Tolland County Courthouse (1822)

Built in 1822 on Tolland Green, the old Tolland County Courthouse replaced an earlier building built in 1785. Like the county jail across the Green, the courthouse was built by public subscription. It was designed by local architects Abner P. Davidson and Harry Cogswell and was built on a lot acquired from Calvin Willey, which had previously been the site of a tavern owned by Wilkes Williams. The last court session was held in the building in 1892 (the court was transferred to Rockville). From 1899 to 1985, the building housed the Tolland Public Library. In 2001, the Library gave the old building to the Tolland Historical Society. The second floor has been restored to a working courtroom appearance and there are also exhibits on the history of the building. The first floor of the old courthouse contains the library of the French Canadian Genealogical Society Of Connecticut.

Litchfield County Jail (1812)

The old Litchfield County Jail, at 7 North Street in Litchfield, built in 1812, is the oldest public building in town and one of the oldest penal facilities in the state. It also has the distinction, unique in the nation, of sharing for many years a wall with the adjacent bank. The jail had a cell block added in 1846 and a three-story wing with additional cell blocks in 1900. In 1992, the jail became a drug treatment center for 30 men serving prison sentences, but was shut down in 1993 and reopened the following year as McAuliffe Manor, a rehabilitation center for women. Since that center’s closing in 2010, the state has sought to sell the building. Among the possibilities being considered for the future of the facility are its conversion into municipal offices or its acquisition by the adjoining bank.

Shove Building (1867)

The Shove Building, 281 Main Street South in Woodbury, was built in 1867 as a residence by Dr. Harmon Shove. According to his obituary in The Medical News, Vol. LX, No. 6 (February 6, 1892):

Dr. Harmon W. Shove, of Woodbury, Conn., died of pneumonia, on January 23d, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was one of the most prominent practitioners in the section in which he lived. Dr. Shove was graduated from the Yale Medical College in 1853, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Woodbury. By his studious habits and almost unlimited capacity for work, he was, after nearly forty years of active service, still in the full and successful practice of his profession, which, by his unblemished life and dignity of character he helped to advance and elevate.

The house was acquired by the Town of Woodbury in 1952 is now used for town offices.

Killingworth Town Hall (1830)

The current Town Hall of Killingworth was originally built around 1830 as a house by Dr. Rufus Turner. According to The History of Middlesex County (1884):

Rufus Turner was born at Mansfield, Connecticut, September 1st 1790. With a good preliminary education, he entered the office of Dr. Joseph Palmer, of Ashford, and in 1813-14 attended the first course of lectures given at Yale College. Dr. Turner was licensed by the State Medical Society in 1814, and settled in Killingworth, where he continued in the practice of his profession for thirty-seven years, until his death, after an illness of four days, in November, 1851. As a practitioner he was a careful and conservative, but in cases where promptness was demanded, bold and fearless, faithful in attendance, giving freely of his time and thought to the case in hand, warding off unfavorable complications, and always striving to have the last blow at death. In the protracted fevers of those days he was particularly skillful, and was very frequently called to neighboring towns, in consultation.

His son, Sylvester Wooster Turner, also became a doctor. According to the Proceedings of the Connecticut State Medical Society (1907):

[he] was born in Killingworth, Conn., March 12, 1822. He prepared for college at Hill’s Academy, Essex, Conn., and entered Yale, graduating in 1842.

In 1843 he studied medicine with his father in Killingworth; then he taught in a private school in Norwalk, Conn., was a private tutor in Newbern, Alabama, and for a part of one term taught the district school in Killingworth after the teacher had been driven out by the big boys.

He attended two courses of lectures in the Yale Medical School, graduating in 1846, and at once began to practice with his father in Killingworth.

In 1848 he located in Chester, Conn., remaining until 1858, was in Norwich, Conn., in 1859, then returned to Chester, and was in active practice until failing strength moved him to gradually relinquish his work. A fall, resulting in a permanent disability, compelled him to give up his practice entirely, and from that time he rapidly failed physically until his death in January of this year [1907].

By the mid-twentieth century, the house had become the homestead of Herman and Bertha Heser, whose daughter sold it to the town for use as offices in 1965. The town library was on the second floor (it now has a separate building). (more…)

Old Town Hall, Hebron (1838)

Hebron‘s Old Town Hall was built in 1838 on Hebron Green as a Methodist meeting house. The earliest Methodist Church in Hebron was erected c. 1805 on Burrows Hill and lasted until 1828, when a new schoolhouse was built that was also used by the church (which had contributed $100 towards its construction) and for town meetings. This was used until the 1838 church building was erected. The old Burrows Hill church building was taken down in 1845. The Methodist Society in Hebron broke up around 1850 and in 1863 the building was sold to the town for use as a town hall, at which time the structure was lowered to one story. It was used for town meetings until 1950 and afterwards was used by various civic organizations for meetings. Since 1971, the Old Town Hall has been owned and maintained as a museum by the Hebron Historical Society, which recently restored the building.

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Memorial Hall, Windsor Locks (1890)

Memorial Hall in Windsor Locks was dedicated in 1890 in honor of the town’s Civil War veterans. Funds for the building‘s construction were provided by Charles E. Chaffee, a textile manufacturer. Soldiers Memorial Hall originally housed the J.H. Converse Post, No. 67, Grand Army of the Republic. The Post, formed in 1884, was named for Major Joseph H. Converse, who was killed in action at the Battle of Cold Harbor, on June 4, 1864. Memorial Hall was designed by Frederick S. Newman in the Richardsonian Romanesque style (Newman also designed the Linden apartments in Hartford and the Chicopee Bank in Springfield) The museum inside the Hall now honors Windsor Locks veterans of all wars and the building hosts the town’s American Legion post. Memorial Hall is open to visitors by guided tour. (more…)

Edmond Town Hall, Newtown (1930)

Dedicated in 1930, Newtown’s Edmond Town Hall is a multipurpose building which, in addition to town offices, has a banquet hall, gymnasium, meeting rooms and even a movie theater, the only $2 movie theater in Connecticut. The building was the gift of Mary Elizabeth Hawley and was named after her maternal great grandfather, Judge William Edmond. Miss Hawley also donated the town’s Cyrenius H. Booth Library. Both the library and the town hall were designed by achitect Philip Sutherland.