Boston Street School (1906)

Boston Street School, Guilford

The former Boston Street School, at 103 Boston Street in Guilford was constructed in 1905-1906. It was designed by architect Charles A Willard. The builder was George W. Seward. The hip-roofed building’s trim and stickwork were originally painted a different color which made them stand out more. There was also a different gable-roofed front porch which has since been removed. By the 1940s the school had closed, although it reopened briefly when local schools became crowded after World War II. It was later the office of architect Victor Lundy and in 1984-1985 was converted into three condominiums.

New Britain Seminary (1869)

10 Camp Street, New Britain

David Nelson Camp (1820-1916) was an educator and author who served as mayor of New Britain for two years and wrote a History of New Britain, published in 1889. He lived at 9 Camp Street, on land that had formerly been part of the Camp Farm (no known relation). In 1869 Camp constructed a building across the street, at 10 Camp Street, to serve as the New Britain Seminary (pdf). As he describes it in his history of the city:

In 1869, in response to a written request signed by a number of leading citizens, including several members of the Board of School Visitors, steps were taken for the establishment of the New Britain Seminary. A building was erected at the north end of Camp Street, designed primarily as a school for young ladies. Before it was opened, however, the applications from the parents of boys were so numerous that arrangements were also made for a boys’ department. The school was opened in April, 1870, under the charge of David N. Camp, principal, and Ellen R. Camp and Anna I. Smith, assistants. A primary department was added in the autumn, and for many years the school, kept as a boarding and day school, was full, having pupils from surrounding towns and from other States and countries, as well as from New Britain. Mr. Camp retired from the school in the autumn of 1881, and was succeeded by Lincoln A. Rogers, A.M. The seminary was continued under the charge of Mr. Rogers until the close of the summer term in 1885. In the autumn the building was occupied by departments of the model and practice schools connected with the State Normal School, and these schools have been continued in it.

Camp also mentions the Seminary in his memoir, David Nelson Camp: Recollections of a Long and Active Life (1917):

A written request signed by a number of the leading citizens of New Britain and followed by oral communications induced me to found the New Britain Seminary. Here my daughter Ellen and I taught for several years, but my health failing, I was eventually obliged to relinquish teaching. The school was continued for some years by Mr. Lincoln A. Rogers and my daughter. The plan at first contemplated only a school for young ladies, but the urgent request of parents and citizens led to modification of the arrangement of the building, and a department was opened for boys. The school was continued with marked success for several years, but the development of the model classes connected with the Normal School made it less important that this school should be continued, and it was closed. The rooms were used by the State for classes of the Model School until the annex built for them was completed and ready for occupancy.

Chapel, Avon Old Farms School (1922)

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One of the first buildings to be constructed at Avon Old Farms School in Avon was a carpentry shop (other early buildings were the Water Tower and Forge). The carpentry shop was later turned into the school’s Chapel in 1948 and named the Chapel of Jesus the Carpenter. The school buildings were designed by Theodate Pope Riddle, who utilized craftsman from the Cotswolds in England to construct buildings in a traditional English country manner. The carpentry shop is a half-timbered structure of brick nogging resembling similar buildings found in English villages that Theodate Pope Riddle had visited. Originally, students sat in the chapel on seats that faced each other along its length. The Chapel underwent a major renovation in 1999: the roof was restored and a new organ was installed inside. Next to the Chapel is a wooden cross, made in the early 1950s with hand tools using timber grown in the school’s woodland’s. It was placed in its current location when the Chapel was renovated in 2000. A tablet notes that it is dedicated to the memory of Donald W. Pierpont, Provost (Headmaster) from 1947 to 1968.
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Talcott Brothers School (1880)

Talcott Brothers School

Talcottville in Vernon was once a mill village based around the Talcott Brothers Company’s cotton-spinning mills. In mill villages, like Talcottville, the company would provide its workers with housing, as well as other services, like a library, a store and a school. The Talcott Brothers built a Romanesque Revival-style one-room school house in 1880 at 97 Main Street in Talcottville. It replaced the company’s earlier school house of c. 1860, which according to tradition, was moved across the street and became a residence. The Talcott Brothers School became part of the Rockville school system in the 1950s.

St. John’s Roman Catholic Church (1852) & St. John’s School (1887)

At the northern end of Main Street in Middletown is St. John’s Square, where two impressive structures, St. John’s Roman Catholic Church and St. John’s School, stand side-by-side. The church, the oldest in the Diocese of Norwich, was built in 1852, replacing an earlier brick church, constructed in 1843 by builder Barzillai Sage. The new church was built of brownstone, which was donated by the Portland quarries. Lots in the cemetery behind the church were given for free with a $20 donation to the church, which added to the building fund. The tower and spire were completed in 1864, the same year a church Rectory was built to the east of the church. Next to St. John’s Church is St. John’s Parochial School, built in 1887 and blessed in 1888. The building once had a belfry, which was replaced around 1900 with the current raised gable and cross. The church and the school are joined by an arch, which had earlier been attached on one side to the church and was then attached on the other side to the school.

Simsbury Town Hall (1907)

The building which now serves as Simsbury’s third Town Hall was built in 1907 as Simsbury High School. The building’s design, by Edward Hapgood of Hartford, is believed to follow that of Homerton College, Cambridge University. When the high school, moved to a new building in the 1960s, the old building became Horace Belden Elementary School. It was renovated in 1993-1994 to become Simsbury Town Hall.