Thomaston Opera House (1884)

The Thomaston Opera House was built in 1884 by the town of Thomaston as a multi-purpose building to serve as both town hall and theater. The stylistically eclectic structure was designed by architect Robert Hill. Granite for the building came from the Plymouth Granite Quarry in town and the bricks were made at the Seth Thomas Brick Factory. In the 1930s, the Opera House became a movie theater, but was little used in later years until eventually the building was closed for fire code violations in 1963. The Thomaston Opera House Commission worked to raise money to save the condemned landmark building from demolition. It was restored and rededicated in 1968. In recent years, the nonprofit group running the Opera House fell into debt and operations ceased in 2010. As of 2012, the Opera House will reopen under the management of the Landmark Community Theater Company.

New Britain City Hall (1886)

The building which is today New Britain’s City Hall was first opened in 1886 as the Hotel Russwin.  Financed by Henry E. Russell and Cornelius B. Erwin, it mainly served the numerous salesmen and clients of the Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company, makers of architectural hardware.  The Italian Renaissance Revival design was created by Joseph Merrill Wells of McKim, Meade & White (Wells was Stanford White’s principal assistant).  Wells was a pioneer in the use of terra cotta detailing, as displayed on the Russwin Building.  The same firm was hired in 1907 for the building‘s conversion into City Hall that took place in 1908-1909.  An addition to the building was completed in 1992.  On either side of the Russwin are two other nineteenth-century buildings that were later incorporated into the City Hall.  The building on the right/west side was built c. 1860 as the New Britain National Bank (the Bank later moved to a new building next door).  The building on the left/east side was built c. 1870 as a U.S. Post Office and served until a new one was built in 1911.  (more…)

John S. Monagan Federal Building (1931)

On Grand Street in Waterbury is a white marble Art Deco post office, built in 1931-1932. The building was designed by George Oakley Totten. The facade of the Post Office features eleven relief panels illustrating the history of communication and transportation. In 1971, the building was renamed the John S. Monagan Federal Building and expanded in the rear to accommodate the District Federal Court and several federal agencies. (more…)

Old Town Hall, Killingworth (1881)

Behind the Congregational Church in Killingworth is a building known as the Old Town Hall. It was built in 1881, as described by William H. Buell in the chapter on Killingworth in the History of Middlesex County, Connecticut, published in 1884:

Several of the farmers of Killingworth, about eight years since, formed themselves into an association […]. In 1880, Deacon L. L. Nettleton, Washington E. Griswold, R. P. Stevens, Francis Turner, Nathan H. Evarts, and all others who had subscribed to the articles of association, petitioned the Legislature that they be constituted a body politic and corporate by the name of the “Killingworth Agricultural Society.” The petition was granted, the society organized under their charter […]

As the society had no building in which to hold their meetings and their fairs, they at once made arrangements to build an Agricultural Hall, and to this end appropriated their share of the State bounty to agricultural societies towards paying the expenses of the building their hall. But some evil minded persons brought the subject before the Legislature, and the society was debarred from having any further benefit of it for that purpose, and they, instead of letting the State have it, divided it among the rest of the agricultural societies. How rich it must have made them!

But the hall was built, and it is 33 by 56 feet, with basement, and by dint of perseverance and their annual fairs (without any further State aid), the society have paid their bills. The basement is now thoroughly cemented, and the society expect to pay this bill as they have their former ones.

Unfortunately, the Agricultural Society later failed and the building was sold in 1910 to the Killingworth Grange. The building became the Town Hall when the town purchased it from the Grange in 1923 for $1.00, with the Grange reserving the right to have its meeting in the building for a reasonable rental fee. In 1965, the town bought a new building to use as Town Hall and in 1966 sold the old Town Hall to the Congregational Church. Today, the restored building is used for various public functions, performances and events.

The Academy, Clinton (1801)

The Academy Hall building in Clinton was built in 1801 by twenty men of the town for use as a school to prepare local students for college. The teacher lived upstairs and taught in classrooms downstairs. The Academy later passed to town ownership and continued as a school and was used for a time for town meetings. The building was remodeled in the Italianate style later in the nineteenth century. Later leased to the local Grange, the Academy is now used by the Clinton Parks and Recreation Department. (more…)

Williams Memorial Institute (1891)

The Williams Memorial institute opened as a high school for girls on Broad Street in New London in 1891. The school was privately endowed by a bequest from the estate of Harriet Peck Williams as a memorial to her son, Thomas W. Williams II, a mechant who died in 1855. After New London High School opened in 1951, the Institute became a college preparatory school. The Williams School moved to the campus of Connecticut College in 1954. The Richardsonian Romanesque-style former school building, designed by the firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, became a courthouse of the Connecticut State Judicial system in 1972. The state purchased the building in 1997. It has recently been renovated.

Bridgeport’s Old City Hall (1854)

This is Bridgeport Week!

The old City Hall of Bridgeport was constructed of Portland brownstone in 1853-54 between State and Bank Streets at a cost of $75,000. The Greek Revival building, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis to resemble a Greek temple, served as both City Hall and as the Fairfield County Courthouse. The original county seat and courthouse had been located in Fairfield, but when a larger building was required, it was decided to move the county seat to Bridgeport, which was experiencing considerable growth at the time. An alternative location for the courthouse was Norwalk, but Bridgeport offered to pay for the courthouse and a jail. The completed building had a large ground floor used as City Hall and two upper floors for court and county business. There was also an auditorium, called Washington Hall, used for public meetings. It was here, on March 10, 1860, that Abraham Lincoln gave a speech to a standing-room-only crowd.

The building served as courthouse until a new and larger one was constructed in 1887-1888 near the corner of Golden Hill and Main Streets. The old building, which continued to be used as City Hall until the 1960s and still contains city offices, was significantly remodeled in 1905. Bridgeport architect Joseph Northrop altered the building, toning down some of Davis’ romantic touches to make the structure conform more to the Neo-Classical style. The building’s dome had already been removed in the later nineteenth century and Northrop additionally altered the entablature and cornice. The first floor and entrance were also lowered to street level. In 1966, the former City Hall was renamed McLevy Hall after Bridgeport mayor, Jasper McLevy. The city is now consolidating its offices and plans to sell McLevy Hall to a developer.