St. Catherine Church, Broad Brook (1881)

Rev. James Smyth, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Windsor Locks, celebrated the first Catholic Mass to take place in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor in 1856. Later, a mission church dedicated to St Patrick was built on land donated by Broad Brook Catholics and it remained in use until 1880. Originally under the jurisdiction of St. Bernard’s, Rockville, the mission was transferred in 1863 to the new parish of St. Patrick’s in Thompsonville. The cornerstone for a new mission church, located at the intersection of Rye Street, Main Street and Windsorville Road in Broad Brook, was laid by Bishop Lawrence S. McMahon of Hartford in early fall of 1880 and the church was completed late the following year. The church again became a mission of Rockville in 1882 and four years later, in 1886, became a separate parish, dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena. The church has stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of St. Catherine designed by the artist Emil Frei. The adjoining rectory was completed in 1887. The church has been updated over the years, with a new wing being added in 1957. Now, together with St. Philip Church in East Windsor, St. Catherine’s is part of St. Marianne Cope Parish.

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Broad Brook Congregational Church (1893)

The Congregational Church in the village of Broad Brook in the Town of East Windsor was first organized in 1849 and their original church building was dedicated in January of 1854. After the church was burned on February 8, 1893, construction began on the current building, which was dedicated on January 24, 1894. As a reporter for the Hartford Courant newspaper noted at the time, “The church as a whole is complete in all its equipments and presents a very neat and cheerful appearance.”

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William Bevin House (1757)

One of the oldest houses in East Hampton is the colonial saltbox at 53 Barton Hill Road. It was erected circa 1748-1757 by William Bevin, who died in 1793 at the age of 83. The property was maintained by William’s son Isaac Bevin, Sr. (1746-1791) and grandson Isaac Bevin, Jr. (1773-1870), who married Anna Avery of Glastonbury in 1800. In 1832, their sons, William, Chauncy and Abner, later joined by a fourth brother Philo, started Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company, a bell foundry that is still in business today.

Broad Brook Hotel (1840)

The three-story gambrel-roofed building at 98 Main Street in the village of Broad Brook in East Windsor was built in 1840. Its gable-end faces the street and has a two-level front porch with columns. When it was erected, the building was known as Hubbard’s Hotel. It was later called the Broad Brook Hotel and was owned by the Broad Brook Company. The upper floors contained guest rooms and dining facilities, with an auditorium on the third floor. The ground floor housed businesses, such as a harness shop and possibly a tin store. Other tenants over the years included the Broad Brook Library and a U. S. Post Office. In 1956 the building became the Masonic Hall of Oriental Lodge No. 111. Their previous lodge at E. W. Pigeon’s store had been wrecked in the Flood of 1955. The Lodge later moved to South Windsor.

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Broad Brook Opera House (1892)

The neighborhood of Broad Brook in the town of East Windsor was once a mill village for the Broad Brook Company, which manufactured textiles from 1849 to 1854. In 1892 the company erected the building at the corner of Main and Depot Streets, next to the Broad Brook Dam. The building had a company salesroom and shipping department on the first floor and a public hall, called the opera house, on the top floor which was used for community events. After the company moved its departments out in 1920 the first floor was used for retail stores. The Opera House on the second floor continues to host live shows today.