Tibbals Brothers Store (1871)

At the corner of Depot Hill Road and Old Middletown Road in the village of Cobalt in East Hampton is a building erected as a store about 1871. The Mansard-roofed structure was built by three brothers, Russell E., James N. and Rufus D. Tibbals, whose family had owned a store in the area since the late 1840s. The new store, which also contained the Cobalt Post Office, may have been built to take advantage of the opening in 1873 of “The Air Line” railroad, which had a station in Cobalt. The Tibbals also owned factories that manufactured oakum (used for caulking wooden ships), a businesses started by their father, Thaddeus, in 1828. The brothers initially leased the store building to Charles A. Bailey and Francis Kinner, who sold groceries and dry goods. In the early twentieth century, the store was owned and operated by Arthur S. Bailey. After 1940, the building was converted from commercial use into a private residence.

Savings Bank of Danbury (1908)

The Beaux Arts building at 220 Main Street in Danbury, one of a row of three bank buildings, was erected in 1908-1909 as the headquarters of the Savings Bank of Danbury. It was designed by Danbury architect Philip Sunderland. The origin of the bank, which was founded by George White Ives, the grandfather of composer Charles Ives, is described in James Montgomery Bailey’s History of Danbury (1896):

Nearly a half century ago, when Danbury had no electric lights, no pavements, no street railway, but was a pretty town with grand old trees and beautiful gardens, one of her venerated citizens, Horace Bull, suggested to George W. Ives that a savings bank would be a blessing to many of the town people. To one so keenly alive to the interests of Danbury and of his fellow-citizens the suggestion had but to be made to be acted upon, and the Savings Bank of Danbury, chartered in 1849, commenced business on June 29th of that year [. . . .]

Notice was duly given that deposits would be received at the house of the Treasurer from 2 P.m. to 5 P.m. on Saturday of each week.

The old Ives homestead, so well known and so full of pleasant memories, thus became the cradle of the first savings bank. A desk in the dining-room was the safe, and in the absence of the Treasurer Mrs. Ives received deposits and attended to the business of the bank. After a time it seemed necessary to have a building and a safe, and Mr. Ives built at his own expense the little building, still standing in the corner of the dooryard of his old homestead, and the savings bank had a “habitation” as well as a “name.” From this small beginning the assets of the bank have increased to the sum of $2,869,922 on March 30th, 1895.

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North Branford Hall (1876)

The building that is known today as North Branford Hall was erected c. 1876 as the town’s Center School (District #2). Located at 1675 Foxon Road in North Branford, it replaced an earlier school building on the site that had been moved there from across the street in 1866 when the Soldiers’ Monument was erected. After a new Center School was built in 1920, the 1876 building was acquired by the North Branford Civic Association. The former school, which has lost its original bell tower, would served for many years as Town Hall and later (until 2013) as a senior center. A rear addition was constructed in 1925. Last year, the building was completely renovated to become the new home of Totoket TV’s Community Media Center.

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