All Saints Episcopal Church, Meriden (1893)

As related in An Historic Record and Pictorial Description of the Town of Meriden, Connecticut AKA A Century of Meriden (1906):

A[l]though the present attractive edifice of All Saints’ Protestant Episcopal Church, was not occupied for services until Ash Wednesday, 1893, some eight years or more previous it became evident that the erection of a church was definitely contemplated for that section of Meriden. The first service was held in the dwelling house, 273 West Main street on December 13, 1885[.]

A women’s sewing circle began raising money to build a church. Their funds were augmented by a bequest of $10,000 by Mrs. Phoebe A. Hallam, in honor of her late husband, the Rev. R. A. Hallam, D. D., at one time rector of St. Andrews Church in Meriden. All Saints Memorial Church was built at 215 West Main Street and consecrated on November 17, 1893. In more recent years, as the parish faced declining attendance, they began meeting at Immanuel Lutheran Church on Hanover Street. The old church building on West Main Street was sold in 2009 and bought by Rock of Salvation Church (Roca De Salvacion).

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Meriden (1936)

In the 1870s, Italian immigrants began settling in the northwest corner of Meriden. For many years they attended existing Catholic churches in the city, but soon wanted to found their own parish. The Diocese of Hartford established Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in 1894. The first parish church was a wooden building on Goodwill Avenue. The current church, located at 109 Goodwill Avenue, was dedicated on February 16, 1936. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School was established in 1944 after the parish purchased the Nathan Hale Public School from the city of Meriden. In recent years, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Laurent Parishes in Meriden shared a priest. Earlier this year, as part of a reorganization throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Laurent and three other parishes merged to form the new Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish, based at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.

New Covenant United Methodist Church (1894)

The following description of the Burnside Methodist Episcopal Society appears in East Hartford: Its History and Traditions (1879), by Joseph O. Goodwin:

The first meeting-house of the church society in Scotland [the original name for the area called Burnside in East Hartford] stood on the street just cast of the residence of the late William Hanmer. It was a plain brown house, built sometime before 1834, without cupola or steeple. It was moved back, and is now used on the Hanmer place for a horse barn. The site of the present meeting-house in Burnside was given to the society by Mr. George Goodwin. This church has now a fine organ, and a live and growing membership.

The church burned down on January 15, 1893. A new church was dedicated on March 14, 1894. The church, located at 16 Church Street, on the corner of Burnside Avenue, has been much expanded over the years, including an attached three-story brick education and fellowship building, completed in 1953. In 2006, the Burnside Methodist Church merged with the Hockanum Methodist Church to form New Covenant Methodist Church.

St. James’s Episcopal Church, West Hartford (1962)

St. James Episcopal Church was organized in West Hartford in 1843. It was named St. James by Rev. Dr. George Burgess because St. John’s Church had just been erected in Hartford and Dr. Burgess felt that St. John’s brother, St. James, should also be honored. In 1855, the parish erected a church on the west side of Goodman Green. The congregation had limited growth for many years because West Hartford was long a rural community and most residents were members of the Congregational or Baptist churches. Many Episcopalians were drawn to St. John’s Church, which moved from Main Street in Hartford to Farmington Avenue, just across city line in West Hartford, in 1909. The congregation of St. James Church experienced rapid growth in the 1930s and 1940s and eventually outgrew its original church building. The parish soon undertook a three fold building program, purchasing a rectory in 19149, building a parish house in 1954 and constructing a new church, at 1018 Farmington Avenue, in 1962. The church was designed by Jeter and Cook of Hartford and Standard Builders was the general contractor.

Horace Fenn House (1868)

The Horace Fenn House, 32 North Street in Plymouth Center, is a Gothic-style residence built in 1868. As related in New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Vol. III (1913), edited by William Richard Cutter,

Horace, son of Jeremiah Fenn, was born August 2, 1833. He was postmaster from 1861 to 1881; town treasurer from 1862 to 1875; treasurer of the Plymouth Congregational Church from 1895 to 1909; treasurer of the Library Association from 1871 to 1909; member of the general assembly of 1887; judge of probate from 1891 to 1893. He resides at Plymouth, Connecticut. He married Ella Calista. born July 8, 1839, daughter of Selden and Lydia H. (Lane) Gladwin, granddaughter of Daniel and Bethia (Buckingham) Gladwin.

They had two sons. Horace Fenn died in 1922.

St. Casimir’s Polish National Church (1916)

St. Casimir’s Church, located at 240 Quinnipiac Street in Wallingford, was established in 1914. The church affiliated with the Polish National Catholic Church in October, 1916 and soon erected a wood-frame church at the corner of Prospect and Quinnipiac Streets. A fire in 1945 destroyed the original steeple and floor-to-ceiling pipe organ. Some years later the exterior of the building was bricked.

Bristol Armory (1928)

By 1927, community leaders in Bristol had long lobbied the state to build an armory for the city’s National Guard units, which had been utilizing inadequate rented facilities. That year, armory supporters finally acquired funding and hired Payne & Keefe of New London to design an armory at 61 Center Street. Opened in 1928, the Bristol Armory is a Military Gothic style building that faces the intersection of Center and Valley Streets. An unusual feature is that the Armory’s drill shed floor is on the second level of the building. In 1978 a military museum opened in the building. The museum moved to the Bristol Historical Society building in 2008. More recently the state has sought to sell the building.