Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Wethersfield

Wethersfield Grange Hall (1898)

Built in 1898, on Main Street in Wethersfield, the town’s Grange Hall served as a meeting place and social center for farmers and their families. The Grange Movement, which began after the Civil War, focused on encouraging farm families to bond together for their own economic and political benefit. The town’s grange was founded in 1890 and received support from the State Grange. The organization hosted numerous programs that provided an active social life for Wethersfield families. Members met at the Old Academy building until 1898, when the Grange Hall was completed. (more…)

Keeney Memorial Cultural Center (1893)

Constructed in 1893, on Main Street in Wethersfield, the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center was originally a public school and later served as a court and a library. In 1985, the building was renovated with support from Mrs. William Keeney, becoming a cultural center named in honor of her son, Robert Allan Keeney, who was lost at age 21, when the U.S.S. Indianapolis was sunk in the final days of World War II. The Center houses the Wethersfield Historical Society.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Wethersfield (1871)

Built between 1871 and 1874, Trinity Episcopal Church, on Main Street in Wethersfield, was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter, who also designed the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Mark Twain House, both in Hartford. Like the earlier Church of the Good Shepherd, Trinity Church is in the High Victorian Gothic style and has a similar polychromatic roof.

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John Williams House (1832)

Wow, I’ve been posting a building a day now for four months! This week has had a real Wethersfield focus, so let’s continue today with the Greek Revival-style house built in 1832-1834 for John Williams, son of Ezekiel Williams, on Main Street. It stands next to First Church and today serves as church’s parsonage.

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Samuel Woodhouse House (1748)

Samuel Woodhouse, who was in the West Indies trade. He married Thankful Blinn, the granddaughter of the cabinetmaker Peter Blinn. Their son, Samuel Woodhouse, Jr., later built a house on nearby River Road. The house was bought in 1870 by William Hurlbut, one of the last Wethersfield sea captains.

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Nathaniel Stillman House (1743)

Built in 1743 on Main Street in Wethersfield for Nathaniel Stillman, Jr., an officer of General Washington’s Life Guards.

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Joshua Stoddard House (1737)

Traditionally thought to have been built by Eli Welles between 1737 and 1740, the Joshua Stoddard House may have been built later in the eighteenth century. It was in the Stoddard family for much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Significant renovations were made in the 1920s and 30s, including the addition of a Connecticut River Valley style doorway.