Although vastly altered from its original appearance, the house at 32 Phelps Street in East Hartford is a survivor from c. 1700 and would have once looked like the Buttolph-Williams House in Wethersfield with a large center chimney. It now has a brick foundation, which indicates it was moved to its current location in the nineteenth century. The house’s history is described in Joseph O. Goodwin’s East Hartford: Its History and Traditions (1879):
The house once occupied by Capt. Joseph Goodwin, and now standing on the lane east of the post-office, is one of the oldest remaining in town. It once stood south of Mr. A. A. Waterhouse’s, and was occupied by Caleb Goodwin [(1713-1769)], who was a hypochondriacal bachelor, and died in 1769. It was moved to the site of the present house of Mr. S. O. Goodwin about the year 1800, and repaired. Afterwards it was moved to its present site. Joseph Goodwin, Sr., lived in the old brown house, which, in 1876, gave place to the house of the writer.
Goodwin’s store on Main street, for many years our post-office [no longer extant], dates from the time of the Revolution or thereabout. Its rear door came from the old Caleb Goodwin house.
You must be logged in to post a comment.