In 1970, the Simsbury Historical Society acquired the town’s old Probate Court building and in 1998 moved it from 7 Wilcox Street to its current location on the Society’s campus. The building was erected in 1876 with support from Jeffrey O. Phelps II (1820-1899), a former probate judge and Simsbury postmaster. It cost $1,600.00 to build and $33.00 to furnish and was used to store probate and town records until 1939. Since 2009 it has been the headquarters for the Simsbury Land Trust.
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The building at 5 Ives Street in Danbury was built in 1883-1884 and served as the city’s Fire Department Headquarters until 1969. Designed by architect Joel Foster, it had vehicle storage on the first floor and parlors (later converted into sleeping quarters) for volunteer fire companies on the second floor. Today the building is home to Two Steps Downtown Grill. Next door (pictured on the right in the image above) is the building at 1 Ives Street. Designed by William Webb Sunderland, it was built in 1893 as a meat warehouse and offices.
The Mystic Post Office is located at 23 East Main Street, on the Stonington side of Mystic. It is a colonial revival-style building erected in 1925 and later expanded an additional two bays on the left side of the front façade.
There were many controversies related to the construction of the Winchester Town Hall building. In 1877, town leaders appropriated funds to build a town hall so as to provide a safe place for the town records. Before most people in town were aware of it, these men had moved quickly to start construction of the building in an area called the Flat, part of the central business district of Winsted. People in other parts of town, who thought that the building was unnecessary and too expensive, felt that promoters of the Flat had stolen a march on the voters, but at a contentious town meeting those who wanted to press on with the building won out. An injunction to halt construction was soon dissolved by the court and the building was completed in 1878. Bitter feelings over the episode continued for many years. The building was expanded in 1887 and 1904 for use by the County Court. Plans for a 25-foot addition on the front of the building fell through in 1910, but when this was finally done in 1927, the structure gained a more convenient entrance at street level.
Happy Thanksgiving! According to the History of New Haven County, Vol. I (1892), by John L. Rockey, in 1888 Wallingford’s Fire Department “had 64 men, exclusive of its three officers, belonging to the Wallingford Hose Company, No. 1; the Wallace Hose Company, No. 2, with a house on the Plains; and the Simpson Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1.” In 1895, a new Wallace Hose House was erected at 9 South Cherry Street, at the corner of Quinnipiac Street, on land donated by Robert Wallace (1815-1892), a prominent silverware manufacturer. Today the building is used as office space.
I’ve just completed an index (by address) for the 16 buildings I’ve featured on this site that are in the Town of Trumbull. The most recent of these buildings is featured in today’s post: the Trumbull Town Hall. I’ve previously featured the Helen Plumb Building in Trumbull, which served as town hall from 1883 to 1957. In that year, the new Town Hall, pictured above, opened at 5866 Main Street. Previously this had been the site of the Aaron Sherwood Homestead, built in 1880. The house was later the home of Dr. Clarence Atkins, a dentist, and was then used as a convalescent home called the Hillcrest Hygienic Lodge.
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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