Edward Waldo Homestead (1715)

The Edward Waldo Homestead is a vernacular saltbox house on Waldo Road in Scotland. It was built in 1715 by Edward Waldo, on land along the Shetucket River he had purchased in 1702. The house, which later had two wings added, remained in the Waldo family until 1971. Daniel Waldo, who was born in the house in 1762, served as Chaplain of the House of Representatives from 1856 until his death in 1864. Also born in the house was Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861), portraitist, art critic and a founder member of the National Academy of Design. When its last owner, Ruth Waldo, died in 1975, she bequeathed the house to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society and the surrounding fields to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. The house is now a museum operated by the Scotland Historical Society. Each year, the surrounding fields host the Scotland Connecticut Highland Games.

Dr. Chester Hunt Office (1790)

Located on Windham Center Green and owned by the adjacent Windham Library is the small gambrel-roofed former office of Dr. Chester Hunt. Built in 1790, it originally served as the office of Sheriff Shubel Abbe and was located behind his house at the south end of Windham Green. Abbe’s property was purchased in 1819 by Dr. Chester Hunt who then used the office until his death in 1869. Moved in 1948 to a spot between two other houses on North Road, the building was moved again in the 1980s to its current location where it was restored in honor of Julian Alden Weir and his wife, Ella Baker Weir, by his daughter, Cora Weir Burlingham and grandson, Charles Burlingham, Jr. The Library has recently renovated the office’s exterior and there are plans to open it as a museum.

David Kinne House (1780)

On Old Black Hill Road in Plainfield is the David Kinne House, built in 1780 and enlarged in 1815. It is considered to be an example of the “Caterbury Style,” a regional variety of the Federal style, other examples of which include the Capt. John Clark House and the Prudence Crandall House, both in Canterbury. Another house in Plainfield, which is also clearly in the same style to the above mentioned houses was covered in the Historic American Buildings Survey. It’s listed as “Cleveland House, Bradford Hill, Plainfield, Windham, CT,” but I don’t know its exact location or if it is still standing.

Judge Joseph Eaton House (1725)

At 20 Academy Hill Road in Plainfield is a colonial house, built in 1725, which now for sale for use as a bed & breakfast. The house served as both residence and probate court of Judge Joseph Eaton. A market listing for the house claims that it was also the Eaton Tavern (later known as the the Plainfield Hotel and the Lafayette Inn), where George Washington (1776 and 1781) and Lafayette (1824) once stayed. Other sources clearly state that Eaton’s Tavern (1768), which is no longer standing, was actually located at the intersection of Gallup Street and Norwich Road.

Grace & St. Peters Episcopal Church, Hamden (1821)

The oldest church building in Hamden is Grace Episcopal Church, built in 1821 and attributed to the architect builder David Hoadley. The church’s first meeting house was built in 1790, in Mount Carmel, on what is today Whitney Avenue. The current church once had a large steeple, built in 1847 and designed by Henry Austin, which blew down in 1915. The present steeple was built in 1921. The church was moved in 1966 from one side of Dixwell Avenue to the opposite side. In the 1990s, Grace Church merged with St. Peter’s on the Hill, founded in 1958. The united church is now known as Grace & St. Peters Episcopal Church.

New Britain Public Library (1901)

William F. Brooks designed the building of the New Britain Institute library, now the New Britain Public Library, built in 1900-1901 on the corner of High and West Main streets. The New Britain Institute was founded in 1853 to promote a series of lectures and establish a library and reading room. The library occupied various rented quarters, including the Russwin Hotel (now New Britain’s City Hall), until bequests from Dr. Lucius B. Woodruff and Cornelius B. Erwin allowed the current building to be built. The Library building is constructed of yellow brick and has elaborate terra-cotta reliefs. This structure once also housed the New Britain Institute’s art collection, which was moved in 1937 to a house on Lexington Street and is now the New Britain Museum of American Art.