Compo–Owenoke Historic District

{{short description|Historic district in Connecticut, United States}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox NRHP | name = Compo–Owenoke Historic District | nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes | image = Compo Owenoke Historical District, Westport, CT, 06880, USA - 2012.jpg | caption = | location = Roughly bounded by Gray's Creek, Compo Road South and Long Island Sound, Westport, Connecticut | coordinates = {{coord|41|6|22|N|73|21|18|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Connecticut#USA | architect = Sanford Evans; Ernest G. Southey | architecture = Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman, Queen Anne | added = April 19, 1991 | area = {{convert|154|acre}} | mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64500082|title=Westport MPS}} | refnum = 91000393<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }} The '''Compo–Owenoke Historic District''' encompasses an early 20th-century summer resort beach community in Westport, Connecticut. Developed between 1910 and 1940, the Compo Beach area contains one of the largest assemblages of period resort architecture in Westport, and one of the best such collections in the region. The district, covering {{convert|154|acre|ha}} south of Compo Road South, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.<ref name="nris"/>

==Description and history== Compo and Owenoke occupy the southern portion of a peninsula extending into Long Island Sound south of downtown Westport. It is bounded on the east by Compo Cove, and the west by Gray's Creek. The historic district covers most of the area south of Compo Road South, excluding mainly buildings constructed or significantly altered after 1940. The Compo area is located north of Compo Beach, and has a somewhat grid-like road layout with mostly small lot sizes. The Owenoke Point peninsula projects westward from Compo; part of it was originally an island joined to the mainland by landfill in the 1930s. Buildings in the district are mainly Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, or Craftsman/Bungalow in style. A few 19th-century farmhouses also remain in the district, a reminder of its agrarian past.<ref name="nrhpinv3">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=91000393}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Compo/Owenoke Historic District |date=August 20, 1990 |author=Jan Cunningham |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NRHP url|id=91000393|title=''Accompanying 23 photos, from 1990 (captions given on page 25 of text document)''|photos=y}}</ref>

Prior to its development as a summer resort community, Compo was a coastal agricultural area. In 1909, development began on the eastern third of the district, formerly the farm of David Bradley. Roads on the western side of the district were laid out in 1919, and Appletree Trail was laid through the center of the district in 1928. The beach area was developed with bathing facilities, dancing pavilions, and a marina, but deed restrictions on most properties precluded the construction of hotels. The area was popular with middle-class New Yorkers in the 1920s.<ref name="nrhpinv3"/>

==See also== {{Commons category|Compo-Owenoke Historic District}} *Mill Cove Historic District, another NRHP-listed historic district of cottages nearby *National Register of Historic Places listings in Fairfield County, Connecticut

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Compo-Owenoke Historic District}} Category:Beaches of Connecticut Category:Westport, Connecticut Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut Category:Neighborhoods in Connecticut Category:Neighborhoods in Westport, Connecticut Category:Historic districts in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut