St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bridgeport (1875)

Founded in 1738 in the village of Stratfield, St. John’s Episcopal Church moved to the Borough of Bridgeport when the latter was incorporated in 1801. A wooden church was built at the corner of State and Broad Streets, followed by a larger stone church, at Broad and Cannon Streets, built in 1838. The current church, at the corner of Park and Fairfield Avenues, was constructed in 1873-1875, with a chapel wing on the north side added in 1886-1888. The church was designed by James Renwick, Jr., the architect of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. The church’s tower was completed 1893, when the building, by then free of debt, was formally dedicated. The interior has been remodeled at different times over the years. (more…)

St. Anne-Immaculate Conception Church (1926)

In October 1888, French Canadian Catholics in Hartford gathered to plan for their own ethnic parish in the city. St. Anne parish was established the following year. A wooden church was built in 1892-1893 on the corner of Park and Putnam Streets. A new church later replaced it, dedicated by Bishop John J. Nilan on July 11, 1926. The yellow brick Neo-Classical Revival church with asymmetrical towers was designed by Henry F. Ludorf, who also designed the Polish National Home in Hartford. In 2000, St. Anne parish merged with Immaculate Conception parish.

First Congregational Church of Vernon (1966)

In 1760, the parish of North Bolton (which became the Town of Vernon in 1808) was established, formed from the north part of Bolton and the east part of Windsor’s Second Ecclesiastical Society. The first meeting house of the parish was built in 1762 on what is now Sunnyview Drive. A new building was erected on the Hartford Turnpike in 1826 and was dedicated in 1827. In 1851, the church was moved back several feet. A steeple and columns were also added to the church at that time. In 1896 the church’s spire, which had decayed, was taken down. The spire was eventually replaced, but the Hurricane of 1938 blew down the steeple and damaged the church’s roof, necessitating that the spire again be restored in 1939. The entire building was destroyed by a fire on January 23, 1965. Services were held in the Vernon Elementary School while a new church was built, which opened on September 25, 1966. The new building of the First Congregational Church of Vernon was designed to be as much like the previous Greek Revival church as possible.

St. Patrick’s Church, Bridgeport (1913)

The first Catholic church to be built in the North End of Bridgeport was St. Patrick’s Church. It began with a basement church designed by James Murphy of Providence, RI. The cornerstone for the Upper Church, designed by Dwyer and McMahon of Hartford, was laid in 1910 and the Dedication Mass for the completed edifice was offered in November of 1913 (see pdf, page 4). St. Patrick’s Parish merged with St. Augustine’s Parish in 2011 to form the new Cathedral Parish.

Ellington Congregational Church (1915)

Four church buildings have served the Ellington Congregational Church since it was established in 1733. The first two churches, built in 1738 or 1739 and 1805-1806 respectively, stood in the town park. The first faced South (now Main) Street and the second, designed and constructed by builder Samuel Belcher, faced the site of the current church. When a new church was completed, the second building was sold and moved to Rockville, where it served as an opera house. It burned down in 1941. The third building, designed by Augustus Truesdale of Rockville, was constructed in 1867-1868 on the site of the current church. The building was completely destroyed by fire on the night of October 3, 1914. At that time, the church bell was usually rung to sound the alarm that there was a fire in town, but with the church itself on fire, no one could climb the steeple to toll the bell and the church burned down. Work on the current church building commenced in 1915 and it was dedicated on August 17, 1916.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Tariffville (1872)

Trinity Episcopal Church in Tariffville, Simsbury was founded in 1848 and began holding worship services in Mitchelson Hall on Elm Street in Tariffville. Trinity purchased a former Presbyterian Church in 1856, but this building was seized to make way for railroad tracks in 1871. The present church, designed by Henry C. Dudley, was constructed on Church Street in 1872-1873. A parish house was built behind the church in 1932 and a modern classroom and office wing was added in 1968.

Third Congregational Church, Middletown (1849)

The Third Congregational Church in Middletown is Located in the Westfield section of the city, The church, once called the Westfield Congregational Church, began in 1766 as the fourth ecclesiastical society in Middletown, formed by several members of the first and second societies who were living in Westfield. Their first church was built in 1773. It was replaced by the current Greek Revival church, built in 1849