St. James’ Episcopal Church was established in North Glastonbury in 1857 and the church at 2584 Main Street was built in 1859. The interior was gutted by fire in 1904, but the church was able to reopen for services within one year. The building was enlarged in 1965 and in 1978 a parcel of town redevelopment land was purchased to become a parking lot and major repairs were made to the church and parish house (the latter built in 1956). (more…)
Next to the Congregational Church in Norfolk, facing the Green, is the Battell Chapel, an impressive granite building constructed by Mrs. Urania Battell Humphrey of Brooklyn in honor of her parents, Sarah and Joseph Battell. Designed by J. Cleveland Cady of New York in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, it was built in 1887-1888 and given to the Congregational Church for religious uses. The church has five Tiffany windows, installed in 1929 as a gift from Ellen Battell Stoeckel. A wing was later added to the Chapel for offices.
The First Baptist Church, at 93 Main Street in Middletown, is a brick edifice built in 1842. The First Baptist Church in Middletown was first organized in 1795, 47 years before it moved into its current building. (more…)
The Congregational Church in Plymouth Hollow (which would become the Town of Thomaston in 1875) was founded in 1837 and the congregation’s meeting house was built the following year. The First Congregational Church of Thomaston is a Greek Revival edifice located at 135 Main Street.
The first Talcottville Congregational Church was built in the Vernon village of Talcottville in 1866-1867 by the Talcott Brothers Co. to serve their workers. The building served other functions as well, containing the company store, offices and post office. The old church burned down in 1906 and was replaced by the current Gothic-style church building. It was designed by Russell F. Barker.
A Catholic chapel was built in Tariffville in Simsbury in 1856 and was destroyed by fire in 1876. A newly completed church was dedicated to St. Bernard in 1879. St. Bernard’s became a parish in 1881. The church was destroyed by fire in 1892 and the current Saint Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church, a wood-frame Gothic edifice on Maple Street, was dedicated in 1895.
One of the first buildings to be constructed at Avon Old Farms School in Avon was a carpentry shop (other early buildings were the Water Tower and Forge). The carpentry shop was later turned into the school’s Chapel in 1948 and named the Chapel of Jesus the Carpenter. The school buildings were designed by Theodate Pope Riddle, who utilized craftsman from the Cotswolds in England to construct buildings in a traditional English country manner. The carpentry shop is a half-timbered structure of brick nogging resembling similar buildings found in English villages that Theodate Pope Riddle had visited. Originally, students sat in the chapel on seats that faced each other along its length. The Chapel underwent a major renovation in 1999: the roof was restored and a new organ was installed inside. Next to the Chapel is a wooden cross, made in the early 1950s with hand tools using timber grown in the school’s woodland’s. It was placed in its current location when the Chapel was renovated in 2000. A tablet notes that it is dedicated to the memory of Donald W. Pierpont, Provost (Headmaster) from 1947 to 1968.
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