Historic Review Committee

The Historic Review Committee, appointed by the Board of Selectmen, is charged with encouraging the preservation of architecturally and historically significant buildings and structures in Killingworth. To this end, the committee reviews all requests to the town for issuance of a permit to demolish a building or structure and advises the Building Official on the issuance of those permits under Killingworth’s Demolition Delay Ordinance.

Killingworth's Rich History

Written by Joseph T. Hutchins
In 1663, thirty-six English settlers founded a town on the shoreline where Clinton stands today. It was called Homonoscitt. In 1667, the general assembly at Hartford renamed it Kenilworth after the English town of that name. This was the same year that England's King Charles granted a charter establishing the colonies of Rhode Island and Carolina. Kenilworth was part of the large Homonoscitt Plantation, which included all the land between Guilford and Saybrook. As the eighteenth century began, descendants of those first settlers built more houses further north. A  dividing line was drawn in 1718 between the original town and the northern settlement. The first schoolhouse was built north of that dividing line in 1733. The state legislature declared Killingworth to be two separate towns in 1838 and they changed the name of the shoreline town to Clinton.

Killingworth’s Inventory of Historic Homes

The population of Killingworth peaked in the first half of the 19th Century but then declined as residents began to move to mid-western states like Ohio, where farmland was more plentiful. In the late 19th Century, European immigrants arrived, acquiring the old farms and mills and restoring the population. Today in Killingworth, we still enjoy over one hundred and forty original homes, as well as many farm buildings, and stone walls built by the early settlers. For comparison, in Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg, only eighty-eight original buildings still survive.

Ongoing Preservation Efforts

The history and character of our venerable structures is a defining element our town and our state. Killingworth's historic review committee, appointed by the Board of Selectmen, is charged with encouraging the preservation of our historic buildings. To this end, the committee reviews requests for permits to demolish old structures, and advises the Building Official on the issuance of those permits under Killingworth’s demolition delay ordinance.