Oxford Hotel (1795)

Happy Independence Day! Pictured above is the former Oxford Hotel, at 441 Oxford Road in Oxford. It was built as an inn in 1795 by brothers Daniel and Job Candee, members of an influential Oxford family, to take advantage of the new Oxford Turnpike. Daniel Candee, Oxford’s first postmaster, operated the inn until about 1811, followed by his nephew, David Candee, who was innkeeper until his death in 1851. Frederick Candee then inherited the inn from his father and ran it for about twelve years, during which time he expanded the business to include a general store. In 1865 the business passed through inheritance to David R. Lum and it then had many owners over the years. In 1936 it moved back some thirty feet from the street when Oxford Road was paved with concrete. The hotel was converted into a private residence in 1941 by Eldridge Seeley. He removed the building’s front porches and added additional dormers and the two-story colonnade. In 1950, the building was reopened to the public by James and Dominica DeMaio as a restaurant known as the Oxford House. The restaurant closed in 2011, but the building was renovated in 2013. A new restaurant opened in 2014, but closed in 2016, followed later that year by the opening of the current restaurant.

Charles H. Smith House (1882)

At 53 Pearl Street in Noank is a Victorian house built in 1882. It is known as the Charles H. Smith House. This may be the same Charles H. Smith described in the Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut, Vol. VII, 1909-1910:

Charles H. Smith, of Noank, town of Groton. and a native of that town. was born September 10. 1851. He received his education in the public schools of Noank, and 0n November 16, 1872. married Mary E. Potter, who died June 9, 1905. Mr. Smith began the business of boat and yacht building thirtyfive years ago and by industry and honest dealing, built up a large business. About five years ago be disposed of this business to the firm of Smith & Barry. and is now retired. Mr. Smith has always been a staunch Republican, and enjoys the fullest confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. regardless of party affiliations. He is a conservative man and uses his thorough knowledge of public affairs to the best advantage. and his advice is frequently sought in public as well as in private affairs. He has been a member of the General Assembly three terms, in 1891-92, serving as a member of the Committee on Fisheries, in 1895-96, being chairman of the same committee. and this session he was a member of the Committee on Fish and Game.

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Roman Fyler Tavern (1794)

The house at 153 Chapel Road in Winchester Center was originally erected as a tavern, as described in Annals and Family Records of Winchester, Conn. (1873), by John Boyd:

Roman Fyler from Torrington, bought from Martin North, Jr., the Noble J. Everitt place, a third of a mile south of the Winchester Meeting-house. In 1794, in company with Reuben Marshall, he built the Washington Hatch house at the center, in the north wing of which they kept a country store, while Mr. Fyler kept a tavern in the body of the house. About 1800 he removed to Burke, Caledonia Co., Vt., where he resided during his remaining life.

Roman Fyler sold his business to John Chester Riley. As related by Boyd, in 1800 Riley

bought of Fyler and Marshall the Washington Hatch place at the center, where he traded and kept a tavern. In 1807 he built a store at the parting of the Old Country road and the Waterbury turnpike, in which he did an extensive business until his failure in 1816. Being a Jeffersonian in politics, while most of the traders of his day and vicinity were of the Federal School, he drew in to a large extent the trade of those of his own faith in this and the neighboring towns. After his failure, he was confined on the jail limits at Litchfield for a considerable time, and continued to reside there during his remaining life. He lived a bachelor until past middle age, and married at Litchfield.

The tavern eventually became the property of Washington Hatch and was known as Hatch’s Tavern.

Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (1883)

Built in 1883, the church at 239 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel was St. Mary’s Catholic Church for 109 years. The following excerpts are taken from the History of the Diocese of Hartford (1900), by James H. O’Donnell,

The Rev. M. P. Lawlor was the celebrant of the first Mass said in Bethel. The historic event took place on January 8, 1882, in the Town Hall, in the presence of about 400 persons. In the spring of the same year the congregation secured Fisher’s Hall, in which Mass was said until the church was completed. Before this year the Catholics of Bethel attended Mass at St. Peter’s church, Danbury. [p. 264]

