Tolland County Courthouse (1822)

Built in 1822 on Tolland Green, the old Tolland County Courthouse replaced an earlier building built in 1785. Like the county jail across the Green, the courthouse was built by public subscription. It was designed by local architects Abner P. Davidson and Harry Cogswell and was built on a lot acquired from Calvin Willey, which had previously been the site of a tavern owned by Wilkes Williams. The last court session was held in the building in 1892 (the court was transferred to Rockville). From 1899 to 1985, the building housed the Tolland Public Library. In 2001, the Library gave the old building to the Tolland Historical Society. The second floor has been restored to a working courtroom appearance and there are also exhibits on the history of the building. The first floor of the old courthouse contains the library of the French Canadian Genealogical Society Of Connecticut.

Elm Grove Cemetery Chapel (1893)

The Ecclesiastical Society of Poquonock in Windsor was first established in 1726 and a meeting house was built the following year. This was replaced by a second meeting house in 1798. By 1820, church membership had completely diminished, but in the 1840s a new Congregational Church of Poquonock was formed (now the Poquonock Community Church), which built a new meeting house in 1854. The old Society’s church was eventually torn down in 1882, but in 1893-1894 a mortuary chapel for the adjacent Elm Grove Cemetery (earliest stone 1738) was constructed on the same site.

Bellamy-Ferriday House (1754)

Joseph Bellamy was a prominent Congregationalist minister, theologian and leader during the Great Awakening. He was pastor of the First Church of Bethlehem from 1760 until his death in 1790. Rev. Bellamy was the author of twenty-two books, the best known being True Religion Delineated (1750). In 1760, Bellamy moved into a Bethlehem farmhouse built in 1754. In 1767, he expanded the house and his son David, a farmer and legislator, added Federal-style embellishments (the Palladian pavilion on the south front) in the 1790s. After the Bellamys, some additional changes were made as the house had various other owners. The property continued as a working farm. In 1912, it was acquired as a summer residence by Henry McKeen and Eliza Ferriday of New York. After Henry’s death, his widow and daughter, Caroline Ferriday, continued to make improvements to the house and established a formal garden. After her mother’s death, Caroline Ferriday sought to restore the house, removing later Victorian-era additions. Miss Ferriday was an actress, conservationist and philanthropist. She left her house and furnishings to the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society (now Connecticut Landmarks) upon her death in 1990. Much of her land is now owned by the Bethlehem Land Trust, which she had helped to establish. (more…)

46 Tolland Green (1815)

Perhaps built as early as 1815 by Danforth Richmond, the building at 46 Tolland Green in Tolland served as a general store for a century and a half. Various businesses have occupied space inside over the years and at one time, manufacturer Henry Underwood had a workshop on the second floor. Other businesses included a shoe shop in the 1850s, A.W. Munger’s store in the 1860s, and J.P. Root’s store around 1900. In the mid-twentieth century, the building housed the Red and White grocery store, run by the Clough family, complete with gasoline pump. More recently, the Homestead gift and antiques shop has been located here. Update: Again a store called Red & White is located in the building.

First Baptist Church of Wallingford (1870)

The Baptist church in Wallingford begun as a branch of the Waterford Baptist church in 1731 and was organized as the Third Baptist Church in Connecticut in 1735 and then the First Baptist Church of Wallingford in 1786. The church used a dwelling house in Meriden (then a part of Wallingford) as a house of worship starting in 1801. After Meriden became a separate town, the Wallingford members established their own church in Wallingford and built a meeting house in 1821. After the church burned down in 1869, the current church was constructed and dedicated in 1870. Located at 114 North Main Street, it is a brick building in the Romanesque Revival style.

Tariffville Mill (1868)

Starting in 1825, a mill and associated factory housing were built in the village of Tariffville in Simsbury. The original carpet factory burned in 1867 and was replaced the following year by the current factory. Built by the Connecticut Screw Company, a business that did not succeed, the Tariffville Mill, at 2 Tunxis Road, served a variety of industries over the years. Today, the structure is a mixed use office building, called the Mill at Tariffville, housing a restaurant several other businesses.