Travelers on Route 6 in Bolton pass by a Federal/Greek Revival-style house with a sign identifying it as “Patriot Farm.” Older surveys date the house, at 822 Hopriver Road, to c.1822, but a sign on the house says it was built by Jonathan Colton in 1788 (the sign is on a wing of the house, so perhaps this refers to the wing as an earlier section, with main block dating to the 1820s?). The property is currently for sale.
Joseph Skinner, one of the developers of Prospect Street in New London, erected the Greek Revival house at 7 Prospect sometime between 1838 and 1842. It is possibly the work of John Bishop, a notable local builder. The house’s bay window, bracketed window hoods and front porch are later additions.
James E. Mallette came to Torrington as a stable boy and ended up becoming a leading real estate developer and financier. In 1916, he built the structure at 56-66 Main Street (next to the Warner Theatre) for the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was president. Today, the building is home to the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, which has restored and expanded the building, adding a new facade on the first floor.
The house at 1152 East Street in Southington was built for Ezekiel Woodruff in 1785, the year he married Huldah Allen. He passed away in 1855 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Known locally as the Yellow Building (and later named the Diane S. Toulson Building), the Beaux-Arts structure at 38 W River Street in Milford was constructed in 1908-1909 as a high school. It was later used for all grades but in the 1980s it was threatened with demolition. Local citizens fought to save it and it was reused as senior housing. Today it continues as part of Elderly Housing Management under the name River Park Apartments.
James Spargo was a Bridgeport housing contractor. In 1889 he built row houses at 580-4 Kossuth Street in East Bridgeport which are interesting for their combination of Queen Anne and Richadsonian Romanesque architectural features. One of the original residents of one of these houses was Rev. Henry M. Sherman, who had been rector of Calvary Church in Colchester and Trinity Church in Torrington, the latter from 1876 to 1890.
The Moosup United Methodist Church is at 13 South Main Street in Plainfield. As related in the Plainfield Bicentennial, A Souvenir Volume (1899):
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Plainfield began its history in 1825, when it was included in the Norwich circuit, though, before 1800, preachers were sent here and occasional services were held. At first, the church met in the old Separate meeting-house on the corner near Evergreen cemetery for occasional services […] [A revival occurred in 1843 and] That same year they purchased of the Separatists, or their successors, the old meeting-house which had been removed to Union Village. A new church was built in 1871, a little further up the river and was dedicated, February 1, 1872.
As related in Vol II of the Souvenir history of the New England Southern Conference (1897):
The church in which the people now worship is in the very centre of the village, and pleasantly situated. It was built in 1870 by the arduous labors of Rev. Lewis E. Dunham, and marked a new era in the prosperity of the society. In 1882, during the pastorate of E. J. Ayres, the building was raised, and a vestry provided in the basement. The interior of the church has recently (1896) been thoroughly repaired, a steel ceiling and chancel introduced, making it a most attractive and inviting place of worship. The parsonage, one of the most convenient and commodious, stands on the lot adjoining the church. It was built during the pastorate of the Rev. W. W. Ellis of sainted memory.
The church was completely remodeled and rededicated in 1908.
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