Middletown’s High Street and Wesleyan University

High Street and Wesleyan University (founded in 1831) share a fascinating, intertwined history. From this major inland port on the Connecticut River, Middletown’s sea captains and merchants made fortunes in the 18th and early 19th centuries trading with the West Indies, South America, and China. Others enjoyed wealth amassed from the local manufacture of swords, firearms, and marine hardware. These prominent families built fashionable villas of the latest architectural designs on High Street. Many of their homes remain, and two have been designated national historic landmarks. With spectacular views of the river valley below, its avenue of arching elms, and the addition of Wesleyan’s formidable Brownstone Row, the street has attracted many to the hill. Dignitaries, including George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, William Howard Taft, and Martin Luther King Jr., came to High Street.