Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (1883)

Built in 1883, the church at 239 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel was St. Mary’s Catholic Church for 109 years. The following excerpts are taken from the History of the Diocese of Hartford (1900), by James H. O’Donnell,

The Rev. M. P. Lawlor was the celebrant of the first Mass said in Bethel. The historic event took place on January 8, 1882, in the Town Hall, in the presence of about 400 persons. In the spring of the same year the congregation secured Fisher’s Hall, in which Mass was said until the church was completed. Before this year the Catholics of Bethel attended Mass at St. Peter’s church, Danbury. [p. 264]

In 1881, it was determined to separate the Catholics of Bethel and Grassy Plain district from the mother church at Danbury. Accordingly, a building committee, comprising Thomas Doran, Michael Brauneis and Owen Murray, was appointed, and the work of securing funds for the erection of a new church was auspiciously and successfully carried on. Sufficient money having been collected to guarantee beginning the work, the construction of the church was entered upon with vigor and enthusiasm. The corner-stone was laid on Sunday, September 17, 1882, by Bishop McMahon. [p.265]

In April, 1883, Bethel was separated from the jurisdiction of Danbury and organized into a separate parish, with the Rev. M. Byrne as the first pastor. Father Byrne died after a successful, though brief, pastorate. The main altar of St. Mary’s church was donated by his mother as a memorial of her son. [p. 264]

The ceremony of dedication took place on Sunday, September 16, 1883, Father Byrne, being pastor. Bishop McMahon officiated. [. . .] The church is a brick edifice, Gothic in style with the tower on the side. It is 49 x 88 feet. The basement wall is granite, and the roof imitation clerestory. All the windows are of beautiful stained glass and bear the names of the donors. The distance from the ground to the top of the cross is 138 feet. The seating capacity of the church is 475. [p.265]

The Rev. Patrick O’Connell succeeded Father Byrne in November, 1883. His period of service was fifteen years. Evidences of his sacerdotal zeal are everywhere visible. The works that signalized his administration were the purchase of the rectory and lot on which it stands, and a cemetery on the line of the Danbury and Norwalk railroad. He furnished the church with a pipe organ and a bell for the tower; erected three sets of granite steps for the entrances of the church; built an expensive property line wall, laid the concrete walks, and graded and beautified the grounds—works which bear testimony to his activity and to the generosity of the parishioners. [p. 264]

In 1992, St. Mary’s moved to a new church on Dodgingtown Road and the building on Greenwood Avenue was sold to the Church of Bethel. It was sold again in 2011 to the Danbury Luso-Brasileira Seventh Day Adventist Church.

St. James Episcopal Church, Winsted (1926)

As related in Annals and Family Records of Winchester, Conn. (1873), by John Boyd:

The first stated worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Winsted was begun in 1847, by Rev. H. Frisbie, and some funds were then raised for a church edifice. During the following year arrangements were made for building a church and a location was agreed on. The present Episcopal Church was soon after contracted for and was completed in October, 1848; and on the 27th day of that month the parish of St. James was legally organized [. . . .]

The location of the church, influenced by the liberal subscriptions of individuals in its immediate vicinity, has been deemed ill-judged, and is supposed to have essentially retarded its growth. Endeavors have been made to obtain its removal to a more central point, intermediate between the east and west sections, but as yet without success.

The current St. James Episcopal Church, at 160 Main Street, was built in 1926.

Willimantic Armory (1913)

Completed in 1913, the Willimantic Armory is an excellent example of the castellated architectural style, also called the medieval castle revival style, which was typical of armories built in Connecticut during the first fifteen years of the twentieth century. The state legislature granted the community’s request for an armory in 1911, although some felt that military construction at the time already exceeded the state’s needs. The Willimantic request had already been postponed in 1909 due to the large number of requests for armories at the time. The Willimantic Armory, located at 255 Pleasant Street, was designed by Whiton and MacMahon of Hartford (the same firm designed such buildings as the Corning Building and St. Justin Church, both in Hartford). After World War II, Willimantic’s military company, by then designated Company B, 169th Infantry, continued to use the armory until the early 1960s. It was then used by the 248th Engineering company until 1980, when the company was moved to a new facility in Norwich and the Willimantic site was deactivated. The Armory was converted into apartments in the 1980s.

St. James Episcopal Church, Danbury (1867)

The Episcopal Church in Danbury was organized in 1762 and was known as the First Episcopal Church. The original church building was erected in 1763 on South Street, near where the South Street School stands today. It was replaced in 1802 by a second church at the same location. It was officially named St. James’ Church in 1810. According to James M. Bailey’s History of Danbury, compiled with additions by Susan Benedict Hill in 1896:

The second [church building in Danbury] was the Episcopal St. James, which was built in 1763 on South Street. The graveyard on that street was the churchyard of this structure. The building was moved to the west corner of Main and South streets, where it was modernized and converted into a tenement, and is thus occupied to-day.

A new church was erected in 1844 at a new location on West Street. As the congregation grew, a larger church was again required. It was built in 1867 and incorporated parts of the previous church on the same site, 25 West Street. As related in the History of Danbury: “In 1867 the present chapel, the chancel, and first bay of the nave of the new stone church was erected, and in 1872 the nave and tower were completed all save the stone spire.” The Gregory House, next door, became the rectory and was remodeled as a parish house in the early twentieth century, when a new parish house was erected on Terrace Place. In addition to an organ, the church has the 25-bell Ella S. Bulkley Memorial Carillon in its bell tower. It is the oldest carillon in Connecticut and the first carillon made in America (cast in 1928). (more…)

St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church (1897)

St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church is located at 68 Main Street in East Berlin. It was built in 1897, at a time when East Berlin was experiencing a boom during the heyday of the nearby Berlin Iron Bridge Company. The church was built on land purchased from the East Berlin Building Company. This was a real estate development which rented housing to workers at the Iron Bridge Company, whose principals owned the majority of its stock (60% in 1903). The addition, with a shorter gable roof, to the north of the original section of the church (on the right in the image above), was built in the twentieth century. (more…)

St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Bethel (1910)

Planning began in 1834 to erect an Episcopal chapel in Bethel. Dedicated to St. Thomas, the building was erected the following year on Center Street (now 95 Greenwood Avenue) and at the time was part of St. James’ Parish in Danbury. In 1909, the old white frame church was taken down to make way for a new edifice, built of stone that came from stone walls on outlying farms. Services were held on Christmas Day in the unfinished structure in 1909. The new St. Thomas Episcopal Church was dedicated a few weeks later, on January 16, 1910. Additions, which included a chapel, parish hall, kitchen and an upstairs caretaker’s apartment, were made in the 1970s.