Hitchcock Chair Factory (1826)

Hitchcock Chair Factory

In circa 1825-1826, Lambert Hitchcock built the three-story brick factory in Riverton (Barkhamsted) where his company produced the famous Hitchcock Chairs. The two-story wing on the east side of the factory was added in 1848 to replace the original wheel house (the factory used water power from the Farmington River) that was destroyed by fire. Hitchcock eventually left the company, but the factory continued to be used to manufacture chairs until 1864, being used to make other products afterwards. In 1946, John Kenny bought the old factory and started a new Hitchcock Chair Company. He added the pedimented storefront to the ell of the building facing School Street around 1950. The company finally closed in 2006, but new owners acquired rights to the Hitchcock name and designs in 2010 and a factory store soon reopened in Riverton.

Pinney Tavern (1826)

Pinney Tavern

The Pinney Tavern, located at 7 Robertsville Road in Riverton, Barkhamsted, is a Federal-style residence, which served for a time as a tavern and inn. Built in 1828, it was originally the home of D.C.Y. Moore (Marquis De Casso Y Rujo Moore), a physician and son of Apollos Moore. One of several brick houses built in Riverton for members of the Moore family, the house was later given by Apollos Moore to his daughter Nancy (1798-1889), who married Rueben Pinney (for whom the tavern was named). Their daughter, Jeanette, married Charles Miller Coe and the house was later home to their son, Leon Apollos Coe, a mechanic who resided in Riverton after 1890.

Abra Alford House (1834)

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Abra Alford was the partner and brother-in-law of the well-known chairmaker, Lambert Hitchcock. Alford’s house, at 8 Main Street, adjacent to the old Hitchcock factory in Riverton, was built in the Federal style in 1822, but underwent an extensive remodeling c. 1835-1840 in the Greek Revival style. The house’s ell dates to 1828. Hitchcock and his wife, Eunice, lived in half of the house for a time after their marriage in 1830. Abra and Eunice’s brother, Alfred, also lived nearby.

Riverton Congregational Church (1843)

The Congregational Society in Riverton was formed in 1842. Its members first sought to purchase the Episcopal Church building, constructed in 1829, whose trustees were in financial difficulties at the time. When the negotiations proved unsuccessful, the congregation constructed its own church edifice in 1843 on Robertsville Road, a wood-framed Greek Revival-style structure. Built by Willard S. Wetmore of Winsted, it was an exact copy of the Baptist Church in Canton, built in 1807.

Riverton General Store (1889)

The Riverton General Store in Barkhamsted was built in 1889 and was originally owned and operated by the Hart Brothers. Charles Rowley bought the store in 1899 and passed it to his son, Alcott, in 1907. Both men were village postmasters in Riverton and the store was at the center of the village‘s social life. The hall above was once the meeting place of such groups as the Barkhamsted Chamber of Commerce and the Riverton Grange #169, which was founded there in 1908. The wing, now attached to the right of the original 1889 Italianate-style main block, was originally a separate building (built c. 1885). It was attached to the store in 1910. Later owners of the store (through 1934) were A. L. Lewis and Ernest G. Jordan. The store is still in business today.