The first Danbury lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in 1842. The fraternal order later erected the building at 18-20 West Street in Danbury as Odd Fellows Hall. Built in 1911, the stuccoed building was designed by Danbury architect Philip Sunderland. It is now home to the Ecuadorian Civic Center of Greater Danbury.
(more…)
The City Trust (later Citytrust) Bank Building, at 234 Main Street in Danbury, was erected in 1912-1913. Originally two stories, the building was remodeled and enlarged (to match the Union Savings Bank next door) in 1929-1931 by Morgan, French & Co. of New York. An Otis elevator was installed in 1931 to reach the new upper floors. Citytrust, based in Bridgeport, failed in 1991 and the building has since been a church.
The architecturally interesting commercial/apartment building at 114-116 Center Street in Wallingford bears the date MDCCCXCVI.
Located at the highest point in the village of Noank in Groton (18 Cathedral Heights) is the Noank Baptist Church. The congregation dates back to 1843. An early meetinghouse was replaced by a new an Italianate-style church with two spires. The church was destroyed in a fire on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1959. It was rebuilt and the first service in the new building was on Easter Sunday, April 22, 1962, followed by the dedication service and a recital with the new organ on September 16, 1962.
The building at 26 Center Street in Collinsville was erected in 1920 as the Canton Public Library. The library had started in 1913 and was initially housed in the basement of the Collins Company office building. The 1920 building was a gift by Helen R. Collins in memory of her husband, Howard R. Collins, son of Samuel W. Collins, founder of the Collins Company. It was erected on land donated by the Canton Memorial Association in memory of the soldiers and sailors of Canton. The library moved out in 1999 and the building now houses the law offices of Burns & Lovejoy.
Much altered over the years, the Classical Revival building at 1110-1112 Main Street in East Hartford was erected in 1832-1833. It was known as the Academy and housed the East Hartford Select School, also known as the Classical and English School. The school eventually closed and the building was acquired by Jonathan Tremaine Wells in 1858. It became part of the larger Wells estate to the east, which included the famous Wells Tavern. Upon his death in 1881, Wells willed the Academy to the town for use as a public building to be called Wells Hall. In 1885 it became East Hartford’s town hall and a new front entry tower was added to the structure. In addition to town offices, Wells Hall also housed a library and the police department, including jail cells. On the second floor was a large public hall, used as a ballroom and as a meeting place for the Grange and the Grand Army of the Republic. When the current Town Hall building was erected in 1937, ownership of Wells Hall reverted to the heirs of Jonathan Wells, as per his will. For many years the building was the Old Town Hall Inn and Restaurant. In the 1930s to 1950s, the Inn had a dinner theater that hosted famous performers. In more recent years the building has been restored and expanded and a 1924 addition on the front of the building, which for many years blocked the 1885 entrance, was removed. Wells Hall now houses the offices of the East Hartford Board of Education.
Wallingford Bank and Trust Company was incorporated in 1916. The bank acquired a parcel of land at the corner of Center and William Streets in Wallingford in 1930. An existing brick building on the site was razed and a new bank building, designed by Harper & West of Boston, was erected there the following year (see “Wallingford Bank Lets Contract For $100,000 Building: Work to Be Started About January 1 At Center and Williams Streets,” Hartford Courant, December 13, 1930). The entrance to the building was originally on the corner, at the street intersection, but this was converted to a window at a later date and a new entrance was built (possibly an extension of the original building) on the Center Street side. The bank merged with the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company in 1962 (the merger came close to not being allowed because it eliminated one of the few banks in town and made CBT the second-largest bank in the state). Today the building is a branch of Bank of America.
You must be logged in to post a comment.