Enoch P. Hincks House (1894)

The early Colonial Revival house built for Enoch P. Hincks in 1894 is at 515 Washington Avenue in Bridgeport. Warren Briggs was the architect of the house, which is constructed of brick with limestone and terra cotta highlights. Enoch P. Hincks was president of Hincks & Johnson, carriage manufacturers. As described in the second volume of Orcutt’s A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport (1886):

Hincks and Johnson, manufacturers of fine heavy carriages, such as coaches, landaus, broughams, coupes, hansom cabs, established their business on Broad street in May, 1879, as successors to Wood Brothers, who, with Stephen and Russell Tomlinson, gained a well deserved reputation during seventeen years of successful labors in the business. Mr. David Wood was among the first to commence a manufactory of heavy carriages in this country, beginning in 1828, under the firm name of Tomlinson, Wood and Company, Mr. Hincks is a native of this city, and Mr. Johnson was engaged In New York for a term of years before starting the business here. They occupy the original edifice built in 1831, with such additions as have been made from time to time, and now cover over two acres of ground floor, giving employment to 100 or 150 hands. They turn out complete about 200 of the larger carriages or coaches yearly, and of other styles a greater number, being, in fact, the largest establishment of the kind in New England and the second in this country. The departments for construction in wood and iron work each in itself would make a large business. They were the first to introduce recently the London hansom cabs, making some changes from the English design, and have already sold a large number of them in the most populous cities of the country. All their business is transacted at the office of their manufactory.

As reported in The Hub, Vol. I, No. 2 (May, 1908):

In connection with the revival of the rumor that the old firm of Hincks & Johnson, the well-known carriage manufacturers of Bridgeport, Conn., intend to go out of business, Enoch P. Hincks, senior member of the firm, practically confirmed the report recently, when he said that nothing definite had been decided upon, but that neither he nor Mr. Johnson cared to continue in business much longer. “We are both getting along in years,” said Mr. Hincks. “We have no plans for the future.”

This firm has had many years of a prosperous trade and its reputation among the trade is of the best. At different times during the past ten years there have been reports of the sale of the firm’s valuable property in Bridgeport.

Gen. Gold Selleck Silliman House (1756)

Known as “The Orchard,” the Gen. Gold Selleck Silliman House is located at 506 Jennings Road in Fairfield. A general in the Revolutionary War, Silliman took part in the Battle of Ridgefield in 1777. In May 1779, Silliman and his son were captured in their home by a party of tories who had crossed Long Island Sound in the night. U.S. Navy Captain David Hawley later captured Thomas Jones, a highly reputed loyalist, to exchange for Silliman a year after his capture. Gen. Silliman‘s house was also used as a place of refuge by citizens fleeing the British burning of Fairfield on July 8, 1779. Gen. Silliman’s son, Benjamin Silliman, became the first professor of science at Yale University and the first to distill petroleum.

William H. Barns House (1852)

Dates given for the William H. Barns House, at 17 Granite Street in New London, vary widely, including 1850, 1852, 1865 and 1875. Perhaps the house was built in the 1850s in the Italianate style, with the Second Empire mansard roof being added later. The Colonial Revival front entrance is probably also a later alteration. The house also has unusual flush board walls. William H. Barns, son of Acors Barns, succeeded his father as president of the National Bank of Commerce, serving from 1862 to 1866. He was also involved in the founding of other banks.

Robert Coit House (1856)

The Robert Coit House is a brick Italianate house on Federal Street, facing the mouth of Prospect Street, in New London. It was built in 1856 for Robert Coit (1785-1874), a merchant who dealt in lumber and coal and owned a chandlery, which outfitted ships for whaling voyages. Coit was also a founder of the Saving Bank of New London, formed in 1827, and served as the bank’s president from 1852 to 1858. The house originally had a wooden bay window over the front that was later removed and bricked in.

Jabez Smith House (1793)

The Jabez Smith House in Groton has remained virtually unchanged since it was built in 1783. The original farmer on the property, in 1652, was Nehemiah Smith, who raised sheep and horses and grew flax and tobacco. His descendant, Nathan Smith, built the current house after the original house burned down. He then passed it on to his son, Jabez and two more generations of Smiths followed in the house. It was later used by Ann Graham Clarke of New York as a weekend retreat. She left it to the town in 1974 and, after her death in 1980, the house became a museum.