Levi B. Frost House (1836)

According to tradition, Asa Barnes established a tavern in his home in the Marion area of Southington in 1765, the same year he married Phebe Adkins. In 1781, when French troops under the comte de Rochambeau were marching through Connecticut on their way south, the eighth campsite of their march was established nearby on French Hill. During the four nights of the encampment, Rochambeau and his officers were entertained by Barnes in the tavern. They would stop there again during their return march, on October 27, 1782. Barnes continued to live in his tavern/house until his death in 1819. His son, Philo Barnes, leased the home to Micah Rugg and Levi B. Frost, pioneers in Southington’s bolt manufacturing industry. Frost, a blacksmith, purchased the property in 1820. The original building burned in a fire in 1836 and Frost rebuilt his house in the Greek Revival style. While the Frost House, which is located at 1089 Marion Avenue, features the classic hallmarks of that style of architecture, it is unusually long at 50 feet. This may be due to the house being constructed on the foundations (and perhaps even incorporating the original framework) of the original eighteenth-century tavern.

Hall Family School for Boys (1840)

The Hall family of Ellington had a long association with education in the nineteenth century. As related in vol. 1 of The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut (1891):

In 1825, Mr. John Hall opened a school, primarily for the instruction of his own children, though it was not limited to them. […] This school was continued till 1829. […] This was succeeded by “the Ellington School,” which was incorporated by the General Assembly in 1829. A large and handsome building, 128 feet in length, was erected on the gentle rise of ground west of the village […] and the school was opened in the autumn of 1829. Mr. Hall was principal for ten years from that time, and his assistants were mostly graduates of Yale. […] The pupils, who were boys exclusively, came not only from Connecticut, but from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and other states as far south as Louisiana; also from the West Indies and Brazil. They were prepared either for college or for business life, and some of them afterward became men of prominence.

The school was continued, with several changes of management, until 1870. A dedication to education continued in the next generation:

In 1844, Edward Hall, the oldest son of the founder of the Ellington School, established a family school which in a few years acquired an excellent reputation. The boys that were placed in his charge received a thorough training, both morally and intellectually. The school was maintained successfully for nearly thirty years, and many boys living in the town, as well as those from abroad, were profited by the opportunities which it afforded. For nearly half a century the two men, father and son, were foremost in promoting education in the community.

Among the pupils of Hall’s school in the 1870s was a student from Japan, Yanosuke Iwasaki, who became the second president of the Mitsubishi Corporation.

Edward Hall’s school, at 107-109 Main Street in Ellington, is now an apartment house. The building began with the west section on the left, a Greek Revival house that was later duplicated for the east section on the right. The two sections were joined by the higher central section. The school was closed in 1875, the year of Edward Hall died. In 1891, his widow and daughter sold the house to Theodore C.F. Berr, a blacksmith. (more…)

Third Congregational Church, Middletown (1849)

The Third Congregational Church in Middletown is Located in the Westfield section of the city, The church, once called the Westfield Congregational Church, began in 1766 as the fourth ecclesiastical society in Middletown, formed by several members of the first and second societies who were living in Westfield. Their first church was built in 1773. It was replaced by the current Greek Revival church, built in 1849

Chauncey Winchell Homestead (1830)

Born in Berlin in 1796, Chauncey Winchell later came to Talcottville in Vernon and began working as a millwright. In 1829, he moved to Rockville (also in Vernon). In 1833, he was one of the organizers of the Springville Mill, one of Rockville‘s earliest woolen mills. A skilled builder, Winchell constructed his Greek Revival homestead in 1830 at 174 West Main Street, where the Springville Mill was located. He then constructed several other homes on the same street for his colleagues at the mill, including one for his his partner, Alonzo Bailey (at 162-164 West Main Street, built in 1836). Chauncey Winchell married Mary Vibberts in 1816 and one of their children was Cyrus Winchell, built two houses on Ellington Avenue in Rockville in 1885. Chauncey Winchell served as president of the Springville Manufacturing Company for 52 years.

Samuel Breese House (1836)

The house at 271 Court Street (formerly 273 Court Street) in Middletown was built between 1830 and 1836 by Barzillai D. Sage, a master mason who also constructed the First President’s House of Wesleyan University. In 1836, the property was sold to Samuel Breese. From 1852 to 1861, it was owned by Erastus Brainerd, of the Brainerd Quarry Company, and by his heirs until 1878. Since 1973, the house has been owned by Wesleyan University, which renovated it for use as offices.

Rev. Erastus Denison House (1851)

In 1831, Rev. Erastus Denison (1791-1866) of Mystic became the first pastor of the Third Baptist Church of Groton, remaining there until 1848. Third Baptist later joined with the Second Baptist Church to form Union Baptist Church in 1861. Rev. Denison served from 1862 to 1865 as pastor of the Third Baptist Church of Stonington, an African-American congregation. Rev. Denison’s house, at 56 Pearl Street in Mystic, was built in 1851.

Mather Homestead (1840)

The Mather Homestead is a former Greek Revival farmhouse in Hartford’s North End, built sometime between 1835 and 1843. Changes to the house over the years illustrate the many demographic changes that have occurred in the surrounding neighborhood. The house was constructed by William Mather, a prosperous Yankee farmer, and continued as a residence until 1926. The house faces Mahl Avenue (the address is 2 Mahl Avenue), but originally had a Main Street address, because Mahl Avenue was not opened until 1893. At that time, developer Frederick Mahl bought the Mather farm and subdivided it. Starting in 1887, the Mather house was rented by Charles Skinner, an insurance clerk, who bought the house in 1898. In 1916, the Skinner family sold the house to a Jewish family.

Significant structural changes began for the Mather Homestead in 1926, when it was converted for use as a synagogue. The alterations were undertaken by two Orthodox congregations, Teferes Israel and Chevre Kadishe, which had merged in 1926. Both congregations had been founded by Russian immigrants: members of Teferes Israel came from Ludmir (now in Ukraine) and members of Chevre Kadishe from Wolkowysk (now in Belarus). Among other changes, a rounded projection on the east (Main Street) side of the building was added for an ark to hold Torah scrolls. The Mahl Street side of the building originally had a Greek Revival columned porch on the first floor and a second porch was added above it on the second floor in 1926. Known as the Mahl Avenue Shul, Teferes Israel later moved to Bloomfield and, in 1993, merged with Beth David in West Hartford.

In 1954, the building was acquired by an African American Masonic Temple, Excelsior Lodge No. 16. Founded in 1856 by a group of Prince Hall Masons, Excelsior Lodge has included among its members many leaders of Hartford’s black community. For many decades, the exterior was left unaltered, but the columned porches have since been removed and replaced by an enclosed entry addition on the fist-floor.