The house at 28 Pratt Street in Essex was built in 1844 by Captain Ezra D. Post, a sea captain, who had previously resided in the house of his father-in-law, Gurdon Smith, at 9 Pratt Street.
Capt. Ezra D. Post House (1844)
Felix Starkey House (1803)
The house at 51 Main Street in Essex was built in 1803 by Thomas Millard, a shipcarver and housewright, and was the home of Felix Starkey from 1805 to 1856. Felix Starkey (1777-1856) was a merchant and the brother of Timothy Starkey. He married Esther Hayden. (The sign on the house reads “Timothy Starkey 1720”).
Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, Essex (1926)
In 1848 Lucius Lyon constructed a seminary building on the site now occupied by Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Essex. It was constructed to house students at the neighboring Hills Academy. In 1869 the building was converted into a hotel called the Pettipaug House. Operating under several other names over the years, the building was sold to Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic parish in 1926. The parish‘s previous church had been the former St. John’s Episcopal Church, acquired by the parish in 1897 and destroyed by fire in 1925. Extensive work was undertaken on the former hotel to convert it into a church, such that it was considered to be essentially a new building, although remaining on the earlier building’s foundation. The original east-facing entrance was replaced by the new church’s south-facing entrance. The church was again completely renovated in 1997, giving it a much altered appearance.
Hayden-Starkey Store (1809)
The Hayden-Starkey Store, at 48 Main Street in Essex, was only the second brick building in town when it was built in 1809. A warehouse and ships store, or chandlery, it was constructed by Samuel and Ebenezer Hayden, sons of Capt. Uriah Hayden, and was situated between their two residences. Their cousin, Richard Hayden, had recently built his house, Essex’s first brick building, nearby. Timothy Starkey, Jr., the Hayden brothers’ brother-in-law, became their partner in 1810. It is said that the British destroyed rope and took merchandise from this store during their raid on Essex in 1814. Remaining in the Hayden family for many years, the building became a residence in 1856.
Farnham Parmelee House (1818)
The former residence, now a gift shop, at 12 North Main Street in Essex, was originally located about 150 feet south of its current location. Built by Farnham Parmelee in 1818, it was purchased by Jacob Arkin in 1919, who moved it to make way for the Arkin Block, a brick commercial building.
Ephraim Bound House (1801)
The gambrel-roofed saltbox house at 43 Main Street, facing toward Ferry Street in Essex, was built in 1801 by Ephraim Bound. In 1828, it was purchased by Timothy Starkey, Jr. (he lived next door), who erected a store connected to the house and at a right angle from its northeast corner. The store was operated by Starkey’s son-in-law Joseph Ellsworth and then by a grandson, Timothy Starkey Hayden. The Hayden family occupied the house until 1926. The original store, destroyed in the 1920s, was replaced by a new commercial building in the 1960s. The house is currently also used for retail space.
Samuel Lay House (1732)
Samuel Lay married Hannah Hayden in 1726. In 1732, they built a house at 57 Main Street in Essex, near the boat wharf. It was on this property that the earliest Lay home in Essex had been built. The Lay House had numerous owners over the years. By the turn of the twentieth century it had become a crowded tenement. In 1907 it was leased to the Dauntless Yacht Club, which is now located across the street. The house was remodeled in 1939. Among later twentieth century residents was the author Hartzell Spence. In 2012 the house was acquired by the neighboring Connecticut River Museum.