Hubbard-Porteous House (1865)

Hubbard House

The house at 242 Broadway in Norwich was built c. 1865. It was once the home of James Lanman Hubbard (1832-1890), a wealthy paper manufacturer and director of the Thames National Bank. His sister Marianna was married to the manufacturer John Fox Slater. James L. Hubbard married Charlotte Peck Learned in 1854. They moved to the house at 242 Broadway in 1869/1870. It was later the home of their son, Charles Learned Hubbard (1855-1918), who was by 1910 the wealthiest man in Norwich. By that time, he had already sold the house at 242 Broadway to John Porteous, who was the president of the Hislop, Porteous and Mitchell dry goods store.

Catherine R. Root House (1870)

105 High Street, Bristol

The Italianate house at 105 High Street in Bristol was the home of Catharine R. Root. A school teacher in her youth, Catherine Roberts married Joel Henry Root in 1852. According to Bristol, Connecticut: “In the Olden Time New Cambridge” (1907), in 1859 Mr. and Mrs. Root moved into their house on High Street “where they have lived ever since and which was one of the very first houses to be built on that street.” This is probably the house 105 High Street, which is listed in the Federal Hill Historic District nomination as the “Catharine R. Root House” built c. 1870. Joel H. Root (died 1885) was a successful industrialist, who built a factory on Root’s Island that produced piano hardware and brass butt hinges. His son, Charles J. Root (1858-1907), continued the business and engaged in others, including real estate. On August 20, 1907, a car accident took the lives of Charles J. Root and his mother Catharine R. Root. As described in the Bristol Press (and reprinted in the 1907 history quoted above):

No happier party, comprising Charles Root, his mother, Catherine R. Root [who was eighty years old at the time], Miss Mary P. Root [his sister], Miss Candace Roberts [his aunt] and Miss Catherine Root, a fourteen years old niece [daughter of Theodore Root], left Bristol last Sunday, Aug. 18, 1907, and not many people enjoyed automobile riding so much as these people.
[. . .]

The party left here soon after nine o’clock Sunday morning. Mr. Root and Miss Roberts occupied the front seat of the big Stanley steam touring car. The other three were on the rear seat. The route led through Torrington and Norfolk which was reached about noon. From there the route was to Ashley Falls in Massachusetts. Near the Ashley Falls station the fine, hard highway runs parallel with the railroad tracks for perhaps a mile and is only a few feet distant. While the Root automobile was speeding along this road an overdue express train came in sight at terrific speed. The highway crosses the track at an abrupt angle. Express train and auto reached the fatal crossing almost at the same moment. Just how it happened can never be known but the automobile struck the train, probably the baggage car, a glancing blow and was instantaneously and completely wrecked. The occupants were hurled out with awful force, apparently striking their heads against the train, and were then carried some distance. All were frightfully mangled. Mr. Root and Miss Roberts were killed instantly. Mrs. Root had her skull fractured and died while being taken to Great Barrington. Miss Root had her skull fractured and her right shoulder crushed. She was removed to the House of Mercy in Pittsfield.

The only one to escape was Miss Catherine Root, and the manner in which she came through the crash is little short of miraculous. She was buried beneath the wreckage of the machine which for some unaccountable reason did not take fire. She was taken to the home of a friend in Great Barrington. She was dazed but appeared not to be seriously hurt, and was brought to the home of her parents, here, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Root, on Monday.

Unfortunately, the young Miss Catherine Root died less than a year-and-a-half later, at Miss C. E. Mason’s School, The Castle, in Tarrytown, New York. As related in the Utica Herald-Dispatch on January 6, 1909:

While apparently only slightly injured at the time of the incident, Miss Root had suffered with convulsions since that time. Recently her health had been improving and she returned Monday from spending the holidays at her home and seemed in better health than ever.

Yesterday Miss Root had an attack and fell to the floor, striking her head on the edge of a box in her room. A trained nurse who stays at the school hurried to her assistance and Dr. Coulant, who lives Just outside the school grounds, was called in, but the young lady died of a hemorrhage of the brain before he arrived.

Hitchcock Chair Factory (1826)

Hitchcock Chair Factory

In circa 1825-1826, Lambert Hitchcock built the three-story brick factory in Riverton (Barkhamsted) where his company produced the famous Hitchcock Chairs. The two-story wing on the east side of the factory was added in 1848 to replace the original wheel house (the factory used water power from the Farmington River) that was destroyed by fire. Hitchcock eventually left the company, but the factory continued to be used to manufacture chairs until 1864, being used to make other products afterwards. In 1946, John Kenny bought the old factory and started a new Hitchcock Chair Company. He added the pedimented storefront to the ell of the building facing School Street around 1950. The company finally closed in 2006, but new owners acquired rights to the Hitchcock name and designs in 2010 and a factory store soon reopened in Riverton.

Boardman House (1875)

Boardman House

In 1842, Luther Boardman invented and patented an improved mold for creating britannia silverware. He established a factory in East Haddam where he produced britannia spoons. In 1864, Luther Boardman entered a partnership with his son Norman S. Boardman, under the name L. Boardman & Son. This successful business peaked in the 1860s and 1870s. Norman Boardman had already built the Italianate house at 8 Norwich Road when another grand residence was constructed next door circa 1875. A more eclectic house than its neighbor, it features an Italianate design and an octagonal rear tower on west side with a mansard roof and Eastlake-style iron cresting. There is some confusion over who built the house. The National Register of Historic Places nomination for the East Haddam Historic District lists the house as the Norman S. Boardman House, while an 1880 bird’s-eye-view of East Haddam lists it as the residence of his father, Luther Boardman. An online collection of images from the Boardman Collection at the East Haddam Historical Society has a photo of the house with the description “The Lawton House owned by the Boardman Family.”

93 Elm Street, Hartford (1865)

93 Elm Street, Hartford

Here’s a building that has recently been beautifully restored: 93 Elm Street in Hartford (on the left in the image above) is part of a row of houses (93, 95 and 97 Elm Street) located across from Bushnell Park. These Italianate brownstone structures, many more of which once lined Elm Street along the park, were built in the 1860s by Andrew West, builder-architect. They were probably originally built as two double (two-family) houses (93-95 and 97) and are referred to in the Nomination for the Elm Street Historic District as the Huntington-Callender and Chapman-Taft Houses. In recent years, No. 93 had fallen into disrepair, with exterior walls actually crumbling. Owners Sara and Luke Bronin restored the house, recreating a bay window to match the one at No. 95. For their efforts, they received an award from the Hartford Preservation Alliance last year.

Lebanon Grange Hall (1885)

Lebanon Green Market

Located at 199 West Town Street in Lebanon, just off the Lebanon Green, is a building which is today home to the Lebanon Green Market. It was built in 1885 by the Lebanon Grange No. 21 as a cooperative store and social hall–the first in Connecticut built specifically for the purpose of housing a Grange chapter. While nationally the Grange Movement became involved in political issues, the Lebanon Grange focused more on its educational and social role, with music playing an important part in its activities. The Lebanon Grange acquired an organ in 1898.