First Church of Christ, Simsbury (1830)

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The first meeting house in Simsbury was built in 1683. In 1736 there were lengthy debates over where to build a new and larger second meeting house, which was eventually constructed on Drake’s Hill. Construction commenced in 1740, but in 1743 services began in what was still an unfinished building, only completed in 1777. This was replaced by the current church, at the same location, in 1830. The minister at the time was Rev. Allen McLean, whose grandson, George Payne McLean was later a senator and governor of Connecticut. The First Church of Christ in Simsbury has undergone various restorations and several additions over the years.

Collins Company Office (1868)

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The Collins Axe Company was started in South Canton (which later came to be known as Collinsville) in 1826. The company constructed a village to house and provide services to the workers and their original office building, built in 1830 on Front Street, included a school and space for religious services. In 1867, this structure was moved to the corner of River and North Street and divided into two units for employee housing. The new office building, constructed to replace the old one in 1868, also contained a post office, library, a third-floor hall with a stage, and space for the local DAR to meet. These rooms were eventually used for office space as the company expanded. The building is now used for various businesses, but the snow guards along the roof are still in the shape of the Collins Company trademark of crown, arm, and hammer.

Denison Homestead (1717)

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The Denison Homestead is the third successive house to be built on the land granted to Captain George Denison in 1654 in the Town of Stonington‘s half of Mystic (which is a census-designated place). Its immediate predecessor burned in a fire in 1717, the night before George Denison‘s grandson, known as “George the Builder,” was married. This grandson then built the current house just west of the original home, using charred timbers from the old house. The house, which became known as Pequotsepos Manor, continued to be the home of generations of the Denison family. In 1930, Ann Borodell Denison Gates created the Denison Society and after her death, in 1941, the house became the Denison Homestead Museum. Located on Pequotsepos Road in Mystic, the museum presents a different period of time the history of the Denison family in each of its rooms.


This is Historic Buildings of Connecticut’s 500th Post
(not including the April Fools Day post)

Peck Tavern (1680)

 

 

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The Peck Tavern, where George Washington once danced, is located where Sill Lane branches off from US 1 in Old Lyme. It may have been built as early as 1680, although the main block achieved its present form by about 1769, when John Peck acquired the tavern. The building served as an inn and tavern from the mid-eighteenth century into the nineteenth and remained in the Peck family until 1904. In the 1930s, the building was used by the Old Lyme Guild, a non-profit arts and crafts organization.  In recent years, the house served as a bed & breakfast.