Louis’ Lunch (1895)

Louis’ Lunch, established in 1895 by Louis Lassen, is a landmark New Haven restaurant where tradition holds that the first hamburger was served in 1900. Initially housed in a wagon, the restaurant was later added to a tannery building, where it remained into the 1970s. Threatened with demolition when the Temple Medical Center was being planned, Louis’ building was saved and moved to its current home on Crown Street in 1975. Friends and supporters sent bricks from all over the world to aid in the building’s reconstruction. Louis’ Lunch still uses broilers that date back to 1898 and the burgers are still served on bread (not buns) and ketchup and mustard are forbidden.

Vanderbilt Hall, Yale University (1894)

Vanderbilt Hall at Yale University is a U-shaped dormitory built in 1894. Part of Yale‘s Old Campus, it faces Chapel Street and was designed by Charles C. Haight to resemble a large Tudor gatehouse, as does the same architect’s Phelps Hall, which faces New Haven Green. Vanderbilt Hall replaced South College (Union Hall), built in 1793-1794, which was part of Yale’s famous Brick Row. The impressive building has a lavish interior, built to compete with the fancy private dormitories that lined the opposite side of Chapel Street at the time. Vanderbilt Hall was the gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt II to memorialize his son, William H. Vanderbilt II, who died of typhoid fever while in his junior year at Yale. Major renovations occurred in 1976, when the internal arrangement of the dorm rooms was reorganized. The building was again renovated in 1995-1996 and 2002.

The James E. English House (1845)

Designed by Henry Austin, the James E. English House was built in 1845 on Wooster Square in New Haven. James Edward English, who began as a builder, later became a wealthy lumber dealer and a politician, serving in the US Congress and then as Governor of Connecticut. Austin designed for English an Italianate house with unusual columns on the front porch. In 1876, the house was raised a full story, leading to its present, elongated appearance. Today the house is the Maresca & Sons Funeral Home.

Taft Hotel (1911)

Built in 1911, the Taft Hotel, on College Street in New Haven, opened its doors to the public on New Year’s Day, 1912. The elegant hotel was right near the Shubert Theater and many Broadway celebrities stayed there over the years, including Rogers and Hammerstein, who wrote the tune Oklahoma in their rooms at the Taft. Former President William Howard Taft, for whom the Hotel was named, lived there for eight years while he was teaching at Yale Law School. Before the Taft Hotel was built, other hotels and taverns had stood on the site, including one in which George Washington stayed in 1775. The Taft’s immediate predecessor was the New Haven House, designed by Henry Austin, which was built in 1858 and was razed in 1910. The Hotel closed in 1973 and was boarded while it was converted into apartments. Now known as the Taft Apartments, the building still has its historic tap room on the ground floor, restored and reopened as Richter’s Cafe in 1983. The Hotel’s grand ballroom is now a restaurant called Downtown at the Taft.

The Colin M. Ingersoll House (1896)

The Colin M. Ingersoll House is a grand Chateauesque mansion on Whitney Avenue in New Haven. Designed by Joseph W. Northrop of Bridgeport, it strongly stands out, with its bold colors, tall hip roof, prominent tower and French medieval decoration, including fleurs de lis. The house was built for Colin M. Ingersoll, Jr., chief engineer of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. He was the son of Colin Macrae Ingersoll (1819-1903), who served in the U.S. House of Representatives. The house is now used for offices.