Cowles-Smith House (1836)

The Cowles-Smith House, at 536 Main Street in New Hartford, was built by Captain Henry Cowles in 1836. A blacksmith’s shop had once stood on the site, part of the grounds of a hotel, inherited by Henry Cowles from his father, Theodore Cowles. After experiencing financial reverses around 1840, Henry Cowles became proprietor of another hotel in Hartford, where he died in 1843. His widow and daughter then returned to New Hartford and occupied the old house until it was sold, in 1845, to John Cotton Smith. An entrepreneur, John C. Smith joined with his brother, Darius B. Smith, to establish the D.B. Smith & Sons cotton mill in Pine Meadow. He was also the agent of the Greenwoods Manufacturing Company. After his death in 1870, his widow continued to live in the house for many years. It is currently used for offices.

North Congregational Church, New Hartford (1828)

The first church building in New Hartford was the Town Hill Church, which took ten years to build, 1739 to 1749. By 1828, it was necessary to build a new church, but residents in North Village wanted the replacement to be relocated closer to their own homes. Forming the North Ecclesiastical Society of New Hartford, some residents in the northern part of town constructed their own Congregational Church. A new church was also built on Town Hill, but another split led to the establishment of Nepaug Congregational Church in 1848. The Town Hill Church was abandoned in 1854 and taken down in 1859. The interior of the North Congregational Church was renovated in the later nineteenth century.

Chapin Park (1871)

Chapin Park, which is today a bed and breakfast, is an 1871 Gothic Revival house on Church Street in Pine Meadow in New Hartford. It was the second house on the site built for Edward M. Chapin (the earlier one was moved to make way for the new one). The house has a similar arrangement of interior rooms to that of Edward’s brother, Philip Chapin, nearby. Chapin Park was designed by Robert W. Hill, a Waterbury-based architect who designed buildings throughout Connecticut.

Philip Chapin House (1867)

 

 

On Church Street in the Pine Meadow section of New Hartford is a very impressive Italianate mansion, built in 1867 by William Bushnell as a wedding gift to his daughter Amelia, who in 1866 had married Philip E. Chapin. Philip’s father, Hermon Chapin, gave the land on which the house was built as a gift to his son. Hermon Chapin also donated land for the construction of St. John’s Episcopal Church, located adjacent to his son’s house. Hermon Chapin was a toolmaker who established the Union Factory in Pine Meadow. Philip Chapin and his brothers later established the Chapin Machine Company in 1870. After Amelia died in 1878, Chapin left New Hartford for Ohio, later remarrying and becoming the general manager of the Cambria Iron Company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The house in New Hartford was rented to various people and then, between 1887 and 1922, it was owned by Hubert P. Richards, who used it on weekends. After Richards died, his grandsons, Ralph and Howell owned the house and rented it out. Howell Richards eventually bought his brother’s interest in the Chapin House and owned it until his death in 1974. The house was recently on sale.

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