When Columbia’s library, called the Saxton B. Little Free Library, had outgrown its 1903 building, a farmhouse across the road, adjacent to Columbia Green and built around 1800, was completely remodeled to become the library’s new and expanded home. The house had belonged to Gladys Rice Soracchi, who had been head librarian from 1959 to 1975 (her mother, Lillian Rice, had preceded her as head librarian from 1908-1959). At one time, the house had served as inn.
Update (2-3-2019): Since this post was first written eleven years ago, “The Meeting Place” has been converted into “The History Place” and is home to the Columbia Town Historian, Town Historical Archives and the collections of the Columbia Historical Society.
The building in Columbia known as The Meeting Place was originally the town’s library. The first building of the Columbia Free Library was 120 square feet and opened in 1883. By 1903, when the library collection had outgrown this space, the old building was sold at auction and was moved to a new location to become a private home. The new library, named the Saxton B. Little Free Library after a benefactor, was used for the next 80 years, although there was no plumbing in the building and no parking space. Eventually, after all the available space had been filled, it was replaced by a third library building across the street. The former library then became The Meeting Place, where groups in town can gather. Members of the Columbia Lion’s Club had painted the exterior of the building and did some interior work when it was still the library. When it became The Meeting Place, the Lions did the landscaping of the property. Lions Club memorabilia is on display in a space inside.
The origins of the West Suffield Congregational Church go back to 1743, when Suffield‘s Second Ecclesiastical Society was formed. Its first church building was constructed the following year, on what is now the southwestern corner of the West Suffield Cemetery. A second meeting house was constructed at the intersection of Mountain Road and North Grand Street in 1795, replaced by the current church, built on the same foundation, in 1839-1840. Church parlors were added in 1897 and an educational wing in 1958.
Joseph Remer was a businessman and selectman in Derby. His house on Elm Street, in what is now Ansonia, was built around 1830 in the Greek Revival style, but has later additions, including an Italianate tower.
The Moseley family had already been living on its property, along Main Street in Glastonbury, for a generation when the current house was built in 1735. The Joseph Moseley House served as both a house and tavern until 1840. The home was purchased in 1879 by David Carrier.
Merry Christmas!! Today our building is St. Michael’s Church, on Derby Avenue in Derby. Polish immigrants established St. Michael the Archangel parish in 1903 and the church was built in 1906-1907. A neighboring parish school, staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, was built in 1914.
The Amasa Adams House, built in 1770, is on Maple Street in Wethersfield. In 1760, Amasa Adams became a part owner in the old Chester Mill, on Two Stone Brook in the Griswoldville section of Wethersfield. Begun by Leonard Chester in 1637, the mill became known as Adams Mill in 1782 and was run by Amasa and then his sons, John and Joshua Adams. Serving as a cider, lumber and grist mill, the Adams Mill survived into the twentieth century.