Bridgeport Savings Bank (1917)

At the corner of Main and State Streets in Bridgeport is a bank building designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1917. It was home to the Bridgeport Savings Bank, which was chartered in 1842 and merged with People’s Savings Bank in 1927. The bank’s first building was constructed at Main and State Streets in 1850, was replaced by a larger building in 1878 and then by the current building. People’s United Bank, as the company has been known since 2007, is now based in an office tower across the street. The 1917 bank building is now a restaurant. (more…)

Leonard Asheim House (1910)

The Colonial Revival-style house at 2345 North Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1910. It was the home of Leonard Asheim, an architect who designed many prominent religious and municipal buildings in Bridgeport in the 1910s to 1940s, including Achavath Achim Synagogue and the Klein Memorial Auditorium. In front of the house stands a Franklin milestone, inscribed “20 miles to N.H.” It originally stood on the nearby training ground (now part of Clinton Park) and was reset by the D.A.R. in 1913 on the front lawn of 2345 North Avenue. (more…)

Eli Dewhurst House (1886)

The house at 409 Noble Avenue in East Bridgeport was built in 1886 for Eli Dewhurst, a retired contractor. The architect was Charles T. Beardsley. According to the Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut (1891), Eli Dewhurst had become proficient in his trade as a spinner, but

he foresaw the future of the sewing-machine business and abandoned his trade to accept a position as screwmaker in the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company. […] As the business increased, instead of working by the day he took the work by contract and had in his employ at times upwards of sixty employes. During his contract of twenty-five years with the company, having commenced saving from his individual hard earnings in youth, with careful investments he had accumulated sufficient in 1881 to retire from active business. Not only did his employers regret to lose his valuable and trustworthy services, but his employés also who had worked for him many years equally regretted the change. […] A few years ago he built two substantial brick blocks on Harriet street, and then selected a commanding site on the corner of Barnum avenue and Noble street, facing on Washington park, where he erected a home under which roof during the summer months he enjoys the results of the labors of youth and early manhood. While not a devotee of society, yet those who enjoy his friendship can testify to the hearty and whole-souled hospitality that is dispensed to the intimates of his household

Albert S. Wells House (1903)

The impressive Colonial Revival house at 893 Clinton Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1903 for Albert S. Wells, general superintendent of the Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company. In 2010, Bridgeport’s Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a proposal to establish a group home for homeless women veterans in the Wells House. Local residents had been fighting to preserve the residential character of their neighborhood.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bridgeport (1875)

Founded in 1738 in the village of Stratfield, St. John’s Episcopal Church moved to the Borough of Bridgeport when the latter was incorporated in 1801. A wooden church was built at the corner of State and Broad Streets, followed by a larger stone church, at Broad and Cannon Streets, built in 1838. The current church, at the corner of Park and Fairfield Avenues, was constructed in 1873-1875, with a chapel wing on the north side added in 1886-1888. The church was designed by James Renwick, Jr., the architect of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. The church’s tower was completed 1893, when the building, by then free of debt, was formally dedicated. The interior has been remodeled at different times over the years. (more…)

Gerhard F. Drouve House (1914)

The house at 2137 North Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1914 by Gerhard F. Drouve. As described in the History of Bridgeport and Vicinity, Volume 1 (1917):

The G. Drouve Company, 40 Tulip Street, are manufacturers of the Anti-Pluvius puttyless skylights. The firm was incorporated in May, 1896. The officers of this concern are: G. F. Drouve, president and treasurer; William V. Dee, secretary.

Drouve also manufactured various devices, including a “Straight-Push” sash operator and the Lovell Window and Shutter Operating Device.