Trinity Episcopal Church, Branford (1852)

Trinity Episcopal Church

An Episcopal Society comprising Branford, Guilford and New Haven was established in 1748, but it was not until 1784 that Episcopalians in Branford legally organized Trinity Parish and erected a church, completed in 1786. This original church, a wooden structure without a steeple, was used until a new church was constructed just southeast of the old one. The cornerstone was laid in April 1851 and the church was consecrated by Bishop Brownell on January 27, 1852. Trinity Episcopal Church was designed in the English Gothic style by Sidney Mason Stone of New Haven. Some of the church‘s original exterior decorative elements were removed over the years. In 1920, the outside walls were covered with white stucco as a protection. The stucco was replaced with long leafed southern pine in 1944. A parish hall was added next to the church in 1916. It served as an infirmary during the great influenza epidemic of 1918.

St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church (1876)

St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church, New London

St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in New London began in the 1840s, serving Irish workers from a storefront on Bank Street. Soon, St. John’s parish was formed and a chapel was erected on Jay Street. In 1855 a new church, St. Patrick’s, was consecrated on Truman Street. The parish acquired a large lot at the corner of Washington and Huntington Streets in 1866 and the following year work began on a new church, designed by Patrick Keely of New York. The parish was renamed St. Mary Star of the Sea in 1874 and the new church was completed and dedicated in May, 1876. The church tower was built in 1911.

11-17 Capitol Avenue, Hartford (1879)

Brownstone Row Houses, Hartford

This post marks the Seventh Anniversary of Historic Buildings of Connecticut! That means that there has been one post a day here for seven years! Thanks to all those who follow this site and enjoy Connecticut’s great historical and architectural landmarks!

Pictured above are the bow-fronted brownstone rowhouses located at 11-17 Capitol Avenue in Hartford. Built in 1879, their construction is attributed to the Hartford builder John W. Gilbert, who also built the neighboring rowhouses (19-25 Capitol Avenue) in 1871 and the nearby Hotel Capitol (corner of Main Street and Capitol Avenue) in 1875. Gilbert, himself a chess enthusiast, was married to a legendary chess player, Ellen E. Gilbert, who was the nineteenth century’s queen of correspondence chess. The couple lived at 21 Capitol Avenue.

First Baptist Church of Plymouth (1915)

St. Peter's/First Baptist Church

St. Peter’s Episcopal parish in Plymouth was established in 1740. The parish’s first church edifice was built on the northeast corner of Plymouth Green in 1796. The church burned down in 1915, but was quickly rebuilt with a new design constructed of fieldstone. The stones were gathered by parishioners from their own fields and walls. In 1996, St. Peter’s merged with Trinity Parish in Thomaston to form St. Peter’s-Trinity Church. The former St. Peter’s Church in Plymouth then became the First Baptist Church of Plymouth. This congregation, which began its ministry in Waterbury in 1803, held its first worship service in Plymouth on the Sunday following Easter in 1997.

St. James Episcopal Church, New London (1850)

St James Church

Happy Easter! St. James’ parish in New London began with a small group of Episcopalians in 1725. Their first church was a wooden building on New London’s Parade, opened in 1732. It was destroyed by fire when New London was burned in 1781 during the Battle of Groton Heights. Samuel Seabury (1729–1796), consecrated in 1784 as the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church, served as rector of St. James from 1785 until his death in 1796. He is now buried in the current (third) St. James Church. The second church was consecrated in 1787, but by the mid-nineteenth century a larger building was needed. By that time the parish had grown significantly and included some of New London’s wealthiest and most influential families. The third St. James Church, located at the corner of Huntington and Federal Streets, was built in 1847-1850. It was designed by the famous architect Richard Upjohn, construction starting just a year after he completed Trinity Church in Manhattan. Starting in 1910, St. James’s original stained glass windows were replaced by six new memorial stained glass windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.