Union League Club of New Haven (1902)

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The site on Chapel Street in New Haven which is now the home of the Union League Cafe has a notable history and has seen many changes over the years. It the eighteenth century, it was the site of Roger Sherman‘s house. Sherman, who served as New Haven’s first mayor and as representative and senator in Congress, was the only person to sign all four of the great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. In 1860, an Italianate house was built here designed by Henry Austin for Gaius Fenn Warner, head of G. F. Warner & Co., manufacturers of malleable iron. Peter Carll moved to the house in 1874 and in 1880 built an opera theatre, later called the Hyperion Theater, at the back of the house. This theater was demolished in 1998, having been vacant for more than two decades. During the demolition, a second-floor projection booth in the building collapsed, raining down slabs of concrete, bricks and steel and spreading a thick cloud of smoke over Chapel Street. The house itself served as the home of the Union League Club of New Haven, a private civic and social club, from the 1880s to the 1940s. In 1902, the current Beaux Arts addition, designed by New Haven architect Richard Williams, was built on the front of the building, creating a striking facade on Chapel Street. Although vacant for a time, the structure, known today as the Sherman Building, is now home to the Union League Cafe, a French restaurant. Adjacent to the building is Sherman’s Alley, originally a grassy area, which is now home to retail outlets.

Watson Coe House (1867)

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The Watson Coe House, built in 1867-1868 on Orange Street in New Haven, is a later example of the many Italianate style houses built in the city in the mid-nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, the house at 484 Orange Street was home to Wesley Roswell Coe, who was a Yale professor of Comparative Anatomy, marine biologist and Curator of Zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum for sixteen years.

The Everard Benjamin House (1838)

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Originally built on Orange Street in New Haven in 1838, the Everard Benjamin House was moved to the corner of Bradley and Lincoln Streets in the late 1860s. This classical Greek Revival building, designed by Ithiel Town, was set off from the street with a large front lawn in its original location, but the house now right off the sidewalk. Everard Benjamin was a silversmith, jeweler, and watchmaker, who succeeded his father, the silversmith Barzillai Benjamin. The house was later owned by Hobart B. Bigelow, who started by learning the machinist’s trade, becoming a leading manufacturer of boilers and heavy machinery. Bigelow later became mayor of New Haven in 1879 and served as governor of Connecticut from 1881 to 1883.

The Chaplin-Apthorp House (1806)

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The Chaplin-Apthorp House originally stood on Whitney Avenue, where it was built for James Chaplin by James Hillhouse in 1806. In the 1820s, Hillhouse rented the home to Samuel F. B. Morse. After Morse left, the house was moved in 1827 by James A. Hillhouse to Hillhouse Avenue and a schoolroom was attached for the widowed Mrs. Apthorp, who wanted to open a girls’ school. Apthorp later moved to another house on Hillhouse Avenue in 1838 and the Chaplin-Apthorp House (without its schoolroom) was moved to its current location on Trumbull Street. The house has wings which were added later. It is currently for sale.

Southwest Ledge Lighthouse (1877)

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Southwest Ledge Light (also known as New Haven Ledge Light) was built in 1877. Southwest Ledge, on the east entrance to New Haven Harbor, is a dangerous rock formation blocking the main channel into the Harbor. The construction of a lighthouse on the Ledge was considered in 1845, but was too expensive a project to undertake, due to the site’s isolated location. Instead, a new tower was built at that time at Five Mile Point. By 1873, technology had developed to the point that building a lighthouse on the Ledge was feasible and construction could begin. That year a storm disrupted the preparations to lay the foundation, which had to be restarted the following year. The Lighthouse, designed by Major George H. Elliott, has a cylindrical foundation, made of iron and filled with concrete. It was designed to allow winter ice to float around instead of building up and damaging the structure. The lighthouse was designed with Second Empire style details, including a Mansard roof. The superstructure, built for Southwest Ledge in a Baltimore shipyard, was considered such an impressive feat of engineering that it was put on display at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, with an actual lighthouse keeper residing inside. In the end, this structure was not sent to New Haven but was sent to Delaware Bay and became the Ship John Shoal Light. Instead, an identical superstructure was sent to Southwest Ledge, although, according to some sites, it was Southwest Ledge which received the original superstructure initially intended for Ship John Shoal, while the Delaware Bay lighthouse instead received the second structure, after its stay in Philadelphia.

Put in place in 1876, Southwest Ledge Light was first lit in 1877. A new breakwall was soon built, ending at the new lighthouse. The living conditions for the lighthouse keepers remained bad for many years due leaking, dampness, bad drinking water and numerous cockroaches. In these rough conditions, Assistant Keeper Nils Nilson went into a violent rage and chased Keeper Jorgen Jonnensen around the tower with a fire axe. Jonnensen was able to lock himself in a storage room and Nilson left in a rowboat. Soon after, in January 1908, Nilson committed suicide. Despite this incident, the lives of many people were saved over the years by the keepers of Southwest Ledge Light. The Light was automated in 1953 and continues as an active aid to navigation.

Enos S. Kimberly House (1884)

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The Enos S. Kimberly House is a very solid and imposing Queen Anne house, built in 1884 on Orange Street in New Haven. Enos Kimberly was, according to an 1886 bill, a dealer in wholesale and retail coal and wood. His wife, Sarah Chatfield Kimberly, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The architect of the home was Rufus G. Russell, a former assistant of Henry Austin.