Torrington Library (1901)

Torrington Library

A history of the Torrington Library is provided in Vol. 1 of William J. Pape’s History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley (1918):

The Torrington Library was founded on October 22, 1864, by a group of what were then Wolcottville residents, each supplying a quantity of books. It was known as the Wolcottville Library Association. Early in 1865 the library and reading room were opened to the public. During its first fifteen years it occupied rooms in the Granite Block. In 1880 it was removed to larger quarters, in the Wetmore Building, on the corner of Church and Prospect streets, subsequently called the Library Building. In 1881 it became known as the Torrington Library Association, and in 1899 it was officially incorporated as the “Torrington Library.”

The library owes its present equipment to two Torrington benefactors, Lauren Wetmore and Elisha Turner. The former, who died in 1890, gave to the public for “the establishment of a free public library and reading room,” the income from the Wetmore Building and personal property to the value of $20,000. Elisha Turner, in 1899, gave the site and present magnificent library structure to Torrington. Mr. Turner died in 1900 and willed a total, including his previous gift, of $100,000 to the association.

The dedication took place in 1901. The building is of white marble in a simple treatment of the Neo-Greek style of architecture.

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The Gold Building (1975)

Built in 1974-1975 and replacing a former succession of historic low-rise buildings which once stretched on the west side of Main Street in Hartford, between Pearl Street and Center Congregational Church, is the skyscraper at One Financial Plaza. Popularly known as the Gold Building, for its unusually tinted windows, it was designed by Neuhaus & Taylor of Houston, TX. The Gold Building was recently the victim of some car-on-building violence.

Terry Homestead (1748)

For over two-and-a-half centuries, the Terry Homestead has stood prominently at what is now 54 Middle Street in Bristol. Built for Thomas Barns in 1748 and home over the years to various families, including the Terrys, in 1973 the house became the home of the Bristol Historical Society (now located in the old Bristol High School). Today, new developments are underway and the house’s site at the northwest corner of Middle Street and Mountain Road is being developed with construction of a new bank and drug store. As part of the plan, the old homestead is being relocated further uphill to Mountain Road. As the above picture shows, the house has already been moved uphill by truck!

Addendum: On April 13, 2012, I added the following update: The Historic Fletcher-Terry House is in danger of being demolished! I featured the house on this blog a year ago, but now its days are numbered.

WFSB story here:
http://www.wfsb.com/story/17384774/bristol-grapples-with-fate-of-historic-home

From the Bristol Free Press:
Time running out on Fletcher-Terry house

Fletcher-Terry house in limbo

Fletcher-Terry home in Bristol still standing – for now

Addendum: This house has been demolished.

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Bristol (1907)

German immigrants founded the German Lutheran Church in Bristol in 1892 (or 1894). A church was built on School Street, on the south bank of the Pequabuck River, in 1896. A split in the church soon emerged: one group, which would affiliate with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, constructed Immanuel Lutheran Church in 1907 at 154 Meadow Street. The other group built Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on Judd Street (the original church building has since been replaced) in 1906. School buildings were constructed adjacent to Immanuel Lutheran Church in 1925 and 1963.

Moses Seymour, Jr. House (1817)

The Moses Seymour, Jr. House, at 24 South Street in Litchfield, is a Federal-style house with a distinctive trefoil window in the front gable. Moses Seymour, Jr. (1774-1826), a merchant and businessman, was the son of Maj. Moses Seymour and the brother of Ozias Seymour, whose house is at 34 South Street. The 1903 book, Chronicles of a Pioneer School from 1792 to 1833, Being the History of Miss Sarah Pierce and Her Litchfield School, contains a reminiscence by Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith, who writes:

In 1797 Mabel Strong, Lucy Case and a Miss Dwight, all of Addison, Vt., made a start for Litchfield, Ct., to attend Miss Pierce’s School — They made the journey to Bennington on horseback, and from thence the Rev. Mr. Dwight drove them to Litchfield — the latter part of the journey was made in a wagon. Mabel Strong made her home during the years of her stay in Litchfield, with Mrs Brace, a sister of Miss Pierce, and the mother of John P. Brace — her wardrobe was made up after her arrival. The Brace house stood on the site now occupied by the Congregational parsonage. […] My grandfather Moses Seymour Jr. drove from Litchfield, with a sleigh and pair of horses in Feb. 1800, to bring home Mabel Strong as his bride; […] Moses Seymour Jr., and his bride commenced housekeeping in what was then known as the Skinner house, now occupied by the Bissells next the United States Hotel; they afterwards removed to the Marsh house on the corner, where the Library building stands, where they remained until 1817, when the house which I now occupy, was completed for my grandfather and they took possession of it in that year. Moses Seymour Jr. was for many years high Sheriff of the County. […] [Their daughter] Jane Seymour married Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith who was for forty years in active practice in this town, she lived, until her death, which occurred in 1868, in her father’s homestead.