St. John Roman Catholic Mission, Bozrah (1894)

The parishes of the Catholic Diocese of Norwich were once (before 1953) part of the Diocese of Hartford. This included St. Andrew’s Parish in Colchester. According to The History of the Diocese of Hartford, written by Rev. James H. O’Donnell and published in 1900, St. Andrew’s Parish then had “three out-missions,” one of which,

St. John’s church, Fitchville [a section of the town of Bozrah], was built by Rev. John Cooney in 1894, and is ten miles from the parochial residence. The population here also is chiefly Irish, and numbers 300 souls. They also receive every Sunday the benefits of the Holy Sacrifice. At the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of St. John’s, the Rev. Michael Sullivan preached the sermon. The church was dedicated by Bishop Tierney, the Rev. John Winters preaching the discourse.

Today, St. John’s is a mission of Sacred Heart Parish in Norwichtown. St. John Roman Catholic Mission is located at 190 Fitchville Road.

Bozrah Town Hall (1832)

Bozrah Town Hall

The building which now serves the Town Hall of Bozrah was built in the mid-nineteenth century (between 1832 and 1865). Its original owner was Asa Fitch, who owned the local mill and was expanding the mill village of Fitchville at the time. The building was once used as a sericulture plant and then as a recreation center for mill workers. It was acquired by the town in 1949. In 2010-2012, the Town Hall underwent an extensive renovation, in which it was completely gutted and rebuilt on the inside and an addition placed on one corner.

Fitchville Baptist Church (1852)

Fitchville Baptist Church

The Fitchville Baptist Church, at 1 Bozrah Street Ext in Bozrah, was organized in 1887. I don’t know in what year the church building was erected. The church’s website gives the date of its foundation as 1852. There was once a Fitchville Congregational Church that erected its church building in that same year–perhaps the Baptist Church acquired the building previously used by the Congregational Church?

Bozrah Congregational Church (1843)

Bozrah Church

Located at 17 Bozrah Street, across from Fitchville Pond, is the Bozrah Congregational Church, built in 1843. The congregation, originally the New Concord Ecclesiastical Society, was formed in 1737 within the town of Norwich. Bozrah became a separate town in 1786. The congregation had had two previous meetinghouses: the first meeting house was located on the east side of Bozrah Street, south of the present building; the second was built around 1770, on the west side of Bozrah Street, opposite the original building. The current church was built after two years of controversy over whether to repair the old meetinghouse or build a new one. The land for the building was donated by Asa Fitch. The church’s stonework was done by Nathaniel Rudd, a local mason, using granite provided by Elijah Abel from a quarry on Bashon Hill Road, and the building was constructed by Willimantic contractor Lloyd E. Baldwin.