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History · Chester Center

40% of Chester Center’s homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1893 on.

4on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Chester Center’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Chester Center are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18935 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1971. Watch Chester Center change.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Chester Center’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chester Center’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chester Center’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Chester Center on the map, 1893 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chester Center. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Chester Center on the 1893 USGS mapChester Center on the 1944 USGS mapChester Center on the 1952 USGS mapChester Center on the 1961 USGS mapChester Center on the 1971 USGS map1893Saybrook sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chester Center.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Chester Center

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Chester Center, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chester Center yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Chester Center is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the primary village in the town of Chester, Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. It is located in the southeastern corner of the town, bordered to the south by the town of Deep River and to the southwest largely by the Connecticut Route 9 freeway.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,558 to 1,720 (+10%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Chester Center

Nobody well known was born in Chester Center itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John Hasbrouck Van VleckAmerican physicist · b. 1899
Dean AchesonAmerican statesman and lawyer · b. 1893
Jules DassinAmerican film director · b. 1911
Gretchen MolAmerican actress and former model · b. 1972
Abraham BaldwinUnited States politician · b. 1754
Brad AndersonAmerican film director · b. 1964
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Deep River4 historic placesA−Chester5 historic placesA−Deep River Center3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chester Center’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.