Essex - Historic Buildings of Connecticut

David Williams House (1766)

Built by David Williams, a ship builder, in 1766-1767 (and later expanded), the house at 27 West Avenue in Essex was acquired by Abel Pratt in 1798. According to the 1884 History of Middlesex County,

The manufacture of combs in this country was first begun by Phineas Pratt and his son Abel, about the close of the last century. They were the first inventors of machinery for cutting the teeth upon combs, by which they could be produced so as to compete with English manufacturers. The shop in which they worked stood a few yards west of the site of Pratt’s blacksmith shop, and the first machinery was driven by wind power. Abel Pratt carried on the business during the first years of this century [the nineteenth].

In the later nineteenth century, it was owned by members of the Pratt family connected to the nearby Pratt Smithy, established in 1678 and handed down through ten generations.

Centerbrook Congregational Church (1790)

Potapoug Quarter, originally part of Saybrook, established its own church, Saybrook’s Second Ecclesiastical Society, in 1722 in the area of Center Saybrook, now called Centerbrook. A church, built in 1724, was renovated in 1757. The current Centerbrook Congregational Church was built in 1790-1792 and the old building was sold to Capt. Benjamin Williams and moved to the Williams family’s wharf. In 1839, the current church underwent major renovations, including the construction of a new steeple and the rotation of the originally west-facing building to face south. The adjacent Essex Borough established a separate Congregational church in 1851; the following year became part of the new town of Old Saybrook; and in 1854 became a separate town of Essex. In 1859, Centerbrook, with its much earlier church, and West Centerbrook (Ivoryton) became part of the town of Essex.

Justin Loomis House (1818)

The Justin Loomis House was built in 1818 on Pratt Street in Essex. One of the first houses to be built on the street, it was later owned by Richard Hill and, from 1839 to 1881, it was the home of David Andrews, who owned the ropewalk company just north of his home. Also, this week is Springfield Armory Week at Historic Buildings of Massachusetts! Today, check out the Main Arsenal!

The Griswold Inn (1776)

The Griswold Inn is the most famous landmark building in Essex. A sign at the Inn states that the Griswold House was built by Sala Griswold in 1776. It originally stood near the shipyard and was moved to its current location on Main Street to become part of the house constructed by Richard Hayden in 1801. Hayden’s house was the first three-story building in the lower Connecticut River Valley. Around the same time, Richard’s two brothers, John G. and Amasa Hayden, built houses on either side (they are now part of the Griswold Inn complex, the Amasa Hayden House being the Inn’s annex). Hayden sold his house to Ethan Bushnell in 1806, moving to a new brick house nearby. Ethan Bushnell turned his home into a tavern. A former schoolhouse on the property, built in 1738, was attached to the house, possibly to serve as a kitchen (it is now the taproom). The Tavern was inherited by Bushnell’s children in 1849 and passed through a variety of owners over the years, probably acquiring the name Griswold House during the period it was owned by Emory Morse of Wallingford in the 1870s and 1880s. The Griswold Inn continues in business today. See Below for more images. (more…)

George Harrington House (1815)

When Samuel Lay laid out New Street (now Pratt Street) in Essex, the first home to be built on the street was that of his son-in-law, George Harrington. Around that time, the Essex ropewalk, in which Harrington was involved, located south of the street, but was soon moved to a new location just to the north. The Harrington House, built around 1815, was later owned by sea captain John Rockwell, who was in the navy during the Civil War.

Charles Uriah Hayden House (1819)

Charles Uriah Hayden was the grandson of Ebeneezer Hayden, the leading shipbuilder of his time in Essex. Ebeneezer had been predeceased by his children, so when he died in 1818, he left his property to his grandchildren. They proceeded to construct several impressive homes along West Street and Champlin Square in Essex. Charles Uriah Hayden’s Federal style home was built in 1819, on West Street across from Essex town hall. Within fifteen years, he had lost his money and had to sell the house to Joseph Post, a sea captain and ship builder. Post was likely the owner who added a cupola to the house. After six years, Capt. Post sold the house to his brother in 1841. The house had other owners over the years, including the Brooklyn, New York businessman George Ives Stevens. The house was seriously damaged by a fire in 1994, but it has since been restored.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Essex (1897)

Around 1890, St. John’s Episcopal Church, the first Episcopal church in Essex, was built in Centerbrook, near what is today the Essex Steam Train station. At the time, the Essex Village section of town was becoming more prominent, so around 1800 the church building was moved to Prospect Street. In 1897, a new church was constructed at Main and Cross Streets. This 1897 church contains many stained glass windows taken from the earlier building. The church was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Bridgeport architect Joseph W. Northrup (he also designed houses and his plans were used in other parts of the country, including a house in Texas). In 1999, a new construction project linked the church to the adjacent parish house. The church rectory is the Richard Hayden House on Main Street.