Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Commercial Buildings

Conference House, Glastonbury (1830)

Happy Halloween! The Conference House is a building in Glastonbury, built around 1830, that possibly once stood where the First Church of Glastonbury was erected in 1837. It was moved to another site down Main Street, just north of the Joseph Wright House. Called the Conference House, the church used it for meetings, lectures and concerts. Starting in the late 1830s it was used as a private school run by one of Deacon Wright’s sons. In 1894, Deborah Goodrich Keene, who lived at 2016 Main Street, the Hale-Goodrich House, bought the building and moved it across the street to its current address of 2000 Main Street. In 1911 she leased the house to Glastonbury’s first telephone switchboard. She later converted it into a private residence. Floodwaters from Hubbard Brook almost reached the roofline of the house in 1936.

Tate Block (1890)

The Tate Block, originally known as Tate’s Building, is a commercial block at 187-195 (aka 185) Bank Street in New London. It was built in 1890 on a site that was once the gardens of the neighboring Jonathan Starr House, built a century earlier.

Lund House (1820)

At 38 Academy Hill in Watertown is a house that was erected in 1820 as a shop. It has been used for a number of different businesses over the years: first as Alanson Warren’s hat shop, then Russell Beer’s shirt factory, Dr. Walter S. Munger’s office (Dr. Munger served for many years as Watertown’s medical examiner and health officer) and finally Peter N. Lund’s tailor shop. It remained the Lund/Rose family residence for over 85 years. The interior was recently completely remodeled by a developer.

W. L. Wellwood General Store (1787)

A section of the former W. L. Wellwood General Store at 1140 Main Street in Coventry dates to 1787, making it one of the oldest general store buildings in the nation. In 1820, the large Greek Revival portion was added to the original store and living quarters, which also attach to a later Italianate residence to the northeast. Another addition, containing the west wing grain room and butcher shop, was added in 1883. The Loomis family owned the store from about 1810 until 1881. After 1905 it was owned and operated by the Wellwood family. In 1974 the building went from housing a general store to becoming an antiques shop. It has more recently been the “Coventry Country Store” (as in the image above) and is currently “Coventry Arts & Antiques.”

Linderme & Zurcher Building (1944)

The Colonial Revival building at 423 Main Street in Middletown was built in 1944 for Linderme & Zurcher, a furniture and appliance store.

Neubauer Building (1896)

At 248 Main Street, corner of High Street, in Bristol is a three story brick commercial building built c. 1896 with remodeled first-floor storefronts. It is called the Neubauer Building and was possibly built by George W. Neubauer, a German immigrant who established himself in Bristol as a wood clock case carver before expanding into many other business ventures.

Essex Square Theatre (1925)

The Benjamin Williams, Jr. Homestead was erected in 1814 at what is now Essex Square in Essex. In 1925 the old house was removed and replaced by the Essex Square Theatre building. The theatre showed movies and also had space for four retail stores and four offices. Films played there until 1972 and in 1984 the building was acquired by Talbots.