First Congregational Church, Andover (1833)

The Andover Ecclesiastical Society was officially formed in 1748, when it also settled its first pastor, Rev. Samuel Lockwood, who served until his death in 1791. Once the Society was established, construction began on a meeting house on what is now Hebron Road, which took twenty years to complete (although it began to be in use before it was finished). A new church was built in 1832-1833, which was later renovated in 1869. The First Congregational Church was much expanded with a new addition in 1958.

Former Parsonage of the First Congregational Church of Cromwell (1835)

Former parsonage

The former parsonage of the First Congregational Church in Cromwell was constructed in 1834-1835 on Main Street. It was the second of three buildings to be constructed by the Church at the time, following the Academy building of 1834 and preceding the Meeting House of 1840. All three buildings are brick and in the Greek Revival style. The house remained a parsonage until the Church sold it to a private owner in 1965. The house’s Stick style circular side porch is a later addition. (more…)

Joseph N. Adams House (1842)

The Joseph N. Adams House is a Greek Revival home on Hayward Avenue in Colchester. The house was built around 1842 by Pomeroy Hall, one of several he built and sold in the vicinity, this house being purchased by William Mooney. It was next sold to the widow, Mrs. Lucinda Armstrong in 1847 (she later married Jared Hurlbut and moved to East Hartford); next to Nathaniel Hayward in 1857; and then to Joseph N. Adams in 1866. Adams was a shopkeeper, Justice of the Peace and secretary of the Colchester Savings Bank. The house remained in his family until 1939. Please Read my latest article on the architecture of Connecticut houses, which focuses on Early Twentieth Century Houses: Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival & American Foursquare!

Former Canton Baptist Church (1807)

In 1783, thirty members of the Presbyterian Church in West Simsbury (now Canton) separated to form a new church. Known as “separatists” or Strict Congregationalists, the new congregation split again just three years later, with about half of the members becoming Baptists. A Baptist church building was constructed in 1807 in Canton Village, on what is now Canton Green. In 1838, the church was moved to its present site, not far away on the Albany Turnpike, and remodeled in the Greek Revival style. The church had a bell founded in 1839 by George H. Holbrook of East Medway, Massachusetts. Later, in the twentieth century, the Canton Community Baptist Church moved to a new building on Dowd Avenue. The old church building is now used as offices.

Durham Academy (1844)

Durham Academy was established in 1843 as a private school during a period of time when public schooling was very inadequate. The Greek Revival-influenced Academy building was constructed in 1843-1844 and attracted students from a wide area. After the establishment of Middletown High School as a public alternative, the Durham Academy declined and eventually closed in 1884. The building was purchased by the town of Durham in 1891 and became the Coginchaug School, a consolidated school which also offered two years of high school-level instruction. This was dropped in 1898 for financial reasons, but the building later did serve as a high school, from 1916 to 1923. It next became a Lodge of the Knights of Pythias until 1973. It also served as a post office from 1935 to 1958.