Barnum-Thompson and Staples Buildings (1892)

On State Street in Bridgeport are two connected Queen Anne-style buildings constructed in 1892. The Barnum-Thompson Building, at 177-181 State Street, and the Staples Building, at 189 State Street, were designed by George Longstaff. This was the last structure contracted by P.T. Barnum before his death in 1891. A section of the building facing Court Street (now Markle Court) was razed for a parking lot by People’s Savings Bank in 1941. A recent tenant, for a decade at 177 State Street, was Playhouse on the Green.

William & Stephen Conger House (1854)

The William & Stephen Conger House, at 616-618 Kossuth Street in Bridgeport, was built in 1854 for two coach trimmers. The house was remodeled in 1864 by John Barr. Renovated in the 1980s, the Conger House eventually became vacant again for a decade, suffering neglect, vandalism and exposure to the elements. In 2007 the house was rehabilitated by the Mutual Housing Association Of Southwestern CT with Catholic Charities to provide housing with services for 16 formerly homeless individuals with special needs.

John Wheeler House (1720)

The Black Rock section of Bridgeport was first occupied by the Wheeler family in 1644 and developed as a trading settlement. Its oldest surviving house is the John Wheeler House at 268 Brewster Street. Although traditionally dated to 1720, the steep pitch of its roof and various interior features suggest an even earlier date in the seventeenth century (c. 1680). John Wheeler was a wealthy merchant who represented Fairfield in the colonial legislature. The house was greatly altered over time: a Gothic Revival center gable with a quatrefoil window was added in the 1850s, the original central chimney was removed above the first floor and the front facade was greatly altered in the 1940s. These later alterations were removed in the 1980s when the house was restored to an early colonial appearance.

580-584 Kossuth Street, Bridgeport (1889)

James Spargo was a Bridgeport housing contractor. In 1889 he built row houses at 580-4 Kossuth Street in East Bridgeport which are interesting for their combination of Queen Anne and Richadsonian Romanesque architectural features. One of the original residents of one of these houses was Rev. Henry M. Sherman, who had been rector of Calvary Church in Colchester and Trinity Church in Torrington, the latter from 1876 to 1890.

George Palmer House (1840)

The house at 283 Brewster Street in Black Rock, Bridgeport was built in 1840 for George Palmer, an oysterman. The house’s unusually high basement may have been used to store oysters for shipment. In 1850 the house was bought by Daniel Golding, who managed the mills at Ash Creek. He changed his name to Goldin for business reasons because the “g” at the end of his name wouldn’t fit on the barrels of flower that he produced. The house was in the Brady family from 1860 to 1950.

William Bouton House (1838)

Between 1838 and 1843, David Smith, a housewright from Greenfield Hill, built eight (mostly multi-family) houses along a street he had just opened up: Smith’s Lane (now Calderwood Court) in Black Rock, Bridgeport. This planned development also included a carriage factory and a school. The houses were transitional between the Federal and Greek Revival styles. The first of the houses to be built, in 1838, was the the William Bouton House at 4 (aka 25) Calderwood Court. The front porch is a twentieth-century addition.