Jones-Brooks House (1836)

As related in Sketches Of The People And Places Of New Hartford In The Past And Present (1883), by Henry R. Jones, the house at 598 Main Street in New Hartford was

erected about 1836, by Miss Lucy A. Jones for her parents, Mr and Mrs Sylvester Jones. The builder was Henry Lee of Pleasant Valley. The owner of this property afterwards became the wife of Edward A. Brooks, who in former years was a blacksmith in this village. Mr Brooks’ first wife was a daughter of Pitman Stow, who also was an old time blacksmith in the village. Mr Brooks, who, with his family, lived in this house for many years, died in 1875, leaving a daughter, Mary Jane, by his first wife, and a widow who also had one daughter, Julia, who married for her second husband Austin Lee, the son of the contractor who built the house. Mrs Brooks was an accomplished lady, for many years a teacher, having for a considerable period, with her sister Almira (Mrs J. C. Baker), successfully conducted a select school in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Her brother, Herman Leroy Jones, is now living in this village. Her sister, Juliana (Mrs Thomas H. Gault), died in Strausburg, Pa., about thirty years ago. Mrs Brooks died Sept. 5, 1876, and her only child, Mrs Lee, in 1875. Her father died in 1854 and her mother a few years later. The property is now owned by Charles Dickinson of New Britain, a brother of Mrs Lee’s first husband.

Carson’s Store (1900)

The building at 43 Main Street in Noank was built before 1900 as a summer kitchen. In 1918, it was acquired by Jane Carson, who moved it to its current location on Main Street to use as her general store. Carson’s Store, which she first opened in 1907, had two earlier locations before it settled at 43 Main Street: the first was at the foot of Main Street and the second, which had burned down, was at the opposite end of Main Street next to the railroad tracks. Her son, Bernard Carson, later ran the store. He installed a lunch counter and bar stools in 1954. David Blacker acquired the store and restaurant in 1979. The structure had been sitting on the ground, but he added a foundation underneath. There were news stories at the start of 2014 that Carson’s Store had closed, but it is now open again, operated by David Blacker’s son, Andrew Blacker.

Humiston School (1912)

The predecessor to the Humiston School in Cheshire opened in 1894 and served as the town’s high school until 1906, when it closed due to dwindling enrollment and a lack of funding. The old building was razed in 1911 and a new school was erected in 1912, with financial support from Miss Julia Ann Humiston. She did not live to see the opening of the school, which was named for father Daniel Humiston. The school closed in 1971 and the building has since been used as school administration offices as as an alternative high school for approximately 15 to 30 students per year.

West Street Congregational Church, Danbury (1865)

Danbury‘s Second Congregational Church was organized in 1851, as described in James M. Bailey’s History of Danbury (1896):

A church that should be a church home for people, irrespective of social position or wealth, was a leading motive in the gathering in the basement of the First Church, May 20th, 1851. With no brilliant prospects and no encouragement from the older church, it was voted to try the experiment of a second Congregational church. Mr. Horace Bull was the chairman of that committee, and Henry Lobdell with L. C. Hoyt were appointed to arrange for a preacher and a place of meeting. Mr. William C. Scofield, of Yale Seminary, was engaged to preach for eight Sabbaths, and on June 17th enough encouragement had been received to warrant a vote to formally organize the new church, which organization was recognized by the Fairfield East Convention on July 9th. The church thus instituted numbered twenty-three, of whom twelve were men.

After worshipping in the building of the Universalist Society for four months, meetings were held in the court-room over the Town Hall, but May 6th, 1852, the young church dedicated its own house of worship on Main Street, nearly opposite the present Court House. It was built on leased ground, and after eleven years it was sold to the Roman Catholic Church.

The new church struggled during its earliest years, but eventually a new brick church was dedicated on May 9, 1865. Located at 32 West Street, it became known as the West Street Congregational Church. In 1889, composer Charles Ives, a teenager at the time, became the church’s organist. Today the building is home to Lighthouse Ministries International.

(more…)

Judson Bushnell House (1872)

In 1860, Judson Bushnell (1836-1906) of Ivoryton married Harriet Griswold (1839-1925). In 1872, he erected the house at 32 Main Street in Ivoryton, on land he had purchased from his father-in-law, Edwin Griswold, the partner of Samuel M. Comstock in the ivory comb-making business of Comstock & Griswold. The house was then occupied by Judson and Harriet’s son, Clarence (died 1940), who had previously lived in the former home of his grandfather, Edwin Griswold, across the street. Clarence Bushnell sold automobiles as a partner in the dealership of Behrens and Bushnell.