Gilbert Block (1907)

Gilbert Block, aka Main Block in Mystic

The large commercial building at 1-17 West Main Street in Mystic, which has contained numerous businesses over the years, was erected in 1907 by the brothers Mark and Osgood Gilbert. It housed the offices of the Gilbert Transportation Company, the brothers’ shipyard where they built and repaired schooners. (There is a photo that shows the building they previously occupied on the site before they built the current structure). The company went bankrupt in 1909. There was a fire in 1915 that gutted the building. It was started because of an over-heated flue in Green’s Bakery and spread to a theater that showed silent films. The building remained vacant until 1924, when the structure was rebuilt and renamed the Main Block. The building continues to be used for retail stores and apartments. There is a video about the building:

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John Gallup House (1837)

23 Gravel Street Mystic
23 Gravel Street Mystic

John Gallup, a carpenter-builder, may have erected the house he owned at 23 Gravel Street in Mystic. Built in 1837, the Greek revival-style house had alterations in the Italianate style in later years, but was restored to its original appearance in the 1970s. A house constructed by Gallup’s brother James, also a builder, is located nearby, at 32 Pearl Street.

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James Gallup House (1854)

The house at 32 Pearl Street, at the intersection with Clift Street in Mystic was built in 1854 in the Greek Revival style by James Gallup, a carpenter-builder. Describing the community of West Mystic around the year 1850, the book Historic Groton (1909) notes that “At the same period the Messrs. Gallup brothers, James, John and Benadam, carpenters, had a shop and lumber yard on the east side of Gravel St.”

Fort Griswold (1775)

Happy Independence Day! To celebrate I’m sharing some photos I took last October at Fort Griswold in New London. First established in 1775, at the start of the American Revolution, the fort was the site of the Battle of Groton Heights, fought on September 6, 1781, during Benedict Arnold’s destructive raid on New London. In use as a fort at different times until after the Spanish-American War, today the site can be visited by the public at Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park. On this site I’ve previously featured two structures at the park: the monument, erected in 1830 to commemorate the 1781 battle, and a powder magazine built in 1843. Click below for more pictures and have a safe holiday!

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Capt. Avery Brown House (1812)

The house at 11 Gravel Street in Mystic was built about 1812 by Capt. Avery Brown, who commanded the sloop Minerva. He also served as bos’n on the Hero, a 47-foot sloop that was built at the Packard Shipyard in Mystic as a costal trader and became a privateer and blockade runner during the War of 1812. Nathaniel Palmer of Stonington was captain of the vessel on a sealing voyage in 1820 when he discovered Antarctica. Next to Capt. Brown’s house is the John Fellows House at 13 Gravel Street, built c. 1827-1836. It is traditionally called the “spite house” because it was built out far enough into the street to spoil Capt. Brown’s view upriver.

Deacon Robert Palmer House (1884)

One of Noank‘s most memorable buildings is the grand Victorian residence at 81 Pearl Street. It was erected in 1884 by Robert Palmer, a deacon in the Noank Baptist Church. Robert Palmer (1825-1913) and his brother John developed the Palmer Shipyard (now known as the Noank Shipyard) begun by their father, John Palmer, Sr. Robert Palmer is featured in “The Village Feudists,” one of the stories in Theodore Dreiser’s Twelve Men (1919). After John’s death in 1879, Robert brought his son, Robert, Jr., into the partnership. Robert Palmer, Jr. would run the shipyard until his death in 1914. Deacon Palmer’s house displays a variety of Victorian-era stick-style elements and “gingerbread” trim. The porch’s wood decoration includes a rail and frieze made of panels with geometric cut-outs and the porch screen consists of fifteen panels, each with an intricate design depicting scenes from Aesop’s Fables. The second-floor balcony is also an exuberant example of the woodworker’s art. The house remained in the Palmer family for many years: Deacon Palmer’s granddaughter, Grace Knapp, lived in the house from 1923 until shortly before her death in 1959. She sold it to E. William Gourde and his wife, who had long admired the house. They restored and painted the home for the first time in fifty-five years. The house was sold again in 1970 and in 1992.