Ward-Cody Building (1890)

This week the focus is on buildings in Middletown. The Ward-Cody Building, at 502-508 Main Street, is one of many surviving Victorian commercial buildings in downtown Middletown. It was built in 1889 or 1890 by George N. Ward, who developed much of the north section of Main Street in the later nineteenth century. In 1919, the building was purchased by Richard E. Cody, whose shoe store was located here for many decades. A marker on the building notes that this was, on November 26, 1899, the birthplace of Major General Maurice Rose, a son and grandson of rabbis, who was commander of the Third Armored Division (“Spearhead”) in World War II. On March 30, 1945, Rose became the highest-ranking American to be killed by enemy fire in the War’s European Theater of Operations.

William H. Perry House (1857)

William Hunt Perry (1820-1899) was secretary and treasurer of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, which produced sewing machines. He was also president of Bridgeport’s parks commission and his will left money for the erection of the Perry Memorial Arch, which serves as a gateway to Seaside Park. William H. Parry’s 1857 Italianate house is at 335 Noble Avenue in East Bridgeport, where he was one of the initial property owners with P.T. Barnum. The two men gave to the city the land for Washington Park.

Widows’ Homes (1865)

Across from Old North Cemetery, on Main Street (formerly Windsor Avenue) in Hartford, are a pair of three-story brick buildings constructed in 1864-1865. Known as the Widows’ Homes, they were built for charitable purposes (housing Civil War widows) through a bequest by Lawson Ives, a manufacturer and member of the Pearl Street Congregational Church (since demolished). Plaques on the exterior of each of the two buildings memorialize Ives’ gift. According to the Annual Reports of the Board of Charities to the Governor for the Years Ending September 30, 1905 and 1906 (1907):

The Widows’ Homes at Nos. 210 and 216 Windsor avenue were established in 1867 by the will of Mr. Lawson C. Ives, an honored citizen of Hartford. The two Homes are under the management, respectively, of the pastors and prudential committees of the Farmington Avenue Congregational Church and of the Park Congregational Church, who were incorporated for that purpose by the General Assembly of 1867. Each Home contains twelve apartments of three rooms each, and all occupants who are able to do so, pay a monthly rental of $2 for front and $1.50 for back rooms. The inmates do their own work and enjoy a degree of homelike privacy not found in a large institution.

William & Stephen Conger House (1854)

The William & Stephen Conger House, at 616-618 Kossuth Street in Bridgeport, was built in 1854 for two coach trimmers. The house was remodeled in 1864 by John Barr. Renovated in the 1980s, the Conger House eventually became vacant again for a decade, suffering neglect, vandalism and exposure to the elements. In 2007 the house was rehabilitated by the Mutual Housing Association Of Southwestern CT with Catholic Charities to provide housing with services for 16 formerly homeless individuals with special needs.

Lauren T. Campbell House (1877)

Southington‘s only known nineteenth-century architect is Lauren T. Campbell, who was listed in the local directory as a joiner in 1882 and as an architect after 1889. Campbell designed his own house, a towered Italianate villa at 45 Berlin Avenue built in 1877. His only other known building, the H.B. Gleason House, is located nearby at 63-65 Berlin Avenue. It has similarities to the Campbell house but lacks the Italianate tower. (more…)

Francis W. Lewis House (1880)

The Francis W. Lewis House is a three-story (with porches on the first two floors) Italianate house at 153 N Main Street in Southington. It has been dated to around 1880, but was apparently converted from a preexisting building dating to 1800. Timlow’s Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn. (1875) lists a Francis W. Lewis:

son of Chauncey (184), b. Jan. 21, 1816; m. Dec. 7, 1840, Sarah C. Beckley, daughter of Moses W. and Mary Berkley. He lives in the village of Southington, and has a boot and shoe store.