The Joshua Prior House (1766)

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In Old Houses of the Antient Town of Norwich (1895), Mary E. Perkins writes of a property along Washington Street:

Here Joshua Prior builds a house, perhaps about 1766, the time of his marriage to Sarah Hutchins of Killingly, and resides here for a time, but in 1789 he is living on the road near Elderkin’s bridge, and in 1790 he sells this house and land to Gideon Birchard, who also buys in 1795 a small piece of adjoining land (1 1/2 rods frontage) of his son Elisha, who has purchased the property on the north. Gideon Birchard (b. 1735), was the son of John and Jane (Hyde) Birchard and great-grandson of John Birchard, the first town clerk of Norwich. He married in 1757, Eunice Abel, daughter of Capt. Joshua and Jerusha (Frink) Abel, and had eight children. He was a carpenter by trade, and before 1799 moves to Whitestown, New York, and sells, in 1799, his house and land to Jeremiah Griffing. The house is still often called by old residents the Griffing house. In 1858, it is sold by the Griffing heirs to Daniel W. Coit, who sells it in 1871 to William Alfred Jones, who still resides here [William Alfred Jones died in 1900].

Henry S. Smith House (1855)

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As requested, the octagon house built for Henry S. Smith in 1855 is located at the dead end of Bevin Boulevard in East Hampton. Smith was the son of Nathaniel C. Smith, who represented his town six times in the Connecticut General Assembly and served as town clerk for twenty-five successive years. The house, which has a porch and a later ell, has been owned by the Clark family since around 1900.

The Chaplin-Apthorp House (1806)

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The Chaplin-Apthorp House originally stood on Whitney Avenue, where it was built for James Chaplin by James Hillhouse in 1806. In the 1820s, Hillhouse rented the home to Samuel F. B. Morse. After Morse left, the house was moved in 1827 by James A. Hillhouse to Hillhouse Avenue and a schoolroom was attached for the widowed Mrs. Apthorp, who wanted to open a girls’ school. Apthorp later moved to another house on Hillhouse Avenue in 1838 and the Chaplin-Apthorp House (without its schoolroom) was moved to its current location on Trumbull Street. The house has wings which were added later. It is currently for sale.

First Congregational Church, Ansonia (1865)

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Ansonia‘s First Congregational Church was founded in 1850 and a wood church was built in 1852. This burned in 1865, when a group of women were cleaning the church and a fire started in the flue of the furnace. It was replaced by the current Gothic church building on South Cliff Street, built of stone quarried in Seymour. Anson G. Phelps, who founded Ansonia, donated the land and funds to build the church, which has stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Trinity United Methodist Church, New Britain (1891)

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The earliest Methodist church in New Britain was built at the corner of Main and Walnut Streets in 1828, replaced by a larger building in 1854. This was in turn replaced by a new Trinity United Methodist Church, located on the east side of Main Street (and Chestnut Street). The new granite Richardsonian Romanesque church, designed by Amos P. Cutting of Worcester, was built in 1889-1891. By 2000, the congregation could not afford the costly repairs the building required and voted to demolish the church. Local citizens formed a committee to save the church, which has now become Trinity-on-Main, a non-profit art center, education facility, community space and venue for events.

First Congregational Church, New London (1850)

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UPDATE (1/26/24): Sadly, the towering steeple and roof of the church collapsed on January 25, 2024 causing great damage to the building. 

For Christmas we feature a church with a very long history! New London‘s First Congregational Church was originally formed in 1642 in Gloucester, on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, under the leadership of Rev. Richard Blinman. This congregation moved to the new town of Pequot, settled in 1646 and later renamed New London. The first house of worship in New London was a large barn, with a meeting house being constructed around 1655 and replaced by a new church in the early 1680s. The third church, built in 1698, was was struck by lightning in 1735. Building a replacement was considered, but arguments over where to construct it led to the decision to repair and enlarge the existing edifice. A new church was eventually built in 1786 on Zion’s Hill. This was replaced by the current granite church in 1850, designed in the Gothic style by the Prague-born, New York-based architect, Leopold Eidlitz. The bell was installed in 1876. Merry Christmas from Historic Buildings of Connecticut!