David Lyman II Homestead (1864)

David Lyman II House

In 1741 John Lyman (1717-1763) purchased the first parcel of the land in Middlefield that his descendents would develop and that is part of Lyman Orchards today. John’s great-grandson, David Lyman II (1820-1871) was a prosperous farmer who did much to develop the Town of Middlefield. He co-founded the Metropolitan Washing Machine Company and brought the Air Line railroad to Middlefield. In 1859 David Lyman II added a rear wing to a c. 1785 house, built on the property by his grandfather, David Lyman I. In 1862 he removed the 1785 house and the following year began construction of a new home on the site, completed in 1864. Designed by New Haven architect Rufus G. Russell, the new Lyman Homestead maintained a Georgian-type form but elaborated with the stylistic elements of the Italianate country villa and Gothic Revival cottage. The house, at 5 Lyman Road in Middlefield, has continued to be owned by the Lyman family and since 2000 has been available to rent for events.

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Eunice Ward House (1830)

Eunice Ward House

Eunice Ward (1771-1858), widow of James Ward (they were married in 1793), built the house at 438 Main Street in Middlefield around 1830 on land she had received from her father, John Birdsey, in 1792. Following her death the house passed to her two daughters, Almira and Lucina. As recorded in the History of Middlefield and Long Hill (1883), by Thomas Atkins:

James Ward 2d, married Eunice Birdsey, and lived near the center of Middlefield. Eunice Birdsey Ward died Jan. 30, 1858. The follow­ing is clipped from a Middletown paper. “In this town, Middlefield Society, Mrs. Eunice Ward, widow of the late James Ward, aged nearly 88 years. She was a worthy member of the Congre­gational Church in this place, and was much loved and respected by a large circle of relatives and acquaintances. She was cheerful and social in temperament, and passionately fond of flowers.”

The children of James and Eunice Ward were:
Almira, still living at the old home (1883).
Eunice, who married Richard M. Bailey.
Lucina.
Amelia, who m. 1st, Timothy Coe; 2d, John Smith.
James, who m. Electa, who m. William T. Boardman of West­field.
Irena, who m. Peter Ashton.
Elizabeth, died young.
John, died in infancy.

Edgar A. Nettleton House (1871)

Edgar A. Nettleton House

The house at 50 High Street, in the Baileyville section of Middlefield, was built by Edgar A. Nettleton (1843-1922) with the pay he received after serving in the Civil War (13th Connecticut Volunteer Regiment). Nettleton worked at the Metropolitan Washing Machine Company in Baileyville. He married Philena C. Geer and had at least five children. His son Walter inherited the property in 1923 and lived there until 1947. Walter S. Nettleton was a Master of the Middlefield Grange.

Middlefield Federated Church (1866)

Middlefield Federated Church

On December 21, 1866, the Middlefield Methodist Church was dedicated in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of Methodism. The Middlefield Congregational Church, built on the town green in 1842, stood across the road. By the turn of the century, the number of Congregationalists had decreased. In 1921 the Congregational and Methodist churches became federated and the united congregation rotated services between the two churches each month. After almost a decade this practice was deemed too expensive, so services were afterwards held only at the Methodist Church, the older Congregational edifice being considered unsafe. It was eventually torn down in 1942. Additions have been made over the years to the current Federated Church building, which is located at 402 Main Street.

Andrew Coe House (1843)

Andrew Coe House

In 1843, around the time he married his cousin Caroline Coe, Andrew Coe purchased land from the estate of his father, Bela Coe, and built the house at 458 Main Street in Middlefield soon thereafter. Andrew Coe ground and burned bone for sugar refining at a grist mill on the Beseck River. When he died in 1854, his nephew Russell Coe bought the mill and inherited the house. In 1856 he sold the house to Albert Skinner, who had a wood turning shop on the Beseck River. The house once had a wing with a post office that burned in 1934. A wing with a pharmacy replaced it in 1936.

Alfred M. Bailey House (1853)

Alfred M. Bailey House

The section of Middlefield called Baileyville was named for the family which first settled the area in the late eighteenth century. A later member of that family was Alfred M. Bailey (1822-1885), who contributed to Middlefield’s industrial development in the nineteenth century. He established a button factory along Ellen Doyle Brook with Andrew Coe in the 1840s. He also constructed the Lake Beseck Dam, one of the earliest arch-gravity type dams ever built. Completed in 1848, the dam provided a regular water supply for the mills downstream all year long. Raised in 1852 and in 1870, each time by five feet, the dam was rebuilt in 1938. Bailey’s house, at 148 Baileyville Road, was built around 1853. It has a later Queen Anne/Italianate addition and side porch.