Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Cheshire

The Dr. Thomas Cornwall House (1810)

In 1807, Dr. Thomas Cornwall built a house at the northwest intersection of South Main Street and Cornwall Avenue in Cheshire. With his medical practice growing, Dr. Cornwall moved this first house to the rear of his lot and built a larger building, to serve as his home and office, on the site in 1810. The central block is the oldest section of the house, with the two wings being added in 1814. A specialist in cancer treatment, Dr. Cornwall constructed the wings to serve as a sanitarium for his patients. Dr. Cornwall’s son Edward, an attorney who served in various town offices and in the state legislature, lived in the house after 1846. It was Edward Cornwall who later added the Victorian-style porches to the building’s two side wings.

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Cheshire (1840)

The Episcopal parish in Cheshire was formed in 1751, under the leadership of Rev. Ichabod Camp, an Anglican priest born in Durham, who later traveled to the west. The first Episcopal church was built in 1760, replaced by a new one ten years later. According to Old Historic Homes of Cheshire (1895), compiled by Edwin R. Brown, “This second church building was low between joints. In 1795 a very high steeple was added—much out of proportion to the building. It is stated that when the Bishop of the Diocese first saw this high steeple, he remarked: ‘They had better now build a church for the steeple.'” The oldest part of the current St. Peter’s Church, the Nave, was built in 1840 and the hipped-roofed front section was added to it in 1889.

Borden House (1810)

Built around 1790 to 1810, the house at 84 Highland Avenue in Cheshire (pdf #7) is a good example of an early nineteenth century vernacular house with a Federal-style entryway. Known as the Borden House (pdf), the building is now owned by Cheshire Academy.

The Dr. John Hull House (1764)

Dr. John Hull built a house around 1764 in Cheshire next to the house, built around the same time, of his brother, Dr. Amos Hull. Both brothers married sisters from the Hitchcock family. The two houses are very similar in design and both were recently threatened with demolition until the developers who had acquired both properties agreed to restore the Colonial era homes. The John Hull House is also known as the Judge Hincks House

Cheshire Town Hall (1867)

Cheshire‘s Greek Revival Town Hall was built in 1867. Before then, town meetings had been held in the Beach Tavern. In 1913, a wing was added for the telephone company and fire department (the telephone co. moved out 1934 and the fire dept. in 1954). The building was again enlarged in 1989, with a new main entrance in the rear.

The Hull-Hitchcock House (1764)

The Dr. Amos Hull House, built in 1764, is at 744 South Main Street in Cheshire. Dr. Hull used the house as a home and office. He served in the Revolutionary War, dying in camp in 1776. His widow, Martha Hitchcock, then married Dr. Gould Norton, who occupied the house, practicing medicine and running a tavern. The house was then owned by Pliny Hitchcock, who died in 1864 and was a stonemason and one of the leading farmers of Cheshire. In the 1930s, the house was extended by one bay (adding one window) to the right. By 2002, the Hull-Hitchcock House and the nearby John Hull House were in deteriorating condition and in danger of being torn down, until developers who acquired the properties agreed to restore both houses. Readers of Historic Buildings of Connecticut might also be interested in reading today’s post at Historic Buildings of Massachusetts, which features the Joseph Moore House, located in what is known as the Southwick Jog, the section of Massachusetts which extends into Connecticut’s northern border.

Bishop Abraham Jarvis House (1799)

The 1799 home of Bishop Abraham Jarvis is considered to be Cheshire’s best example of Federal-style architecture. Abraham Jarvis was consecrated second bishop of Connecticut in 1797, succeeding Samuel Seabury, and two years later he moved from Middletown to Cheshire. In 1803, he moved to New Haven, where he died in 1813, and his remains are interred under the high altar at Trinity Episcopal Church. Jarvis was one of the trustees of the new Episcopal Academy (now Cheshire Academy), where his son attended school. The house passed through other owners and in recent years was in an endangered condition, but it has since been restored.