nine square layout that would echo New Haven’s plan. As in New Haven, Jocelyn’s village, called Spireworth at the time, would have a green in the center square.



Spireworth Square, now called Trowbridge Square, was part of Jocelyn’s original development. He also built a few houses around the square, one of which stands today (on the corner of Cedar and Carlisle). Revered Jocelyn never completed the construction of Spireworth. Most of the homes one sees around Trowbridge Square today were the work of the Trowbridge family. Thomas Trowbridge had an estate abutting the square and built many of the houses on the square speculatively to sell to working class residents of New Haven. The first houses to be built were the Greek Revival wood frame homes on Portsea Street, which date to 1865. In 1874 Salem Street was developed with a row of identical Greek Revival houses. On Carlisle Street there was a school. Cedar Street was the last part of the square to be developed, by Thomas Trowbridge’s son, in 1885. These homes were also built to house a working class population. Judging by preservation records from 1901 the neighborhood around Trowbridge Square was solidly working class. In that year a driver, a saloon owner, and a brakeman occupied homes on Cedar Street.



Not much has changed around Trowbridge Square since the late nineteenth century. Most of the houses built by the Trowbridge family are still standing, with minor modifications. The small scale and similar style of the houses unify the square. Many of the homes also have front porches that front on the park; this enables residents to keep watch over the park and creates a sense of security. Trowbridge Square itself is of simple design. Four entrances at each corner of the park meet in the center where benches are arranged. This design makes the square easily accessible while the center area emphasizes community. The benches, lampposts, and fence are the work of the Trowbridge Square Renaissance, a neighborhood association founded in the late 1990s to revive the area. The lampposts and fence are of the same style as those found in the New Haven Green and Wooster Square. This serves to link Trowbridge Square to other notable locations in New Haven. A historic marker in the square also emphasizes the importance of the Square.



Trowbridge Square is undoubtedly a place of historic significance. It is also an essential part of the community. Its trees are a welcome change from the mostly treeless streets that surround it and the well-maintained playground is a crucial neighborhood amenity. Yet Trowbridge Square is not safe from blight and decline. The 1973 New Haven Preservation records list “deterioration of neighborhood” as a threat for every one of the houses around Trowbridge Square. The deterioration of the neighborhood (and the city) has certainly hit the Square. A couple houses and a storefront sit vacant and the Hill Youth Services center on the corner of Carlisle and Salem is shuttered. The closure of what should be a neighborhood landmark as well as a provider of essential services is foreboding.  Against these signs of decline Trowbridge Square is a beautiful and shady oasis.