Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Glastonbury

J. H. Hale Office (1910)

Instead of im”peach”ment, today’s building relates to the “peach king” of Glastonbury, J. H. Hale. I’ve mentioned him before in two posts. One was about the home of his grandfather, Ebenezer Hale, at 1378 Main Street and the other was about the home that J. H. Hale built at 1420 Main Street in 1911. At the Hale farm, John Howard Hale (1853-1917) and his brother George started a peach orchard where John H. developed a hardy type of peach that could endure the New England climate. The business soon grew to a national scale, with orchards in Glastonbury and Georgia. As described in Men of Mark in Connecticut (1906):

He was the first American orchardist to sort, grade, and pack fruit, and label and guarantee it according to its grade. He was the first in America to use trolley transportation in the fruit business, and is one of the very few Americans who ship peaches to Europe. He is fittingly called the “Father of Peach Culture in New England.”

Adjacent to Hale’s mansion is the colonial revival-style building at 1404 Main Street, which served as the farm’s office. As it is not indicated on a 1909 map of the Hale Farm, it was most likely built c. 1910, around the same time as the mansion. By 1920, a roadside stand in front of the building sold J. H. Hale peaches. The office later became a private residence. Among its first occupants were J. H. Hale’s grandson, John Hale, and his wife Alice.

Gideon Kinne House (1840)

The house at 1392 Main Street in Glastonbury was erected c. 1840. In the mid-1850s, it became the home of Gideon Kinne (1807-1890), a stone mason and farmer. He was the son of Aaron Kinne, Jr. (1773-1815), a merchant, who was the first member of the Kinne family to settle in Glastonbury. Gideon married Sally (or Sallie) Ann Taylor and had four children. Two of his sons, Aaron and James, were Civil War veterans who became merchants in Fort Edward, New York. The house has extensive rear additions.

David Wickham House (1745)

David Wickham (1714-1797), a shoemaker, purchased land to build the house at 1197 Main Street in Glastonbury in 1742, with additional land purchased in 1745, by which time the house was standing. Across the rear of the house is a one-story shed-roof extension which is part of the original construction.

James Hodge House (1810)

The house at 87 Ferry Lane in Glastonbury was erected c. 1810 by James Hodge, who was descended from one of the town’s earliest settlers. In 1869, it was the home of James Caswell, who had his cabinetmaking shop nearby.

Albert Bogue House (1840)

The house at 298-300 Naubuc Street in Glastonbury is listed in the Curtisville Historic District as the Albert Bogue House, built c. 1840. There was an Albert A. Bogue, who held such offices as Treasurer and Justice of the Peace in Glastonbury. He was also a Mason and wrote the History of Daskam Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M., Glastonbury, Conn., From A.L. 5858 A.L. 5900 (1900).

306-308 Naubuc Avenue, Glastonbury (1805)

The house at 306-308 Naubuc Avenue in Glastonbury was built sometime between 1800 and 1810 by either of two men who owned the property at different points during that time: Samuel Wright, a farmer, or George Sellew, who had a merchant shipping business. The house was later extended by one bay on the north (the left end of the front facade).

Good Will Grange Hall (1929)

John H. Hale, famous for his growing of peaches in Glastonbury, also organized the town’s chapter of the Grange in 1885 and became Master of the Connecticut State Grange in 1886, serving for four years. He also served as a representative to the state’s General Assembly and was a founding trustee of the Connecticut Agricultural College In 1929 the Glastonbury Grange erected a new Hall, called Good Will Grange Hall, at 43 Naubuc Avenue. Today, the Glastonbury Grange #26 meets at the Masonic Hall at 895 Main Street and the East Central Pomona Grange #3 (founded in 1887) meets at Good Will Grange Hall.