The Hemlocks (1847)

In 1847, Deacon Edward Lucas Hart built a house called “The Hemlocks” at 45 High Street in Farmington. He was the nephew of Deacon Simeon Hart, who ran the Hart School for boys in his home in Farmington. As explained in Farmington, the Village of Beautiful Homes (1906), Deacon Edward Lucas Hart

was born in East Haven, December 31, 1813, and died in this town May 15, 1876. He graduated at Yale College in 1836, and after teaching in New Haven and Berlin became associate principal in his uncle’s school in this village. He was a successful and inspiring teacher, much beloved by all who were favored by his friendship. He was for many years a director in the Farmington Savings Bank.

Further, as related in Alfred Andrews’s Genealogical History of Deacon Stephen Hart and His Descendants (1875):

He married April 26th, 1837, Nancy Champion Hooker, daughter of William G., of New Haven. […] He has a fine residence in Farmington, with a school-house on the premises, where he still continues a school for boys, especially in the winter season. Mr. Hart was chosen deacon of the Farmington Church in 1854.

In 1892, the Hemlocks was acquired by Amasa A. Redfield, a New York City lawyer who used the house as a weekend, summer and retirement home. When he died, the New York Times of October 20, 1902 stated that “Mr. Redfield was one of New York’s most prominent lawyers, and was also well known as a writer on legal subjects.” The house was then owned by his son, Robert Latimer Redfield, from 1902 to 1925.

UCONN Health Center (1966)

The design for the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington was chosen in 1964 after an architectural competition. The winning design, by Vincent G. Kling and Associates of Philadelphia, features a circular main complex, with a central courtyard, shaped like an elongated S-curve. Construction began in 1966 on the academic wing and in 1969 on the John Dempsey Hospital. Additions to the massive structure were made in 1994 and the complete Health Center campus currently consists of 35 buildings. The building has many examples of public art within. A bill passed last year provides for the construction of a new patient bed tower. Funding has been an issue, though, for the Health Center in recent years.

First Church of Christ Congregational, Unionville (1886)

As described by David N. Camp in his History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut (1889):

The people from Unionville, or Union District, Farmington, as it was termed, were, for many years, accustomed to attend church services at Farmington, or at West Avon. After the canal was opened the trip to the mother church at Farmington, for a portion of the year, was made by boat. Religious meetings had been held in Unionville for some time, but the church was not organized until March 30,1841 […] The first house of worship was erected on the park, and in 1852 was removed and enlarged. But the congregation becoming too large for this building, a handsome stone edifice was erected, which, with the organ, cost $44,000, and was dedicated May 27, 1886.

In the 1950s, a modern addition was built onto the front of the First Church of Christ Congregational.

The Mary L. Redfield House (1905)

The Shingled Colonial Revival house at 33 Mountain Road in Farmington was built in 1905 by the lawyer Robert L. Redfield for his aunt, Miss Mary L. Redfield. She had come to Farmington in 1892 with her brother Amasa. They lived in the Deacon Edward L. Hart House on High Street, until Amasa died in 1902. Mary Redfield soon moved to the new house on Mountain Road, where she lived with her friend, Miss Ada DeAngelis. Miss Redfield was struck by a car and killed in 1921. Miss DeAngelis continued to live in the house until 1932. In 1936, it became the home of Myron Clark.

Samuel Richards House (1792)

In 1736, Timothy Hawley sold land along Main Street in Farmington to Ezekiel Tompson. A house may already have been standing on the property and then been expanded into its present form by Thompson, or he may have built the house himself. Whichever the case, the house was in existence by 1783, when it was inherited by Ezekiel‘s son, Isaiah Thompson, who sold it that same year to Deacon Samuel Richards, who had served as a captain in the Revolutionary War and was the first postmaster of Farmington. In Farmington, Connecticut, the Village of Beautiful Homes (1906), it is said that the house was built by Richards in 1792 and this has been the date traditionally given for its construction. The house was next owned by Abner Bidwell, a merchant involved in the construction of the Farmington Canal.

Tunxis Hose Fire House (1893)

In 1893, the citizens of Unionville petitioned the state legislature to create a fire district for their community. The founding of the Unionville Fire District led to the creation of the Tunxis Hose Company and the construction of a Queen Anne-style fire house, begun in 1893 and completed in the following year. Located at the corner of Lovely Street and Farmington Avenue in Unionville, the Tunxis Hose Fire House was in use until a new building was constructed in 1960-1961. The old building, next used by the Town of Farmington as a storage facility for its files, has recently been restored with assistance from architect Tim Eagles.

Unionville Bank and Trust Company (1929)

The Unionville Bank and Trust Company was founded in 1922 and a neoclassical building was constructed on School Street in Unionville in 1929. The Bank went into bankruptcy in 1932 and the building has since been used for other purposes, serving as a branch of the Farmington Savings Bank in the 1950s and being converted to offices in the 1960s. (see “Unionville Historic District Study Report,” pdf, p. 35/70).

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