The Daniel Basset House (1775)
Friday, July 9th, 2010 Posted in Colonial, Houses, Monroe | No Comments »
The Daniel Basset House, north of the Green in Monroe, was built in 1775. The house has large second-floor ballroom where, according to local tradition, a ball was held on June 30, 1781, to welcome the Hussars of the French mounted Legion led by the Duc De Lauzon (pdf). Lauzun’s Legion, which was protecting the southern flank of the main French army under the Comte de Rochambeau, was camped just south of the village center of New Stratford (now Monroe). The French would soon march to fight in the Siege of Yorktown. The Basset House, located near Masuk High School, maintains much of its historic appearance, with early nineteenth-century decoration around the entrance.
The Cyrus Beardslee House (1825)
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 Posted in Federal Style, Houses, Monroe | No Comments »
The Cyrus Beardslee House, at 754 Monroe Turnpike in Monroe, is a brick Federal-style house built around 1823-1825 by Austin Lum, a brick mason, for Hall Beardslee, who deeded it to his son, Cyrus H. Beardslee, a lawyer who served in the state legislature for seven years, being Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1846. The house later became a boys’ school known as Gray’s Academy, operated by Dr. Robert Gray. In 1865, it was purchased by St. Peter’s Church Women to become the parsonage of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. After nearly ninety years, the house was sold to an antique’s dealer and then became the Rectory of St. Jude Roman Catholic Church. Today it is again a private home.
Monroe Congregational Church (1847)
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 Posted in Churches, Gothic, Monroe | No Comments »
In 1762, residents of New Startford, now Monroe, successfully petitioned the State Legislature to establish a new parish. Previously, residents had made the long journey to Huntington (now Shelton) for worship. A meeting house, for use during the winter, had previously been built on Moose Hill Road. Once the New Stratford Ecclesiastical Society was formed, a new meeting house was built in 1766 on what is now Monroe Green. This was replaced by the current Monroe Congregational Church, built just to the north, in 1847. In 1985-1986, the church was expanded and the interior was restored as closely as possible to its nineteenth-century appearance.
