Hezekiah Thompson, born in New Haven in 1735, decided to set aside his occupation as a saddler at the age of 30 and began to study the law. In 1760, he built a house in Woodbury, where he was one of the town’s first lawyers, continuing his practice until 1795. Thompson also served in the State Assembly. The house was owned by the Averill family in the nineteenth century and was known as the Averill Mansion. The Hezekiah Thompson House and Garden were restored in 1983 and again in 2007. Today the home houses an antiques dealership (specializing in Swedish antiques), but is currently for sale.
South Center District School #2 (1867)
Built in 1867, the South Center District School #2, on Main Street in Woodbury, was used for classes until 1900. In 1977, the building was acquired by the neighboring King Solomon’s Lodge and presented to the Old Woodbury Historical Society. By 1984, the building was restored and is now a museum, where every year second graders from the Regional School District #14 can experience classes conducted in a nineteenth-century one-room schoolhouse.
The Hurd House (1660)
The Hurd House in Woodbury is a combination of what were originally two smaller houses. The older, north section, dates to around 1680 and was the home of John Hurd, who became the town’s miller in 1681. The south section, which may have originally been the home of Hurd’s son, was added to the older structure in 1718, to increase the overall size of the house. The two original houses were of the end-chimney type, while the structure resulting from the combination has a central chimney. By 1779, a lean-to was added, making the house a saltbox, although this was later removed. In 1967, the house was acquired by the Old Woodbury Historical Society.
A new feature is being launched today at Historic Buildings of Connecticut. I plan to do a series of articles discussing some of the different architectural styles found in Connecticut. I will be using buildings which have appeared on this site as examples, sometimes with different photos than those which have appeared here before. The first of these articles is on Colonial Houses, which can be found at the url address:
https://historicbuildingsct.com/?page_id=502. This and later articles to come will be indexed on the Architecture page (also listed in the bar above the site banner), so please check there for future additions!
The Glebe House (1750)
Built around 1750, the Glebe House in Woodbury gained its name because it became the home of an Anglican clergyman. A glebe is the farmland occupied by a rural clergyman as a benefice. In 1771, John Rutgers Marshall arrived in Woodbury as its first Episcopal priest and resided in the Glebe House. In 1783, a group of Episcopal clergy met in the house and chose Reverend Dr. Samuel Seabury as the first bishop in America. The house was later occupied by Gideon B. Botsford, a silversmith. By the 1920s, the house was in disrepair after passing through various owners. It was then saved from demolition through the efforts of the Seabury Society for the Preservation of the Glebe House. In 1923, the house was restored by William Henry Kent and opened to the public as a house museum in 1925. The next year, the eminent English gardener Gertrude Jekyll was commissioned to design a garden for the museum. It was never fully installed, but has since been restored according to the original plans. Visitors can now enjoy the Glebe House Museum and The Gertrude Jekyll Garden.