Nepaug Bible Church (1848)

The original Congregational Church in New Hartford stood in the Town Hill Section. Built in 1739-1749, it was replaced by a new church in 1829. Residents in the north and south sections of town wanted churches located closer to where they lived and eventually formed their own Congregational societies. The North Congregational Church was built in 1828. A South Congregational Society was formed in 1846 in Nepaug, which was then the center of town. The church edifice, called the Nepaug Congregational Church, was built in 1848. As described in the History of Litchfield County (1881):

Much dissatisfaction with the location of the new Town Hill church was felt by the members resident at South End, who naturally wished to have it placed midway between the two settlements, waiving all attachment for the old site. This discontent gradually increased until, in 1848, the South Congregational Church of New Hartford was organized and the present church edifice built at Nepaug.

The same book describes the church building as follows:

The church edifice is of wood, with a tower and bell. It has a basement containing a lecture-room, where town-meetings have been held on
alternate years. During the year 1880 about six hundred dollars were expended on the building, which is now in thorough repair.

Now called the Nepaug Bible Church, it is located at 780 Litchfield Turnpike (Route 202). The steeple was originally twice as high. (more…)

Joseph Hurlburt House (1760)

Now a two-family home, the house at 91-93 Burnside Avenue in East Hartford was built c.1760-1775 by a member of the Hurlburt family, probably Joseph Hurlburt (1744-1796). The property passed to his son Nathaniel (died 1819) and then to another son, Luman Hurlburt (1788-1865). Joseph served seven terms as town clerk and Luman served six terms as town selectman. Luman‘s son, Joseph Olmstead Hurlburt (1822-1899), heavily mortgaged the house after his father’s death and it was soon sold out of the family. Both Luman and James Olmstead Hurlburt served as state representatives, in 1841 and 1863 respectively. As related in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Hartford County, Vol. I (1901):

Joseph O. Hurlburt, the father of this family, received his education in East Hartford, and for several years taught in the old North school, Hartford. During the last twenty years of his life he was principal of the Wethersfield high school, and he died March 18, 1899. He was a member of the County and State Teachers Association.

Joseph Hale House (1820)

Located at 112 Main Street in the Rockfall neighborhood of Middlefield is a house built c. 1820 by Joseph Hale. He had received the land from his uncle in 1819, after his marriage to Julia Stow (died 1843). As executor, Hale settled the estate of his father-in-law, Joshua Stow, and then sold the house to Freeman Johnson in 1849. Hale moved to Ohio, where he died in 1855. Johnson sold the house to his son, Ira N. Johnson, who manufactured pistols. As related in the History of Middlefield and Long Hill (1883), by Thomas Atkins,

[the] Pistol factory was erected by a company of young men, namely, Henry Aston, Ira N. Johnson, Sylvester Bailey, John North, Nelson Aston, and Peter Ashton. They took a large contract of the government of the United States for making pistols; an additional contract was granted them. When the work was finished the property was put up at auction by the company, and Ira N. Johnson was the highest bidder, and the property came to him in 1852. Since then, the manufacture of pistols and other things has been carried on by Johnson and others up to the time the factory was burned, which was on the night of the 21st of Sept., 1879.

Henry E. Bidwell House (1799)

The house at 55 Barry Road in Oxford was built in 1799 by James Dorman, who sold it the following year to George Cable. This sale included half-interest in a sawmill and gristmill, called Burrell Mills, located across the road along Eight Mile Brook. For a century, owners of the house would also own the mill, which is no longer in existence. The house has had many owners over the years, but was long known as the Bidwell Place, named for Henry E. Bidwell (1804-1883), who bought the house c. 1837. His family sold it in 1885. In the 1930s, the property, known as Petticoat Farm, was owned by H. Reinhardt Lewis, an artist who painted the local landscape. Built into a hillside, the house has an extra story in the rear.

Rouse Davis House (1846)

The house at 64 (66 in the nomination form for the Noank Historic District) Pearl Street in Noank was built in 1846. It is known as the Rouse Davis House. According to the Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Connecticut (published by J.H. Beers & Company of Chicago, 1905):

Rouse Davis grew up at Westerly, [RI] and in early manhood went as a young farmer on Fisher’s Island, where he met the lady that later became his wife; she was Desire Brown, daughter of Peter Brown, of Stonington. After their marriage they lived for a time in Groton engaged in farming, and then moved to Quaugutaug Hill in Stonington. Mr. Davis was an industrious, reliable man, and was engaged in various kinds of work at Mystic, New London, Sag Harbor and Noank. His death took place in the present home of [his son] Capt. [Henry E.] Davis, in 1861, at the age of sixty-three years. His widow survived to the age of eighty-six years, dying in 1881. They were good, Christian people, members of the Baptist Church at Noank.