Vernacular

Tongue Point Lighthouse (1895)

Tongue Point Light Lighthouse, built in 1895, is on the west side of the entrance to Bridgeport Harbor, on the east end of Tongue, or Wells, Point. Originally known as Bridgeport Breakwater Light, it stood at the end of a protective breakwater, built in 1891. There was no dwelling for the lighthouse keeper until Keeper C. Adolphus McNeil built a shack on the landing dock. After his death, in 1904, his wife Flora McNeil became the lightkeeper, while also running a manicure business in downtown Bridgeport. In 1919, when the breakwater was shortened, the cast-iron lighthouse was dismantled and moved 275 feet inland. The Tongue Point Light, also known as “The Bug,” was automated in 1954. The Coast Guard was going to remove the lighthouse in 1967, but local boaters protested.

The Kelo House (1890)

The Kelo House, also known as the Little Pink House, was built in 1890 in a residential area of New London by John Bishop, a prominent local carpenter. It had various owners after Carpenter’s death in 1893 and few years later was moved to the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London. In the late 1980s, the Little Pink House and the house next to it were restored by the preservationist, Avner Gregory. On the market for many years, the house was not occupied until Susette Kelo moved in in 1997. When the City of New London sought to use the right of eminent domain to acquire the neighborhood for private development (which would bring in more tax money) it started a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court in 2005. Although Kelo lost in Kelo vs. City of New London, the public reaction to the abuse of eminent domain laws led to citizen activism and new reform legislation in favor of property owners. Three years after the decision, in 2008, the house was rededicated on a new site on Franklin Street in New London. The house had been reacquired and moved by Avner Gregory and stands as a monument, with an explanatory plaque out front, to the battle over eminent domain. A new book about the case, Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage, by Jeff Benedict, has just been published.

Smith-Hayden House (1834)

Another of the houses built by Gurdon Smith on Pratt Street in Essex is this one dating to 1834. The house was later owned by Richard Sill Hayden and passed to his son, Gilbert Burnet Hayden, who was a lighthouse keeper in Essex and died in 1929.

Haddam Veteran’s Museum (1930)

The building which today houses the Haddam Veteran’s Museum was originally built in 1930 to be the town’s first firehouse. Located on Candlewood Hill Road, on the south side of Higganum Green, it was built after the Haddam Town Hall burned down in 1929. The sides on the second floor were later raised.

Rosa Ponselle’s Childhood Home (1900)

The operatic soprano Rosa Ponselle was born in Meriden in 1897. After following her older sister Carmela into vaudeville, Rosa had an audition at the Metropolitan Opera arranged by Enrico Caruso and began singing there in 1918. She went on to become one of the great sopranos of the last 100 years, retiring in 1937, at the height of her popularity. Rosa Ponselle was born Rosa Ponzillo at 175 Lewis Avenue and a few months later the family moved to 168 Foster Street. In 1900, the family moved to 159 Springdale Avenue, a bungalow-style home which her father, Benardino Ponzillo, began to enlarge, first adding a second floor and an exterior wood staircase and later a third floor. This house was Rosa’s childhood home from her third year and it would remained her parents’ home for the rest of their lives. Rosa Ponselle died in 1981, but can still be heard in recordings. The house is now a multifamily home. There was a Rosa Ponselle Museum in Meriden a few years ago, but it’s now closed.

North Canton Schoolhouse (1872)

The North Canton School building was built in 1872, near the North Canton Methodist Episcopal Church. It was used as a school from 1872 to 1942. Because its original location was right at a fork along Cherry Brook Road, the schoolhouse was moved in 1927 when the road was widened. It is now located on the church’s property.

Coventry Visitors’ Center (1876)

Constructed in 1876, to celebrate the Nation’s centennial, the building which now serves as Coventry‘s Visitors’ Center was originally the Town Office. The bankruptcy of the Tracy-Elliot Mills in 1929 led to the town’s takeover of the company’s properties and the conversion of their office building to serve as the town’s offices. The 1876 building then served as a post office through the Second World War, but later fell into disrepair. The building was restored and used by the town’s Bicentennial Commission in 1976 and was again refurbished by the Coventry Historical Society to serve as a Visitors’ Center on Main Street. Since 2002, it has been operated by the Village Improvement Society.