The Terry's Plain Historic District is a 325 acres (131.5 ha) historic district

Historic district (United States)

In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

 in the town of Simsbury, Connecticut

Simsbury, Connecticut

Simsbury is a suburban town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 23,234 at the 2000 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's twenty-first town in May 1670.-Early history:...

 that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1993.

The district is significant as a preserved rural landscape.
It included 27 contributing buildings of various architectural styles, including Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

, Federal

Federal architecture

Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...

 and Late Victorian architecture, and 17 non-contributing buildings.
It includes 13 houses that were parts of farm complexes and 14 agricultural outbuildings ranging from sheds to large tobacco barns.

Contributing sites include:

• A field where the militia drilled in 1683 (or 1685)
• 24 Ferry Lane, barn from c. 1840, house non-contributing (see #2 in photos accompanying NRHP nomination)
• Lucius D. Goodrich House, 36 Ferry Lane, c. 1836, Federal/Greek Revival
• 64 Terry's Plain Road, Late Victorian

Traine Band (Militia)

Simsbury was founded as a town in 1670. Not long thereafter, the town established a militia, then known as a "traine band". The date of establishment of the militia is not known, but records of assemblies date to 1673. The Grand Committee of the Militia met in Hartford on August 11, 1673 to organize militia against a potential attack by the enemy. The Committee ordered the raising of 500 "dragoones" from the state, of which 160 were to come from Hartford County. At that meeting, Simon Wolcott and John Griffin of Simsbury were appointed to command the Simsbury Traine Band, which at that time numbered seven "dragoones".

The Committee included the following order:
Two years later, John Griffin was confirmed as sergeant of the Traine Band and placed in command.

First home and first ferry

The first home in Simsbury was located in the Terry's Plain area. The land where the house would be built was granted in 1653 to Thomas Ford, although a house would not be built until approximately 1660, when Captain Aaron Cook, the son-in-law of Thomas Ford, built the first home in Simsbury.

In the same general area, a ferry was established to facilitate crossing of the Farmington River. The exact date of the origin of the Pent Street Ferry is not known, but a road to the ferry was commissioned in 1668.

First school

The first school in Simsbury was located in Terry's Plain. The town agreed, at a town meeting on December 17, 1701, to "agree with and appoint a school master". The first day of school commenced on the first day of January 1702. The town discussed whether the school should be located on the east or west side of the river,and chose both, with the first three months to be held at a location in Terry's Plain, and then at a location in "Weatoug" on the west side.