Whaler’s Inn – Hoxie House (2002)

In 2002, the Whaler’s Inn in Mystic erected a building at the corner of East Main and Cottrell Streets, on the site of an earlier hotel, the Hoxie House, which opened in 1861. The Hoxie House, built by Benjamin F. Hoxie, had replaced an earlier commercial and lodging building, called the U. S. Hotel, erected by Nathaniel Clift in 1818. The U. S. Hotel building had burned down in 1858 and the old Hoxie House building burned down in 1975. The new Hoxie House reflects the Italianate style of the original Hoxie House, featuring a cupola and decorative brackets.

Benjamin F. Holmes House (1855)

The house at 29 Church Street in Mystic was built in 1855 by Benjamin F. Holmes (1822-1892), a son of Jeremiah Holmes, hero of the Battle of Stonington. Benjamin F. Holmes was a ship captain and part owner of the screw steamer Idaho, built by George Greenman & Co. His brother, Capt. Joseph W. Holmes, lived a few doors away at 35 Church Street. It appears that Benjamin F. Holmes later lived at another house in Mystic. He was killed by a train near Poquonock Bridge in 1892.

Colegrove Building, Mystic Seaport (1952)

Andrew C. Colegrove, who operated an electrical appliance business in Mystic, was killed in a plane crash in California on August 24, 1951. The Colegrove Building at Mystic Seaport was built in 1952 as a memorial in his memory. Since 1962, the half of the building that faces the Mystic River has housed a printing exhibit, called the Mystic Press Printing Office. The original Mystic Press newspaper, started in 1873, had an office at West Main and Pearl Streets. The other half of the Colegrove Building contains a Ship Carver exhibit.

Whistle Stop Restaurant (1935)

Universal Food Stores was an early grocery chain that had branches throughout southeastern Connecticut. Most of the stores had individual owners who joined a cooperative agreement to sell goods wholesaled by Yantic Grain and Products Co. of Norwich under the Universal banner. A surviving Universal Food Store in Noank closed in 2011. Another Universal Food Store, located at 15 Palmer Street in Pawcatuck, had closed many years before. It was housed in a 1935 building that still has its peaked gables, a feature used on many of the stores. The building is now the Whistle Stop Pizza Restaurant.