In 1881, it was determined to separate the Catholics of Bethel and Grassy Plain district from the mother church at Danbury. Accordingly, a building committee, comprising Thomas Doran, Michael Brauneis and Owen Murray, was appointed, and the work of securing funds for the erection of a new church was auspiciously and successfully carried on. Sufficient money having been collected to guarantee beginning the work, the construction of the church was entered upon with vigor and enthusiasm. The corner-stone was laid on Sunday, September 17, 1882, by Bishop McMahon. [p.265]

In April, 1883, Bethel was separated from the jurisdiction of Danbury and organized into a separate parish, with the Rev. M. Byrne as the first pastor. Father Byrne died after a successful, though brief, pastorate. The main altar of St. Mary’s church was donated by his mother as a memorial of her son. [p. 264]

The ceremony of dedication took place on Sunday, September 16, 1883, Father Byrne, being pastor. Bishop McMahon officiated. [. . .] The church is a brick edifice, Gothic in style with the tower on the side. It is 49 x 88 feet. The basement wall is granite, and the roof imitation clerestory. All the windows are of beautiful stained glass and bear the names of the donors. The distance from the ground to the top of the cross is 138 feet. The seating capacity of the church is 475. [p.265]

The Rev. Patrick O’Connell succeeded Father Byrne in November, 1883. His period of service was fifteen years. Evidences of his sacerdotal zeal are everywhere visible. The works that signalized his administration were the purchase of the rectory and lot on which it stands, and a cemetery on the line of the Danbury and Norwalk railroad. He furnished the church with a pipe organ and a bell for the tower; erected three sets of granite steps for the entrances of the church; built an expensive property line wall, laid the concrete walks, and graded and beautified the grounds—works which bear testimony to his activity and to the generosity of the parishioners. [p. 264]

In 1992, St. Mary’s moved to a new church on Dodgingtown Road and the building on Greenwood Avenue was sold to the Church of Bethel. It was sold again in 2011 to the Danbury Luso-Brasileira Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Ezra Kelsey House (1815)

The house at 372 Saybrook Road in Higganum in Haddam was built in 1815 by Ezra Kelsey (1789-1881), a blacksmith whose shop was at Higganum Landing, where he supplied the shipbuilding industry. The house’s rear ell, which was moved from the edge of the Connecticut River, may date eighteenth century. The house remained in the Kelsey family until 1964. Ezra’s grandson, Horatio Nelson Kelsey, began using the house as a summer home in 1917 and his daughter, Burnette Kelsey (1898-1988), ran Miss Kelsey’s kindergarten in the house from the 1940s to the early 1960s. She sold the house to Richard and Marjorie DeBold, who have maintained such features as the circa-1820 Chinese-themed dining room wallpaper and the beam by the front door, where members of the Kelsey family marked their heights for several generations.

Stephen Main House (1781)

The house at 1 Wyassup Road in North Stonington, known as the Stephen Main Homestead, is the headquarters of the North Stonington Historical Society. Built in 1781, the house was first owned by Luther Avery, who ran Avery Mills in town. Stephen Main bought the house in 1861. Born in North Stonington in 1805, Main went to New York City at age seventeen. There he ran a successful butter stall and became an extensive dealer in real estate. He returned to North Stonington in 1856 and purchased a sawmill and gristmill, located at the site of the lower dam on the Shunock River. He apparently constructed the present dam about 1850. The house was later owned by Fred Stewart Greene, an artist who was born in North Stonington, but was raised in Westerly, RI, where he later had his art studio. From 1911-1923, Greene operated an art school at Greene Gables cottage on the Hewitt Farm (in 2017 the town voted to demolish the cottage, which had been deemed unsafe). The North Stonington Historical Society, founded in 1970, acquired the Stephen Main House from Greene’s heirs in 1980.

Nelson Peck House (1851)

The house at 104 Peck Road in Bethany was erected sometime before 1851, at which time it was the property of Noyes Hotchkiss (1814-1866). It was acquired in 1867 by Justus Peck (1807-1885) for his son, Harry French Peck (died 1916), a blacksmith who made ox yokes and wagons (the house was conveyed by Justus to Harry in 1870). Harry’s son Nelson Justus Peck (died 1958) was born in the house in 1874 and the residence is named after him in the 1972 book Bethany’s Old Houses and Community Buildings, by Alice Bice Bunton.