Old Post Office, Tolland (1790)

The construction date for the Greek Revival building at 55 Tolland Green in Tolland is uncertain. It was built c. 1750 to 1790, during which time it was used as an armory and then for the manufacture of sorghum molasses. It was moved to its current location by Col. Elijah Smith, who owned an adjacent tavern, and was used by his sons as a store. From then on, it has housed various small businesses. Charles Sterry, who served as Tolland postmaster for thirty-two years, from 1903 until his death, operated the post office, as well as his grain store and leatherworking business, from the building’s corner room. He was succeeded by Bertha Place, who sold candy, tobacco and stationary, and was postmistress until her retirement in 1956. She was followed by Helen Clough, who died 1968. Three years before, the post office had moved to Tolland Stage Road, leaving the building where it had been located for over sixty years.

Lee Methodist Church – Tolland Grange Hall (1880)

The building at 95 Tolland Green in Tolland was erected in 1880 as the Lee Methodist Church. It was the second Lee Methodist Church built on the site, replacing the earlier church, built in 1794. That building was moved back 200 feet and in later years was known as the “ole vaporatin’ house” where apples were dried. It was torn down after suffering damage in the Hurricane of 1938.

The Lee Methodist Church merged with the Tolland Congregational Church in 1920, forming the Federated Church of Tolland (now the United Congregational Church of Tolland). In 1959, the old 1880 church building was sold to the Tolland Grange #51. Formed in 1886, the grange had already been using the building for meetings since 1932. In addition to the Grange, other groups, such as the Boys Scouts, met in the building over the years. Before St. Matthew Catholic Church was built, the parish used the Grange Hall as its temporary home and celebrated the first Catholic mass in Tolland there on July 12, 1964. The Grange put the building up for sale in 2012 and it was sold the following year.

55 Old Post Road, Tolland (1760)

The house at 55 Old Post Road in Tolland was built c. 1760-1790. A fire later destroyed the roof and part of the second floor, but the house was rebuilt. This seems to be the house described as follows in the History of Tolland County, Connecticut (1888), by J.R. Cole:

Next south was the old Ashbel Steel place, which was used for a school house. Mr. Lucius S. Fuller taught there both before and after the building was moved. Doctor Potwine lived in this house. Joshua Griggs now owns it.

The Masons established Uriel Lodge No. 24 in Tolland in 1793. Now located in Merrow (in Mansfield), the lodge once occupied the front of the house’s second story.

Dr. Jeduthan Eaton House (1790)

The house at 85 Tolland Green in Tolland was built circa 1790. From 1839 to 1878 it was the home of Dr. Jeduthan Eaton, whose medicine shop was located in an attached ell that has since been removed. Between 1850 and 1853, Dr. Eaton was mining for gold in California. His letters home to his family have been published by the Tolland Historical Society. In the early twentieth century, the property was a boarding house known as Squirrel Lodge. In 1964 the house became the rectory of St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church.

Loren P. Waldo House (1860)

The house at 31 Tolland Green in Tolland was built in 1760 and has had a number of alterations over the years, including the addition of Greek Revival-style detailing and two Victorian bay windows. For a time in the nineteenth century, it was the home of Judge Loren Pinckney Waldo (1802-1881), who later sold it to Henry Underwood. Henry’s daughter Miriam was the last of the family to live in the house.

A lawyer, Loren P. Waldo served in various state offices. He served terms as a state representative, state attorney general and judge of probate. In 1849-1851, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Unsuccessful at reelection, he next served as Commissioner of Pensions under President Pierce (1853-1856) and then was a Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut (1856-1863). He later practiced law in Hartford until his death in 1881. Waldo’s address to the Connecticut Historical Society on The Early History of Tolland was published in 1861. (more…)

Calvin Willey House (1776)

The house at 41 Tolland Green in Tolland was built circa 1776. In the early nineteenth century, it became the home of Calvin Willey (1776-1858), postmaster and judge of probate, who served as a United States Senator from 1825 to 1831. Willey was chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture in the Nineteenth Congress. After leaving Congress, he returned to his law practice. The house was later acquired by Minnie Helen Hicks, who opened it as a guest house called Meadow Crest. It is now owned by the United Congregational Church of Tolland.