George W. Seward (d. 1928) was a builder in Guilford who was very active in town affair and served on the board of the Guilford Institute. In 1888, he built for himself the house at 33 Church Street, next door to his shop, which was at 39 Church Street.
The house at 74 Windham Street in Willimantic was built for Mary B. Clark in 1896, four years after the town selectmen voted to extend Windham Street north from Valley Street, opening lots near the new Willimantic Normal School. Born in 1844 in Coventry, Mary Bidwell Winchester was the niece of the founder of the Smith and Winchester Company, paper manufacturers in South Windham. She married and later divorced Daniel S. Clark Jr., a machinist who was five years her junior. After the divorce, Mary Clark became wealthy investing in real estate, however in late 1905 her behavior was becoming erratic. She became terrified her house would be burgled while she slept. She kept the lights on all night and fired her revolver at sheets on the close-line outside that she believed might be potential burglars. When the police arrived to investigate, they were threatened with a “dose of lead.” Mrs. Clark was arrested for discharging firearms in the city limits. She was eventually taken to the Hartford Retreat for the Insane, where she remained until her death in 1929 at the age of 84.
There is an interesting article detailing the history of the house: Part One|Part Two|Part Three.
See also, “Her Mind Shies at Burglars. Conservator Appointed for Willimantic Woman. Is Sane Except at Mention of Thieves,” (Hartford Courant, December 7, 1905).
Stephen Betts Church (1866-1951) was a businessman and land-owner in Oxford who founded the Stephen B. Church Company, which specializes in drilling high capacity artesian wells. In 1925, he expanded his original family homestead at 53 Great Hill Road. The old house, built in 1736, was split in half and the two parts were moved to be on either side of a new section in the center. Church named his thirty-room mansion Oxfordshire. A highlight of the house is the music room, which features an Aeolian Pipe Organ. (more…)
John Twitchell, who in 1714 built what would become the Washband Tavern in Oxford, later erected another house in town, at what is now 7 Academy Road, in 1741. That same year, residents of Oxford petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly to form their own Ecclesiastical Society and the new congregation met at the Twitchell House before their new meeting house was erected next door in 1743. By 1804 a store had been added to the west side of the house. A Masonic Lodge was also organized in the house, which was the site of Oxford’s first post office when Walker Wilmot was appointed postmaster in 1807. Enos Candee bought the house in 1845 and extensively remodeled it. For several years, starting in 1903, the house was used by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church as a rectory.
The Congregational Church in Trumbull was first established in 1730. Services were initially held at Pulpit Rock on White Plains Road. The first meeting house was built on the corner of White Plains Road and Unity Road. The congregation’s second meeting house was built in 1747 on what is now Church Hill Road, just west of where the Helen Plumb Building would be built in 1883. Over the years, the expanding road moved closer to the church and many a horse and wagon, coming down the hill on icy days, collided with the corner of the building. In 1842 a new church was erected on the same site, but located further back toward the Pequonnock River. A fire destroyed this building in 1898. The cornerstone for the current church, built at a new location at 3115 Reservoir Avenue, was laid on September 28, 1898 and the building was dedicated on on May 11, 1899. The church was constructed of stone quarried north of Beardsley Park.
From 1883 to 1957, the building at 571 Church Hill Road in Trumbull served as the Town Hall. It was Trumbull’s second Town Hall. The first Town Hall, purchased by the Town of Trumbull in 1862, was a building on Daniels Farm Road, formerly known as Beach’s Tavern. Some years ago the old second Town Hall building on Church Hill Road was renovated and it is now used by the Trumbull Chamber of Commerce. The building is named for Helen E. Plumb (1904-2001), who was town clerk in Trumbull for many years. (more…)
The original Acton Library building in Old Saybrook was erected in 1873 on land donated by Thomas Acton at the corner of Old Boston Post Road and Pennywise Lane. The Library was dedicated on July 4, 1874. Thomas C. Acton (1823-1898) was a New York City politician and Police Commissioner whose summer home in Old Saybrook was across the street from the library. Begun as a subscription library, it became a public library in 1904. A new Acton Library was constructed in 1967 at 60 Old Boston Post Road. The former library, at 40 Old Boston Post Road, was bought from the town by architect Robert Wendler in 1970. He converted it into a single-family residence.
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