David Kinne House (1780)

On Old Black Hill Road in Plainfield is the David Kinne House, built in 1780 and enlarged in 1815. It is considered to be an example of the “Caterbury Style,” a regional variety of the Federal style, other examples of which include the Capt. John Clark House and the Prudence Crandall House, both in Canterbury. Another house in Plainfield, which is also clearly in the same style to the above mentioned houses was covered in the Historic American Buildings Survey. It’s listed as “Cleveland House, Bradford Hill, Plainfield, Windham, CT,” but I don’t know its exact location or if it is still standing.

Judge Joseph Eaton House (1725)

At 20 Academy Hill Road in Plainfield is a colonial house, built in 1725, which now for sale for use as a bed & breakfast. The house served as both residence and probate court of Judge Joseph Eaton. A market listing for the house claims that it was also the Eaton Tavern (later known as the the Plainfield Hotel and the Lafayette Inn), where George Washington (1776 and 1781) and Lafayette (1824) once stayed. Other sources clearly state that Eaton’s Tavern (1768), which is no longer standing, was actually located at the intersection of Gallup Street and Norwich Road.

Grace & St. Peters Episcopal Church, Hamden (1821)

The oldest church building in Hamden is Grace Episcopal Church, built in 1821 and attributed to the architect builder David Hoadley. The church’s first meeting house was built in 1790, in Mount Carmel, on what is today Whitney Avenue. The current church once had a large steeple, built in 1847 and designed by Henry Austin, which blew down in 1915. The present steeple was built in 1921. The church was moved in 1966 from one side of Dixwell Avenue to the opposite side. In the 1990s, Grace Church merged with St. Peter’s on the Hill, founded in 1958. The united church is now known as Grace & St. Peters Episcopal Church.

New Britain Public Library (1901)

William F. Brooks designed the building of the New Britain Institute library, now the New Britain Public Library, built in 1900-1901 on the corner of High and West Main streets. The New Britain Institute was founded in 1853 to promote a series of lectures and establish a library and reading room. The library occupied various rented quarters, including the Russwin Hotel (now New Britain’s City Hall), until bequests from Dr. Lucius B. Woodruff and Cornelius B. Erwin allowed the current building to be built. The Library building is constructed of yellow brick and has elaborate terra-cotta reliefs. This structure once also housed the New Britain Institute’s art collection, which was moved in 1937 to a house on Lexington Street and is now the New Britain Museum of American Art.

Origen S. Seymour’s Offices (1846)

At 21 South Street in Litchfield is a brick building built in 1846 as offices for Origen S. Seymour (1804-1881), a lawyer who served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851-1855) and as a judge of the superior court of Connecticut (1855-1863). More about the life of Origen S. Seymour can be read in the book, Memorial of Origen Storrs Seymour, of Litchfield, Connecticut, published in 1882. The Greek Revival building continues to be used as offices.

The John E. Cook House (1818)

When Nathaniel Cook purchased land at the intersection of Walkley Hill and Hayden Hill Roads in Haddam in 1818, a Federal-style house already existed on the property. In this home, Nathaniel’s son John Edwin Cook was born in 1830. An ardent abolitionist, John E. Cook participated in John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Cook arrived in Harpers Ferry in 1858, with the mission of scouting the area for John Brown. While there, he worked as a schoolteacher, book agent, and lock tender for the C&O Canal. He also married Mary Virginia Kennedy, a local woman. When the Raid ended with the capture of Brown and most of his followers, Cook was one of the party who escaped. He was later captured in Pennsylvania and tried in Virginia. Cook was hanged on December 16, 1859.