Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Towns

Ephraim Kirby House (1773)

The house at 113 South Street in Litchfield was completed around 1773 for Ephraim Kirby (it is also known as the Reynolds Marvin-Ephraim Kirby House). A veteran of the Revolutionary War, Ephraim Kirby became an attorney and in 1789 compiled the first volume of state law reports in the country. In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Kirby as the first Superior Court Judge of the Mississippi Territory. Kirby traveled to Fort Stoddert, in what is now Alabama, and died a few months later. His grandson was Edmund Kirby Smith, the Confederate general. The Kirby House was completely transformed in the early twentieth century with numerous Colonial Revival alterations.

Scudder-Smith House (1905)

According to one source, the Scudder-Smith (or Smith-Scudder) House at 17 Main Street in Newtown was built in 1905 as a two-family house for two sisters. It was also the home of Arthur J. Smith, publisher of the Newtown Bee newspaper which began in 1877.

10 Main Street, Newtown (1930)

The Colonial Revival house at 10 Main Street in Newtown was built 1930. Its first owner built it after selling his land to the state as part of the the parcel where the Fairfield Hills State Hospital was constructed. Later residents of the house included a Judge and a doctor who had his office and examination room in his home.

Flatiron Building, Hartford (1896)

This is my 200th Hartford Post! To celebrate this milestone, I’m announcing that I have a book coming out later this summer called A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut, published by The History Press.

Please watch this site for more announcements soon and “like” the Facebook page for the book:
http://www.facebook.com/AGuideToHistoricHartfordConnecticut

Also visit the site I’ve created for the book at
http://guidetohistorichartford.historicbuildingsct.com/.

The Flatiron Building in the above picture (called flatiron for its distinctive shape, resembling the famous Flatiron Building in New York City) is at 529-543 Ann Uccello Street in Hartford, between Ann and High Streets. The Neoclassical Revival commercial structure was designed by Frederick R. Comstock and was built in 1896. It has been vacant since a fire in 2004.

Jacob Robbins House (1770)

The Jacob Robbins House, at 244 Old Main Street in Rocky Hill, has the appearance of a Greek Revival-style home, but the earliest parts of the colonial structure date to around 1770. The facade is dominated by a large Greek Portico, that was only added in about 1920. This may be the home of the Jacob Robbins who is said to have married a niece of Noah Webster.

Frederic S. Newcomb House (1896)

Frederic S. Newcomb was a dry goods merchant in New London. In 1896-1897 he erected a Shingle-style house at 31 Vauxhall Street, designed by G.W. Dietrict of New York. The house has pink granite on the ground floor, which was brought by barge from Maine. Since 1953, the house has been used as a convalescent hospital called Beechwood Manor.

Park Street Congregational Church (1871)

In 1867, Congregational services began to be held in East Bridgeport in the Bethesda Mission Chapel on East Washington Street. A church was formally organized the following year and in 1870-1871, Park Street Congregational Church was built at the corner of Park and Barnum Streets, fronting Washington Park. The Gothic Revival building was designed by architect Abram Skaats. The church‘s membership peaked in the 1930s and 1940s, but declined after World War II. In 1988, Park Street Congregational Church merged with Trinity United Church of Christ of Trumbull to form Unity Hill United Church of Christ, located at 364 White Plains Road in Trumbull. The former Park Street Congregational Church is now Calvary Temple Christian Center.