Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Herrick Frost House (1882)

Built circa 1882 (or 1876?) and designed by Henry Austin & Son, the house at 612 Chapel Street in New Haven was the residence of Herrick Frost. As described in Volume 2 of A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County (1918), Herrick Payne Frost

in 1856 made his home in New Haven, where after several experiments in various enterprises, in 1858 he formed a partnership with Julius Tyler, Jr., establishing the wholesale grocery house of Tyler & Frost, on State street. This business Mr. Frost prosecuted with great energy and varied success for nearly twenty years, the partnership being dissolved in 1876, at about the time the telephone was just coming into public notice.

Inspired by Alexander Graham Bell’s demonstration of his new invention–the telephone–at Skiff’s Opera House in New Haven on April 27, 1877, Civil War veteran and telegraph man George W. Coy created an experimental switchboard. He won a Bell telephone franchise for New Haven and Middlesex counties and received financial backing from Herrick Frost and Walter Lewis, superintendent of the New Haven Clock Company. Establishing the District Telephone Company of New Haven, the partners opened the world’s first telephone exchange in January 1878 with 21 subscribers.

Again according to A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County:

The new enterprise attracted general attention, and in less than three months after its inauguration it had one hundred and fifty subscribers, and within a year over four hundred. Mr. Frost and his partner were thus instrumental in giving to New Haven the credit of leading the world in this important line. By 1880 capital had become interested in the further development of the system, and the New Haven Telephone Company was merged into the Connecticut Telephone Company, with the late Marshall Jewell, of Hartford, as president, and Hon. Charles L. Mitchell and Morris F. Tyler as directors. This company in 1884 underwent another change, becoming the Southern New England Telephone Company, with a capital of one and a half million dollars. Through the foresight, energy and ability of Mr. Frost, to whom was committed the general management of this great and growing corporation, the lines of the company were carried into nearly every town, hamlet and school district, within the territory in which they operated, and until a very few years ago there was no district in the world with so many telephones in use, in proportion to its population, as Connecticut.

William Sears House (1860)

The 1825 house of Bethel Tuttle, at 10 Academy Street in New Haven, was later expanded around 1860 into an Italianate-style house by William H. Sears, who worked at E. Arnold & Co. According to the History of the City of New Haven to the Present Time (1887):

The firm of E. Arnold & Co., 236 to 240 State street, dealers in stoves, furnaces, ranges, and galvanized cornices, was formed in 1846, and has been located on the same street ever since. They are also engaged in tin-roofing, plumbing, and gas-fitting. The individual members of the firm are E. and George J. Arnold.

Osborn Memorial Laboratories, Yale University (1913)

The gatehouse with two towers of Osborn Memorial Laboratories at Yale University recall the now lost Alumni Hall, designed by A. J. Davis and built in 1853, which had been demolished in 1911. Designed by Charles C. Haight, the Osborn Memorial Laboratories were built in 1913 to be the home for the study of biology at Yale and originally housed both the zoology and botany departments (one in each wing of the building).

Southern New England Telephone Company Building (1937)

The former Southern New England Telephone Company Administration Building is an Art Deco skyscraper built in 1937-1938 at 227 Church Street in New Haven. Also known as The Eli (after its conversion to luxury apartments in 2004), it was designed by Roy W. Foote and Douglas Orr, who made extensive use of Stony Creek pink granite. When it was built, it was the city’s tallest building.

Woolsey Hall, Yale University (1901)

Woolsey Hall in New Haven was built in 1901 for the commemoration of Yale’s bicentennial. A concert hall, it can seat 2,691. Built as one of a group of bicentennial buildings, its architects were Carrère and Hastings, designers of the New York Public Library. Woolsey Hall‘s murals that represent the ideal of a classical education and include images of the Nine Muses and the goddess Athena. The hall is home to the Newberry Memorial Organ, one of the largest in the world.

William W. White House (1853)

The William W. White House is an Italianate-style residence with a cupola, built in 1853 at 239 Bradley Street in New Haven. It has a later Colonial Revival front entry and an uncomplementary side addition.

Luther House (1870)

At 27 High Street in New Haven is a bow front residence that was originally a double house. Built around 1870, it is now Luther House at Yale, which provides a place of spiritual retreat for students.