Mount Carmel, Hamden

Last updated
Mount Carmel
neighborhood
HamdenCT MountCarmelCongregationalChurch.jpg
Mount Carmel Congregational Church
Country United States
State Connecticut
County New Haven
Town Hamden
Population
  Total7,726

Mount Carmel is a neighborhood in the northeastern portion of the town of Hamden, Connecticut. It was the site of the first meeting house in what is now Hamden. Its founders named the area due to the resemblance of a range of hills nearby to the Mount Carmel mentioned in the Bible. [1] The hills are better known today as the Sleeping Giant, site of a large state park known for its system of hiking trails. The neighborhood also contains the principal campus of Quinnipiac University. It is primarily residential with single-family homes. [2] Commercial development is mostly along its principal street, Whitney Avenue.

Contents

As with all neighborhoods in Hamden, it has no officially-defined boundaries. One map [3] has it bounded on the north by the Cheshire and Wallingford town lines, on the east by the North Haven town line, on the south by James and Forest streets, and on the west by Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. The census tract with GEOID 09009166002, corresponding closely to these boundaries, had a population of 7,726, as of the 2010 census.

History

A tavern and several mills were established in the area by 1743, which was then part of New Haven. This led to the founding of the Mount Carmel Ecclesiastical Society in 1757. [4] There being no separation of church and state at the time, this was necessary before a town government could be established. A petition to establish a separate town was granted in 1786, with the name Hamden chosen for the English statesman John Hampden.

The Cheshire Turnpike (now Whitney Avenue) was built through the area in 1800, leveling the Steps, a rock formation near the head of the Sleeping Giant, and the Farmington Canal was completed in 1828. Improved transportation led to industrial development in an area called Ivesville (the present Ives Street). In the 1850s, a new public school, a private school, and a post office were built, and the first Catholic parish in Hamden was established. [5] [6] Suburban development progressed after World War II, with Quinnipiac College (as the university was then known) moving its campus from the Whitneyville section of Hamden in 1966 [7] and the extension of the Route 40 expressway in 1976. [8]

Historic sites

These sites are on the National Register of Historic Places:

Government

The Town of Hamden provides all municipal services for the neighborhood. It is located in Connecticut's 3rd congressional district, the 11th state senate district, and the 88th state house district. Most of it is in the 1st district of the town legislative council, with smaller portions in the 4th and 9th. [9] It is served by the Centerville-Mt. Carmel post office with ZIP code 06518.

Transportation

Whitney Avenue extends north and south through the neighborhood, connected by the Mount Carmel Connector (Route 40) to I-91, by Mount Carmel Avenue to North Haven, and Tuttle Avenue to Wallingford.

CT Transit bus route 229, running between the downtowns of New Haven and Waterbury, operates along Whitney Avenue. [10]

Recreation

Sleeping Giant State Park offers hiking, picnicking, fishing, and youth group camping. [11] There are some 30 miles of trails on a variety of terrain. North of the park is the Sleeping Giant Golf Course, privately operated but open to the public. [12]

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Hamden, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

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Sleeping Giant (Connecticut) mountain in United States of America

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Regicides Trail Hiking trail

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Connecticut Route 40 highway in Connecticut

Route 40, also known as the Mount Carmel Connector, is a 3.08-mile (4.96 km) spur route from Interstate 91 in North Haven, Connecticut connecting I-91 and Bailey Road in North Haven to Route 10 in the Mount Carmel neighborhood of Hamden. Route 40 is a 4-lane freeway with one intermediate exit leading to / from U.S. Route 5 in North Haven. It crosses over Route 15 but does not have an interchange with it. This is the only place in the state where two freeways cross without an interchange.

Connecticut Route 22 highway in Connecticut

Route 22 is a 14.07-mile-long (22.64 km) secondary state route within the U.S. state of Connecticut. Route 22 is an L-shaped road that is signed east–west from Hamden to the western junction of Route 80 in North Branford, and north–south to its eastern terminus in Guilford. It was designated in 1951 as a bypass of New Haven, connecting the Wilbur Cross Parkway and Route 80.

Connecticut Route 10 highway in Connecticut

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Whitneyville, Connecticut neighborhood in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Whitneyville is a neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the town of Hamden, Connecticut. It started in the early nineteenth century as a factory town for workers in Eli Whitney's gun factory. Around the turn of the twentieth century, it evolved into a trolley suburb of New Haven. Today it is primarily residential, with a mixture of single-family homes and small apartment and condominium buildings. There is some commercial development centered around the intersection of Whitney and Putnam avenues.

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Mount Carmel Congregational Church and Parish House United States historic place

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Whitney Avenue is a principal arterial connecting Downtown New Haven with the town center of Hamden in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Most of the road within the city of New Haven is included in the Whitney Avenue Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation begins at Grove Street in the northern part of Downtown New Haven and extends through the town of Hamden up to the Cheshire town line. North of Dixwell Avenue in Hamden Center, the road is a state highway and designated as part of Route 10. From the New Haven town line to Dixwell Avenue, the road is state-maintained with an unsigned designation of State Road 707. Within New Haven, Whitney Avenue is a town road. The J route of Connecticut Transit New Haven, which connects New Haven to Waterbury, runs along Whitney Avenue.

Farmington Canal State Park Trail Connecticut Nature Trail

Farmington Canal State Park Trail is a Connecticut state park forming a portion of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in the towns of Cheshire and Hamden. The developed section of the trail within state park boundaries runs over 17.0 miles (27.4 km) from Lazy Lane in Southginton to Todd Street in Hamden and includes the historic Farmington Canal's restored Lock 12, located south of Brooksvale Road in Cheshire. The paved, multiple-use trail is used for hiking, biking, jogging, in-line skating and cross-country skiing.

Centerville, Hamden neighborhood in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Centerville, originally spelled Centreville, is a neighborhood in the east-central portion of the town of Hamden, Connecticut. It is the location of Hamden Town Hall and other major town government buildings. It derived its name from being at the intersection of the town's two principal thoroughfares, Whitney and Dixwell avenues, both with commercial development. The rest of the neighborhood is residential, with single-family houses, condominiums, and apartments.

Highwood, Hamden neighborhood in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Highwood is a neighborhood in the south-central portion of the town of Hamden, Connecticut. It is primarily residential, with a mixture of small apartment buildings and single-family, two- and three-family homes. Commercial development is concentrated on its principal street, Dixwell Avenue. Immigrants from Germany were the first to settle the area extensively in the 1860s, followed by others from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe later in the nineteenth century. Today it is predominantly African American.

References

  1. Hartley, Rachel M. (1959). The History of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1959. p. 9.
  2. "Neighborhood Scout report on Mount Carmel".
  3. Hartley. History. Map in frontispiece.
  4. Hammond, Katheryn N. (1976). Historic Hamden: a guide. p. 24.
  5. Becker, Martha May (1986). Hamden: Our Architectural History. Whitney Press. p. 135.
  6. Hartley, Rachel M. (1959). The History of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1959. Shoe String Press. p. 256.
  7. "History of Quinnipiac University, Episode 1: Paving the Way".
  8. "Connecticut Roads, Route 40".
  9. "Hamden district maps".
  10. "CT Transit New Haven local system map" (PDF).
  11. "Sleeping Giant State Park".
  12. "Sleeping Giant Golf Course".