Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Middlefield

Lyman Scope Shop (1876)

The older section (which has a window in the gable-end) of the building at 104 Baileyville Road in Middlefield was built in 1876 by George W. Miller for his bone and phosphate mill. The building was later vacant for some years until it was acquired by the Lyman Gun Sight Corporation in 1921. The company remodeled the building in 1927 for the making of telescopic scopes for rifles. A dam was built which created a pond, called Scope Shop Pond, to power the factory (it’s now used by the town for fire protection). Additions to the building were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s. The picture above was taken in 2014, when the building was having work done. The current owner hopes to revitalize this and the former Lyman Gun Sight Factory on West Street. (more…)

First Schoolhouse, Middlefield (1800)

The house at 23 Baileyville Road in Middlefield has a sign that reads “First Schoolhouse ~1800~.” Town assessor records give the house a date of 1830.

G. W. Miller Mill House (1850)

In the nineteenth century the area of Baileyville in Middlefield was an active industrial district. The building at 93 Baileyville Road was probably constructed around 1850 as an outbuilding for one of the mills along Ellen Doyle Brook. In 1876 it was converted into a residence by George W. Miller to house an employee of his phosphate mill. In 1921 it was purchased by the Lyman Gun Sight Corporation to house factory workers and their families.

John F. Parker House (1888)

The house at 59 High Street in the Baileyville section of Middlefield was built in 1888. It was the home of John F. Parker, who most likely worked for one of the nearby factories. The front porch is probably a twentieth century addition.

Levi E. Coe Library (1893)

Born in Middlefield in 1828, Levi E. Coe later settled in Meriden, where he became president of the Meriden Savings Bank and also served as a judge. He built and donated the library in his hometown that bears his name. The Richardsonian Romanesque-style library was dedicated in 1893. The building, located at 414 Main Street, was expanded in 1974 to connect to the neighboring Library Hall, the former St. Paul’s Episcopal Church that the library had acquired in 1920.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Middlefield (1862)

The former St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Middlefield (was built in 1862 with support from the Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown. There were never many Episcopalians in Middlefield and the church had closed by 1911. The neighboring Levi E. Coe Library acquired the Carpenter Gothic structure in 1920 and renamed it Library Hall. A modern addition now connects the two structures.

David Lyman I House (1785)

The house at 671 Main Street in Middlefield originally stood on the site of the David Lyman II House. Built in 1785 by David Lyman (1746-1815), it passed to his son William Lyman (1783-1869). After William’s son, David Lyman II (1820-1871), built his grand new residence on the property, the old Lyman House was moved to its current address in 1864 and was altered from a central chimney to a two-chimney house. The front columned verandah was possibly added around 1901.