Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Towns

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church (1916)

St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

In 1897, Immigrants in Ansonia from what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire established one of the first parishes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the United States. The first St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was constructed in 1897-1898 on May Street. In 1910, the congregation purchased land at 105 Clifton Avenue, where the current church was built in 1915-1916. Plans for the church were sent by an architect from Lviv, Halychyna and the architectural firm of Johnson and Burns of Hartford was selected to complete the blueprints. The church’s roof is covered in red tiles and the domes are clad in copper. A major restoration of the building took place in 1987-1989.

David Smith House (1843)

David Smith House, Black Rock, Bridgeport

David Smith was a house builder who constructed a row of Greek Revival houses at 237, 259-261, and 283 Brewster Street in the Black Rock Section of Bridgeport. The house at No. 259-61, now a multi-family home, was Smith’s own residence, built in 1843. At 3 Calderwood Court is the David Smith Barn, built the same year and converted into a residence in the 1850s.

Thomas-Bradstreet House (1838)

Born in Wolcott in 1785, Seth Thomas first worked in the clock business under Eli Terry and later purchased Terry’s clock-making business in 1810. Thomas moved to Plymouth Hollow (later named Thomaston in his honor) in 1813 and founded the famous Seth Thomas Clock Company, which continued in business until the 1980s. In 1838, Seth Thomas purchased the house at 237 Main Street in Thomaston from Marvin Blakeslee. It had probably been built in about 1825 and is the only remaining of the five houses owned by the Thomas family on Main Street. In 1850, Thomas sold it to his daughter, Amanda Thomas Bradstreet, whose husband, Thomas Jefferson Bradstreet, was a descendant of the Puritan poet, Anne Bradstreet. The house remained in the family until the death of Miss Edith Bradstreet Mather in 2004. The following year, the Town of Thomaston bought the property from her surviving sister, Clara-Louise Mather Riggs. The Thomas-Bradstreet House, restored by the Thomaston Historical Commission, is now a house museum open to the public.

Harmon Merriman House (1793)

The house at 1084 Marion Avenue in Southington was built in 1793 but has later Italianate ad Stick Style additions. The house was built for Harmon Merriman and was later the home of Levi D. Frost, whose father, Levi B. Frost, and brothers lived nearby. (more…)

Rockwell-Sumner House (1721)

Happy Fourth of July!!! The house at 21 Pleasant Street in Middletown was built around 1728 (some sources say 1750) by Joseph Rockwell and remained in the Rockwell family until 1782. After passing through other owners, the house was purchased by John Sumner in 1825 and was in the Sumner family for over a century. It was later acquired by the South Congregational Church.

Samuel Clark House (1840)

The Samuel Clark House is an interesting Greek Revival residence with a pyramidal roof. The house and neighboring barn were built around 1840 and can be found at 67 West Street in the Plantsville section of Southington.

Stueck’s Modern Tavern (1914)

In 1893, Jacob Stueck built the commercial structure at 460 Main Street in Middletown, which housed his bakery. In 1914, his son, Philip Stueck, built an attached structure at 62-70 Washington Street. Philip operated a restaurant on the upper level, called Stueck’s Modern Tavern, and rented out the first floor to various retail shops. The restaurant remained in business until 1939. The Renaissance Revival building, which features bold notched brick-work, was sold to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1946.