Robert Palmer, Jr. House (1907)

In 1850, Robert Palmer and his brother started a shipyard in Noank that would be continued until the death of Robert’s son, Robert Palmer, Jr. (1856-1914). The Palmer shipyard became the largest business enterprise in Noank. Robert Palmer, Jr. resided in the grand Colonial Revival-style house at 25 Church Street in Noank, built in 1907. His biography is related in Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Connecticut (1905):

Robert Palmer, Jr., was born Feb. 15, 1856, and he received his education in the schools at Noank and Mystic, and at Scholfield’s Business College, at Providence, R.I., finishing the latter at the age of twenty-one. He entered his father’s employ, and has thoroughly familiarized himself with every branch of the business. In 1877 he was admitted to partnership, the firm name being Robert Palmer & Son, which was afterward changed to Robert Palmer & Sons. On Dec. 10, 1897, when a stock company was formed, Mr. Palmer became the secretary and treasurer, and has proved himself a most important factor in the progress of the Palmer shipyard. He has shown himself a genius as a shipwright, and under his direction the Company has built several fast boats of unique design, which have carried off a number of regatta prizes.

The “Irma,” built in 1894, and owned by Fred Allen of Galveston, Texas, was one of the first of these prize winners, showing remarkable adaptability for racing in both the calm waters of the Bay, and the rough waters of the Gulf. She was thrice a prize winner, and became known as the “Queen of the Gulf.”

The “Novice,” built a year later, strictly of original design, a sail boat 27 feet long and 10 feet wide, proved a wonder, easily distancing all class boats, and taking the prize over all the noted boats and yachts in Southern waters. She was of the skimming dish type with an overhanging end, and a center-board.

The “Jennie,” a steam yacht 33 feet long, 8 feet beam, attracted much attention among yachtsmen along the Atlantic coast.

The “Gleam,” a 24-foot cat boat, but eligible to the 20-foot class, was built in 1895, and won three of a series of races at Bushby Point, July 11, 25, and 31, 1896.

In March, 1881, Mr. Palmer married Miss Elizabeth L. Murphy, of Noank, daughter of Charles and Nancy Murphy. Their only child, Bernard Ledyard, died March 5, 1885, aged two years and eleven months. Like his distinguished father, Robert Palmer, Jr., has long been an interested participant in the political life of his locality, a representative and influential member of the Republican party. The same high standard of citizenship that has so long characterized the Palmer family at Noank, is found in him. In 1886 he represented the town in the Connecticut Legislature, serving on the committee on Appropriations. He is a prominent member and liberal supporter of the Baptist Church.

Daniel Bryan House (1890)

In 1889, Daniel Bryan acquired the lot at 54 Wells Avenue and soon after erected the house that still stands there. Its gables are shingled and have decorated bargeboards and there is a distinctive circular corner porch. Bryan was a farmer, a janitor at East Hartford’s Wells Hall and the High School, and by 1900 was Superintendent of Center Cemetery. He was possibly the Daniel L. Bryan, whose years were 1855-1921.

Enoch Burrows House (1791)

Born in Groton, Enoch Burrows (1770-1852) was a merchant who was part-owner of a shipyard on the east bank of the Mystic River. He served as a selectman in Stonington and in the Connecticut General Assembly. In 1791, Enoch Burrows married Esther Denison at the Denison Homestead called Pequotsepos. The couple moved into a new house, located at 24 Main Street in Old Mystic. As related by Grace Denison Wheeler in The Homes of Our Ancestors in Stonington, Conn. (1903):

The long flight of marble steps which leads up to the front door came from Mr. Burrows marble quarry, located in western Massachusetts near Pittsfield. From the same quarry was brought the marble to build the new City Hall in Philadelphia, which occupies four blocks. The house also contains a marble sink and a large stirring dish, all from the same quarry, which was brought down the Connecticut river in some kind of a water craft, and landed at the dock before the door. Mr. Burrows was a large landholder, owning many beautiful farms and Mystic Island, originally called Ram’s Island. He married Esther Denison, daughter of Grandmother Jane; she was a very energetic woman, a housekeeper and homemaker of New England’s best type, large-hearted, generous, sociable and entertaining, an excellent cook, and gave much attention to all appetizing things which please the eye and appeal to the palate. She had a good force of domestics to execute her commands, and when her table was seen covered with china, glass and silver, and loaded with choice viands, one needed no second invitation to partake of her hospitality. Her husband was a man of commanding figure, six feet two inches in his stockings; genial, kind-hearted and capable, and in his later years, in his home in West Troy, New York, was called Judge Burrows. Their son, Silas, afterwards lived here; he was interested in shipbuilding, and engaged in commercial pursuits in New York, and was also in the whaling and sealing business. He made several visits to Brazil and Hong Kong, China, where he established a commercial house; he left there in 1859 for the last time and made his home in this village, where he died in 1870. His children occupied the house as a summer home at various times, and it now belongs to his grandchildren.

Later used as a nursing home, the house is once again a private residence.

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D. W. Huntington House (1830)

The house at 234 Armstrong Road in Coventry, dramatically situated on a hillside, was built c. 1830. Originally the Stanley family farmhouse, the house was later the home of D. W. Huntington, who owned a silk mill along the nearby Mill Brook in the 1860s-1880s. Originally from Montville, Huntington had moved to Coventry in his youth. He had been overseer of a cotton mill and studied civil engineering. In 1874, Huntington and William A. Hempstead patented an improvement in water-meters.

Case-Cowles House (1771)

The house at 144 Main Street in Farmington was built sometime between 1771 and 1797. In the former year, the land was acquired by John Case, who died in 1791. Originally from Simsbury, Case made hats with his son Coral, for whom he may have bought the land. The house was built by either Coral, who died in 1800, or his father. In 1810 it was acquired by Richard Cowles (1786-1845), a prominent citizen who served as town treasurer (1832-1839) and state representative (1834).