Old Canton Public Library (1920)

The building at 26 Center Street in Collinsville was erected in 1920 as the Canton Public Library. The library had started in 1913 and was initially housed in the basement of the Collins Company office building. The 1920 building was a gift by Helen R. Collins in memory of her husband, Howard R. Collins, son of Samuel W. Collins, founder of the Collins Company. It was erected on land donated by the Canton Memorial Association in memory of the soldiers and sailors of Canton. The library moved out in 1999 and the building now houses the law offices of Burns & Lovejoy.

Ponemah Mills Office Building (1929)

Ponemah Mills, in operation from the 1870s to the 1970s, was a cotton textile manufacturer with a massive mill complex in the village of Taftville in Norwich. Along Norwich Avenue can be found Mill #1, built in 1871, and Mill #2, built in 1884. In 1929, the company erected a building for its offices, attached to Mill #2, directly in front of that structure’s north tower. The building is now home to Amazing Furniture. The former mill buildings are now being converted into luxury apartments.

Church of St. Colman (1962)

The original St. Colman’s Catholic Church in Middlefield stood at the corner of Main and Stow Streets. The cornerstone was laid in 1886 and the church opened its doors on August 7, 1887. Construction was completed in 1889 and fourteen stained glass windows were installed the following year. It was a mission church under St. John Parish in Middletown until 1903, when it became a mission of the newly formed St. Francis Parish in Middletown. The last service in the old church was held on September 16, 1962, the same day that the new Church of St. Colman, located at 170 Hubbard Street, was dedicated. The church was granted full parish status in 1964.

Hall-Wilson Cottage (1910)

The summer cottage at 11 Pettipaug Avenue in the Borough of Fenwick in Old Saybrook was built in 1910 for the Hall and Wilson families. It was erected on what had previously been the site of the 1885 cottage of Henry Morgan. That cottage was long rented by John Henry Hall and his family. Hall was one of the family that owned the Portland brownstone quarries and was a president of Colt Firearms. The Halls purchased the Morgan Cottage in 1901 and sold it to Ernest Wilson, who moved it to its current address at 4 Agawam Avenue. The Halls then built the current cottage, which was later owned by their grandson, John C. Wilson, Jr. You can read more about the cottage in Marion Hepburn Grant’s The Fenwick Story (Connecticut Historical Society, 1974), pages 114-115.