Waterford

Waterford’s history can be explored through its historic buildings and traditional blacksmithing. On Jordan Green are the Jordan District Schoolhouse, Stacy Barn, Blacksmith Shop, and the Beebe-Phillips House of the Waterford Historical Society. Their stories span school life and home life, as well as crafts and agriculture. If historic architecture and craftsmanship are a focus of your stay, these sites offer specific points of interest to help guide your choice of destination.

Schoolhouse, Home, and Architecture

The Jordan District Schoolhouse was built in 1758 by Jedediah Brown as a home. In the 19th century, it served for a time as the Jordan District School, until the Town’s first two-story brick school replaced it in 1857. It is considered the oldest surviving public building in Waterford. In 1972, it was moved to its current location and restored as a schoolhouse, with help from the Connecticut State Historical Commission and numerous members and volunteers of the Waterford Historical Society. The building has a gambrel roof, two rooms, an attic, and two chimneys. Taken together, these details tell a story of its original use as a home, its later years as a school, and its restoration.

The Beebe-Phillips House was built in 1838 for the widowed Lydia Beebe and moved in two sections to its current location on Jordan Green in 1974. It is furnished in the style of the 1840s and has a floor plan typical of that period. The kitchen hearth contains a domed brick beehive oven, which was usually used for baking bread. These details offer a different historical perspective from the former schoolhouse: here, the focus is on the floor plan and kitchen.

The grounds are also part of this story. In front of the Beebe-Phillips House is the Terry Wilmot Garden, designed as a typical 1840s cottage garden. Old varieties of apple trees have been planted behind the house. The garden and fruit trees thus complement the information about the building with details about the grounds.

Craftsmanship and Local History

The Ralph Madara Blacksmith Shop is equipped with a working forge and numerous tools. Blacksmiths meet there regularly and teach blacksmithing. Only members of the Waterford Historical Society may work at the forge, and they must follow the posted rules. The public is welcome to watch the blacksmiths at work. Operating hours are posted separately, so plan your visit accordingly.

At the Waterford Historical Society’s two-day May events on Jordan Green in 2024, Society members and the Living Historians of the Dirty Blue Shirts demonstrated rope making, hearth cooking, blacksmithing, food preservation, and herb gardening. The program was aimed at students, teachers, and chaperones. These demonstrations show the variety of activities included in the historical interpretation program; they were offered in 2024.

Stacy Barn houses an extensive collection of agricultural implements, equipment, and other artifacts from Waterford’s past. The Jordan Park House on Jordan Green was originally Waterford’s first public library. Together, the buildings point to different aspects of local history, from agriculture and everyday objects to public education.

Getting Around Jordan Green and Waterford

Jordan Green is located at 65 Rope Ferry Road. The Walk Bridge is the main connection across Jordan Green from the Park House, Phillips-Beebe House, and Jordan Schoolhouse to the Stacy Barn Museum/Miner Education Center and Blacksmith Shop. The Jordan Green Walking Map also lists Jordan Park House, Beebe-Phillips House, Wilmot Herb Garden, Apple Orchards, Darrow Corn Crib, Jordan District Schoolhouse, Walk Bridge, Stacy Memorial Barn, Miner Education Center, and Blacksmith Shop. These location details help visitors distinguish among the various named buildings and grounds on Jordan Green.

Another historic landmark in Waterford is the Jordan Village Historic District, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. Jordan Village is considered a well-preserved, architecturally significant example of a core village that has remained virtually unchanged since the 1920s. The historic district, which consists primarily of residential buildings, mainly includes 19th-century structures; some contributing buildings date from the last quarter of the 18th century. Alongside the buildings on Jordan Green, Waterford therefore offers a historic village layout as another architectural perspective.

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