James Potter, Jr. House (1858)

Capt. James Potter, Jr. House

The Greek Revival-style residence at 82 Front Street in Noank was the home of James Potter, Jr., a ship captain. In June of 1863, during the Civil War, the Confederate bark C.S.S. Tacony spent two weeks raiding off the coast of New England. One of the fifteen Union ships the Tacony captured and burned was the fishing smack L. A. Macomber, Captain James Potter, Jr. of Noank. The crew were allowed to seek safety in their small boat, which was able to reach Woods Hole. The Tacony‘s career ended after the capture of the schooner Archer. The Confederate crew transferred to the new vessel and burned the Tacony on June 25, 1863.

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House at 16 Charter Oak Place, Hartford (1894)

According to the nomination for the Charter Oak Place National Historic District, the house at 16 Charter Oak Place in Hartford was erected in 1894 for Philemon Robbins, a furniture manufacturer, but Robbins had passed away in 1890. In the 1830s he was a partner with Isaac Wright and Joseph Winship in Isaac Wright & Company, one of Hartford’s leading furniture companies. After Wright’s death in 1838 his partners formed Robbins & Winship, which became Robbins Brothers in 1878.

The house’s first story is brick, with its upper two stories being shingled. There is a Palladian window in the upper story’s triangular gable.

The ninth chimney fire was added to the fire department list yesterday, when the headquarters chemical company answered a telephone call just after noon to the house of Mananger Norman McD. Crawford of the street railway, at No: 16 Charter Oak Place. The chimney burned Itself out and no damage was done.

Hartford Courant, February 14, 1901

James F. Holden House (1900)

The house at 88 Garden Street in the Forestville section of Bristol was built c. 1900. One of several houses on the street constructed by builder Austin Wooster, it was the home of James F. Holden (born 1858), who was a charter member of Palos Council 35, Knights of Columbus, and served as Forestville postmaster for over half a century, from the 1880s to the 1930s. His father was Felix Holden, who also lived on Garden Street for many years, and his brother was the prominent Hartford lawyer Benedict M. Holden (1874-1937).

Wallace B. Crumb House (1910)

Wallace B. Crumb House

The house at 65 Garden Street in the Forestville section of Bristol was built in 1910 for Wallace Bruce Crumb (1858-1938), a merchant and manufacturer who served in the state house of representatives from 1919 to 1920. His son, W. Raymond Crumb (1896-1973), was mayor of Bristol from 1928 to 1931, having been appointed to the office by the city council after the death of Mayor John F. Wade in 1927.

Ira Eaton House (1810)

The house at 12 Maple Street in Kent was built c.1810 for Ira Eaton (born 1786) and his wife Lucinda (born 1790). Ira was a farmer who represented Kent in the state legislature in 1833. The house was enlarged around the time of the marriage of Ira and Lucinda’s son, Luther. His life is described in the History of Kent, Connecticut (1897), by Francis Atwater:

Luther Eaton, a son of Ira Eaton, was born in Kent January 4, 1826. He was educated in the public schools of the town and J. C. Howard academy in Warren, Conn. On March 26, 1850, he married Miss Sophronia E. Tobey, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., his present wife. From his youth up Mr. Eaton has been a farmer and still has something to do in overseeing his farms, and for thirty years he has been a packer and dealer in Connecticut leaf tobacco. In politics has always been a strong Democrat, both for sound money and protection, what has been fitly called a Samuel J. Randall Democrat. Mr. Eaton has always been one of the public men of Kent, and has held nearly every town office, besides representing the town in the Legislature in 1865, and with others had very much to do in 1881 in forming the Kent Water company, which succeeded in furnishing the village with an abundance of good water. Mr. Eaton has been president of the Water company since 1882, and there has been no public enterprise started in the town of Kent but what Mr. Eaton has done his full share in both paying out money and in seeing to it that it was done as it should be. The family of Eatons came to Kent about 1757 from the town of Tolland, Tolland county, Connecticut.

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Old Stone Church, New Preston (1824)

New Preston Hill Congregational Church.

The Old Stone Church, also known as the Hill Church and the Stone Meetinghouse, is located adjacent to the New Preston Hill Green in the town of Washington. The successor to two earlier church buildings, erected in 1754 and 1766, that no longer survive, the Stone Church was built in 1824 by the Ecclesiastical Society of New Preston. It was at the heart of a rural community that included two other stone notable buildings: a tavern, built in 1800 across the street, and a schoolhouse, built in 1850 behind the church. In 1853 the congregation built a new church at New Preston Center, which was developing as an industrial center. The New Preston Hill area has maintained its rural character and the Old Stone Church, which lacks modern heating, continued to be used during the summer months.

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