Several neighborhoods of Norwich, Connecticut maintain independent identities and are recognized by official signs marking their boundaries. The following is a list of neighborhoods in Norwich.
Bean Hill
Bean Hill was originally a separate village, located about a mile from the center of Norwich in close proximity to the Norwichtown Green. It was founded by a group of Episcopalians around a small green (now a public park). In the early 19th century it was the site of the Norwich Methodist Episcopal Church, which met in a building that also housed a classical academy and a free school. The African American abolitionist David Ruggles grew up in Bean Hill and had an Underground Railroad stop in this area in one of the houses. Several of the old colonial houses and the Methodist church building (now a photographic and investment business) still stand. Modern Bean Hill grew in all directions with the coming of a highway on and off ramp depositing into the area just below the green. This area is now commercial with numerous gas stations, a Courtyard Marriott and a park and ride. Extending out from the Green are more commercial establishments, small shopping centers and, to the northeast, residential neighborhoods. The copper company Phelps Dodge is located in the farther reaches of Bean Hill next to old mills.
Chelsea or Downtown
Because of its location at the Y-fork of the Thames, Shetucket and Yantic Rivers, Chelsea became the home of the city's former shipping harbor located on Hollyhock Island. Because of Norwich's industrial and commercial nature, this neighborhood is quite large, with its borders extending from Washington Street in the west to Burnham Square in the east.
At the core of Norwich's downtown are the harbor and a dense grouping of 18th-century buildings that are still mostly intact. The majority of big business, including the Wauregan Hotel, Reid and Hughes, Sears, Woolworth's and Chelsea Groton Bank, developed around Centennial Square before either closing altogether or moving out of the city or to East Great Plain with the economic tide. Numerous churches and historic homes, the former YMCA of Southeastern Connecticut and Post Office are also in and around Chelsea. The old train station and tracks are located here also, along with the city's grand Second Empire-style (1870) City Hall, New London County Superior Court, CLA Engineers and the Otis Library. The oldest remaining building in the city, Chelsea Landing Pub, is located here as well. The main public areas in this district are Centennial (aka Franklin) Square, City Hall (aka Union) Square and Howard T. Brown Memorial Park. The offices of the Norwich Bulletin are located in the former railroad station, most recently the site of the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen. The newspaper's previous longtime location, the Sunshine Building and the main newspaper building on Franklin Street in the north, just below the AT&T offices next to City Hall, is now vacant. The original Otis Library was in a small brick building across the square from City Hall. In 2007 it moved from its previous location on Main Street, into a new Mission-style building on Main Street that incorporates its previous and adjacent locations.
Chelsea/Downtown declined greatly after the city's manufacturing businesses moved overseas and downstate after shipping moved to New London. Most businesses went defunct, including the Wauregan Hotel. Many of the now-vacant buildings quickly fell into disrepair. The area was renamed the Chelsea Arts District for the theaters—the Donald L. Oat (run by the Norwich Arts Council) and the Spirit of Broadway—and small galleries that have been pioneers in trying to revive the downtown. Hollyhock Island became home to a pleasure craft marina on the south end and a decaying industrial zone with a sewage treatment plant on the north end.
Several important buildings in downtown have been renovated, specifically the Wauregan Hotel, Chelsea Landing and Otis Library. Although not completely salvaged, Hollyhock Island was freed of the abandoned Duffy Mill complex. In 2012 a $22 million Intermodal Transportation Center was dedicated on Hollyhock Island. As of March 2015, the building remains mostly vacant except for serving as a turnaround for the region's Southeast Area Transit Authority (SEAT) buses. The harbor area and Howard T. Brown Park are popular for summertime music concerts and various annual festivals, including the Taste of Italy (Labor Day weekend), Juneteenth, and the Rotary Club of Norwich's summer carnival
East Great Plains (or Westside)