In 1719, Tolland‘s first settlers decided to build a meeting house. This simple initial structure, first used in 1723, was never entirely completed. A larger building, with a steeple and bell, was later constructed at the south end of Tolland Green. First used in 1755, it was later suprceeded by the current building, located on the west side of the Green and dedicated on October 25, 1838. In 1893, adapting to changing styles, typical Victorian-era alterations were made to the interior of the church. This included replacing the pained glass windows with stained glass. In 1977, the church was again remodeled to its original appearance and the stained glass was removed. A wing was also added at that time to the south side of the church. Declining membership in the both the Congregational and Lee Methodist churches in Tolland led to their merger as the Federated Church of Tolland in 1920. The Lee Methodist Church was dissolved in 1959 ad the following year the Federated Church was renamed the United Congregational Church of Tolland.
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.
Jonathan Barnes, a lawyer, was born in Southington in 1763, graduated from Yale in 1784, studied at the Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1789. He soon settled in Tolland, which had become a county seat in 1785. He marriedRachael Steele in 1789. Barnes, who served as a town selectman in Tolland from 1798 to 1802 and in the Connecticut Legislature for twenty-eight terms, died in 1829. His oldest son, also named Jonathan Barnes, later became a prominent lawyer in Middletown. The Barnes House, at 34 Tolland Green, was next owned by Obediah Waldo, also a lawyer, who served as selectman, postmaster, town clerk, and member of the state House of Representatives. The house’s side ell was once used as an office.
The business of tanning and currying leather had been carried on near the village for many years before 1840. About that time Mr. Moses Underwood purchased this property and continued the business successfully for several years, when he and one of his sons [Henry Underwood] engaged in manufacturing belts in connection with the business of tanning leather. The Underwood Belting Company, formed in 1875, have increased this business and have erected more commodious and extensive buildings, furnished with expensive machinery. This is the only manufacturing business now carried on in Tolland.
Frank Underwood, son of Henry, built his house at 25 Tolland Green in Tolland in 1873. Five years later, he constructed a factory behind his house, from which steam was piped to heat his residence. The factory burned in 1897, but the house survives and is notable for being the work of the architects Palliser and Palliser. The design of the house was featured in Palliser’s Model Homes (1883), where the house is described as follows:
This country residence embraces many novel and good features of exterior variety and interior compactness and convenience. The workmanship and materials throughout have been of the best description, the materials being purchased by the owner and the work done by the day, and no pains have been spared to make it first-class in every respect.
The interior arrangement is very complete and unique, the Hall being finished in Oak, Parlor in Maple, Library and Dining-room in Ash, all the fire-places having hard wood mantels of handsome design. The conservatory is a pleasing feature of the first floor plan, and is accessible from the Dining-room through a casement window; access is also obtained in a like manner to porch in rear of Dining-room. A clothes-shute is arranged from second floor to soiled clothes-closet in Laundry, an arrangement that is appreciated by every housekeeper.
Stained glass is used in all the windows above transoms. Roofs are slated and ridges covered with red terra-cotta cresting. The interior wood-work is filled with Crockett’s Preservative. The heating is done by indirect radiation, steam being brought into cellar from the Underwood Belting Company’s Factory. Cost about $4,500.00.
On Tolland Green is located the Old Tolland County Jail, the earliest surviving section of which dates to 1856. At one time the Jail was attached to a hotel known as the County House (first built in 1786), which could accommodate people who had business at the nearby county court. The hotel was owned by the state, but was managed under contract by a private innkeeper (who was sometimes also the jailer). The court later moved to Rockville in 1888 and the hotel was not rebuilt after it burned in 1893. Instead, it was replaced by a new County House, used primarily as a residence for the jailer and his family. The Victorian building was designed by local builder James Clough. Today, the house and attached jail serve as a museum, operated by the Tolland Historical Society.
This Thanksgiving we focus on a house that is now a family museum. The Hicks-Stearns Family Museum, established in 1980, is a Victorian era home, located on Tolland Green. The earliest parts of the house date to the eighteenth century, sometime before 1788, when then owner Benoni Shepard established a tavern in the home known as Shepard’s Tavern at the Sign of the Yellow Ball. Shepard was also a deacon of the Congregational Church and served as postmaster, with a post office in his home, from 1795 to 1807. The house was occupied by the Hicks family from 1845 into the the 1970s. The family enlarged and embellished the house with many Victorian-era architectural features in the 1870s and 1880s. Charles R. Hicks was a leading merchant in Providence and New York, who retired to Tolland. He married Maria Amelia StearnsTheir son, Ratcliffe Hicks, was president of the Canfield Rubber Works of Bridgeport and a member of the state legislature. The Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture at UCONN is also named for him.
