John Treadwell Norton House (1832)

John Treadwell Norton House

Born in Farmington in 1795, John Treadwell Norton (d. 1869) became successful in the hardware business in Albany, New York. Treadwelll, who had been a surveyor and engineer for the Erie Canal, returned to Farnmington to construct a feeder canal that would supply water to the Farmington Canal from the Farmington River in Unionville. On land inherited in 1824 from his grandfather, he built a Georgian-style mansion at 11 Mountain Spring Road in Farmington in 1832, where he lived as a gentleman farmer. The house of his grandfather, John Treadwell (1745-1823), who served as Governor of Connecticut, had been a station on the Underground Railroad. John Treadwell Norton was also an abolitionist. He was one of the first people to visit the Amistad captives who were confined in a jail in New Haven. He played a major role in bringing the captives to Farmington, where they lived for 8 months before returning to Africa. The property was later owned by Austin Dunham Barney and was called the Barney House. For a time, the house was a used as a conference center and bed and breakfast by the University of Connecticut. In 2001, it was sold to its current owners, who have returned to calling the house its original name of Glenbrook.

Deacon David Sherwood House (1830)

555 Clinton Ave., Bridgeport

The Greek Revival house at 555 Clinton Avenue in Bridgeport was originally located on Fairfield Avenue. It was built for Deacon David Sherwood, a farmer, and was known as the “pink house.” According to A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Vol. I (1886), by Samuel Orcutt:

Dea. David Sherwood, a descendant of Matthew, through Samuel, John and Stephen, purchased this farm owned by Dea. Lemuel one hundred years before, consisting of one hundred acres, in 1830. He was chosen deacon of the First Church, in 1831, and served about twenty-five years. He died January 24, 1873, at the age of 94 years.

He cultivated and kept his farm nearly intact until his decease. The population and improvements had so surrounded him, that his land had become very valuable. He died with the impression that he was very rich. The land has been mostly sold, streets have been laid over it, and these acres are covered with manufactures, stores and fine residences; and a teeming, busy, population, with a school house and chapels.

In 1874, the house was moved to its current address to become the residence of George Willett, a bakery owner. The house was later remodeled with Colonial Revival elements.

Armstrong-McDonald House (1860)

Armstrong-McDonald House

At 27 Leavenworth Street in Waterbury is a house built in the early 1860s and much altered over the years. Known as the Armstrong/McDonald House, it has an Italianate form, but the exterior details are Georgian Revival. In about 1897, the house became the headquarters of the Young Women’s Friendly League (called the Waterbury Institute of Craft and Industry after 1908), which aided young working women. The organization began in 1889 and was incorporated in 1893. A large brick Georgian Revival building (31 Leavenworth Street) was constructed in 1900 as a rear addition to the house. This was the Young Women’s Friendly League Assembly Hall, also known as Leavenworth Hall.