Theodore Walker House (1829)

According to Homes of Old Woodbury (published by the Old Woodbury Historical Society in 1959), on January 21, 1829, Theodore Walker and his brother Joseph purchased an acre of land to build their homes on Washington Road in Woodbury. Theodore built his house, at 13 Washington Road, later that year and on November 7, 1829 deeded half of the land to his brother, who built his own house next door the following year. The original large center chimney of the Theodore Walker House was removed in the 1930s. The Walker brothers were great-great-great-grandsons of Zaccharias Walker, the first Congregational minister in Woodbury.

Old Woodbury Town Hall (1846)

The old Town Hall of Woodbury, located at 5 Mountain Road, was erected in 1845-1846. Before its construction, another building had been used as Town Hall for over twenty years, as described by William Cothren in Vol. I of the History of Ancient Woodbury (1854):

Previous to 1823, there had been an effort to locate and build a new town hall for the use of the town, but as is usual in such cases, a great deal of bickering and bad feeling had arisen on the occasion, and no conclusion was arrived at. Finally, to end the difficulty, Mr. Daniel Bacon built a new two story building, near his dwelling-house, now owned by his son, Rev. William T. Bacon, and offered the use of the second story, rent free, to the town for its meetings.
[. . . .]

This continued to be used as the place for all meetings of the town till 1845, when the present commodious town-hall was built.

At that date, it was thought that the old town-hall did not answer the necessities of the town, and that a new and more commodious building should be erected. In the conclusion that a new building should be erected, all agreed; but the location was quite another matter. In this the “ends” of the town were widely at variance.
[. . . .]

A meeting was called in the “dead of winter,” to determine the question of location, and after a spirited debate, a respectable majority voted to locate the building in the spot it now occupies. But there being a suspicion of unfairness in the vote, application was made to the selectmen to appoint another meeting to try the question anew. The meeting was called, and though Providence, the evening before the appointed day, shed down some two feet of snow, enough one would think, to cool the feelings of the belligerent parties, yet the high piled drifts were penetrated in every direction, and almost every legal voter appeared at the meeting for the decision of the momentous question of a difference in distance of one or two hundred rods! The vote was taken by ballot, and the former location ratified by an increased majority.

In 1895, the Library Association moved into a room on the second floor, which it occupied until relocating to the former Parker Academy in 1902. A stage was added to the Town Hall in 1923 and the center section of the second floor was removed to create balconies on either side. Many events in town have been held in the building over the years, including performances by the Community Theatre at Woodbury. The structure was renovated in 2009.

C. L. Adams Company (1878)

The store at 47 Main Street South in Woodbury was built in 1878. Starting out as a feed and lumber store run by Nathan Burton, the business changed ownership many times. In 1905 it took the name C. L. Adams Company for Carl L. Adams, one of the store’s owners. Adams sold his part of the business in 1920, but was then paid $60 annually for the continued use of his name. The store has continued as an animal feed and hardware store, operated since 1941 by the Newell family.

David Minor House (1770)

The house at 100 Main Street South in Woodbury was built between 1765 and 1776 by a member of the Minor family. The sign on the house displays the name David Minor, with a date of about 1770. David’s son, Simeon Minor, inherited the land, house and barn in 1776. The house passed from the Minor family to Jabez Bacon in 1784 and to Samuel Robbins in 1818. Later owners would make extensive alterations to the house.

Rev. Noah Benedict House (1760)

The house at 256 Main Street South in Woodbury was built in 1760-1763 by Rev. Noah Benedict (1737-1813), who served as the third minister of Woodbury’s First Congregational Church from 1760 to 1813. He dug and stoned the well with his own hands. Rev. Benedict built another house for his son nearby in 1795 and his own home was occupied by his widow until her death in 1861. The house then passed to Nathaniel Benedict Smith, son of Rev. Benedict’s only daughter, Ruth. It was acquired in 1874 by George Crane, who sold it to Charles Harvey in 1888. The house, originally a saltbox, has been much altered over the years, with chimneys replaced and eventually removed.

Canfield Corner Pharmacy (1876)

The Canfield Corner Pharmacy is a classic American drug store, complete with soda counter (although the latter is no longer functional). The pharmacy is located in a Mansard-roofed building at 2 North Main Street in Woodbury. The building was erected in 1876 as Stong’s Block by Nathaniel M. Strong, who had begun his drug business across the street in 1867. In addition to the drug store, the building contained a number of other businesses over the years and had a hall on the third floor used for meetings by various community groups. Henry H. Canfield (died 1949), who had been Stong’s head clerk, took over the business in 1900. Pharmacist Curtis Martiny and his wife Vera took over the pharmacy in 1950. After her husband’s death in 1954, Vera Taylor Martiny became a licensed pharmacist and continued the business, serving customers, including Roxbury resident Marilyn Monroe. Vera’s daughter Mary purchased the pharmacy in 1987. The building was restored after a fire in 1998. (more…)

Dawson’s Corner Store (1884)

The building on the left in the image above is the Woodbury Town Archive Building. Next to it, on the right, is a building that was opened in 1884 as the Corner Store by G. F. Morris and Louis E. Dawson. They sold dry goods, clothing and groceries. Starting in 1889, Morris was also the postmaster, a position taken over by Dawson when Morris left for another store in Hotchkissville in 1893. The building had several additions over the years as the store continued under the management of Louis Dawson’s sons, L. Clyde and Jim Dawson. The store eventually closed in the 1940s.