The Victorian Gothic house at 8 North Meadow Road in Windsor was built c. 1899. It was the home of Fred Morgan. Interestingly, in the Windsor Historical Society’s Oral History Collection is an item listed as “Fred Morgan Memoirs: An Interview with Frederick W. Morgan.” According to the description, the interview touched on a wide range of topics, including the North Meadow Road area.
The house at 10 (listed as 20 on the town Assessors page) North Meadow Road in Windsor was built c. 1780 on land once occupied by Elder John Strong, one of the early settlers of the town. The house was erected by Elisha Strong (1748-1826). According to Vol. I of The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass. (1871), by Benjamin W. Dwight,
In the Revolutionary war he was appointed agent for his native town to clothe the Connecticut troops in the Continental army, and authorized to borrow on the credit of the town three thousand pounds lawful money. On June 13, 1823, the first board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Windsor was organized at his house, and he was chosen one of its trustees. He d[ied] at Windsor, Feb. 28,1826, aged 78
Deacon Jasper Morgan, Sr. purchased the house in 1829 and altered it to its current Greek Revival appearance. The above picture was taken about a decade ago.
The house at 206 Main Street in New Hartford was erected in 1815 a tavern by the Wilcox family. This section of town would become a center of industrial activity between 1847 and 1863, when an iron foundry was in operation. The area was known as the Furnace District or Puddletown, named for the method of iron production called puddling, in which bar iron was produced from pig iron. The Puddletown iron foundry burned down in 1863 and was not rebuilt because it employed an expensive, labor intensive process that was being superseded by more modern methods of iron refining. The tavern is now a private home.
The first Catholic Mass in New Hartford was celebrated in 1849 in a private home. Masses continued to be offered in various residences and rented halls, as well as the Brick Machine Shop, for the next two decades. During that time, the Catholic population of New Hartford grew as Irish and French–Canadians immigrants came to work in local cotton mills. Immaculate Conception Church, designed by noted architect Patrick C. Keely of New York, was dedicated on March 27, 1870. Immaculate Conception became a parish in 1881. Recently, Immaculate Conception Church, at 3 Church Street in New Hartford, was merged with Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, at 78 Litchfield Road in Harwinton, to form Our Lady of Hope Parish.
The house at 405 Maple Avenue in Cheshire was built c. 1790, but has been much altered from its original appearance. The book Old Historic Homes of Cheshire (1895), complied by Edwin R. Brown, states that “built by Col. Benjamin Hall for his son Benjamin, about 100 years ago,” but then notes
Benjamin Hall. Jr., for whom this house was erected, married Mary Ives in 1752. He graduated from Yale College in 1754. He was highly honored and esteemed as a citizen. He died in the year 1786, aged 50 years, at the very zenith of his usefulness.
The book also mentions later owners:
Here, also, William Law, the grandfather of Dr. William Law, resided for many years. He was a prominent official of the town, was selectman several years. and representative from this town in the years 1786, 1802, 1806, 1808 and 1809. A meeting of the Consociation of New Haven County was held at his house, November 14, 1786, he being one of those who were disaffected by the pastorate of the Rev. John Foote.
Chas. K. Brown, Wm, Spencer, Selden Spencer, and Franklin Howard have been owners of these premises, and have resided here with their families during these later years. Elizur P. Atwater purchased this property in the year 1873, and since that time has resided here. The farm connected with this place is considered one of the best in the town.
The Cheshire Grange was organized at the Atwater House in 1885 and its meetings were held there until a Grange Hall was erected in 1891. In 1957, the house was used at a convent for nuns who taught at St. Bridgid School. Today the building is home to Guardian Angels Homecare.
The architecturally interesting commercial/apartment building at 114-116 Center Street in Wallingford bears the date MDCCCXCVI.
The nomination for the Noank Historic District in Groton gives two names for the house at 45 Front Street: Capt. Pardon T. Brown and Luther Rathbun. The latter may be Captain Luther Morgan Rathbun (1805-1889), a fisherman. The sign on the house, built c. 1840, only gives the name Captain Pardon Brown, who was also a fisherman. A petition from 1845 concerning the Town of Groton’s purchase of an old church on Fort Hill for use as a town house was signed by Pardon T. Brown and other prominent men of Mystic and Noank. He was also one of the complainants in a claim for damages from the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims relating to an incident from the Civil War: the fishing smack L.A. Macomber was lying at anchor off Nantucket shoals on June 17, 1863 when she was captured and burned by the Confederate Bark Tacony.
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