Historic Buildings of Connecticut - Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Langdon House (1870)

The Langdon House, at 43 North Street in Plymouth Center, was built circa 1870.

The Horace Fenn House, 32 North Street in Plymouth Center, is a Gothic-style residence built in 1868. As related in New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Vol. III (1913), edited by William Richard Cutter,

Horace, son of Jeremiah Fenn, was born August 2, 1833. He was postmaster from 1861 to 1881; town treasurer from 1862 to 1875; treasurer of the Plymouth Congregational Church from 1895 to 1909; treasurer of the Library Association from 1871 to 1909; member of the general assembly of 1887; judge of probate from 1891 to 1893. He resides at Plymouth, Connecticut. He married Ella Calista. born July 8, 1839, daughter of Selden and Lydia H. (Lane) Gladwin, granddaughter of Daniel and Bethia (Buckingham) Gladwin.

They had two sons. Horace Fenn died in 1922.

St. Casimir’s Polish National Church (1916)

St. Casimir’s Church, located at 240 Quinnipiac Street in Wallingford, was established in 1914. The church affiliated with the Polish National Catholic Church in October, 1916 and soon erected a wood-frame church at the corner of Prospect and Quinnipiac Streets. A fire in 1945 destroyed the original steeple and floor-to-ceiling pipe organ. Some years later the exterior of the building was bricked.

William Starr III House (1826)

The house at 150 Church Street in Guilford was built in 1826 by William Sarr III (1803-1846) to be the new home of he and his bride, Amelia Chittenden (1805-1842). They were married on January 31, 1827.

Clark Homestead (1779)

The Colonial Cape at 89 Clark Hill Road in Prospect was built in the late 1770s by Amos Hotchkiss (1751-1820). Merritt and Keturah Clark bought the house early in the nineteenth century. Their children included Gould S. Clark, who settled in Middlebury, and Merritt Clark, Jr., who lived in the family homestead in Prospect. His son, Halsey Steele Clark, would built a new house at 95 Clark Hill Road after his marriage to Fannie Phipps on May 25, 1881. (For more information, see View From the Top (1995) by John R. Gurvin). (more…)

Capt. Samuel Comstock House (1808)

In 1805, Capt. Samuel Comstock II was given land in West Centerbrook (now Ivoryton) by his father. Circa 1808, Capt. Comstock built the house at 123 Main Street (although it may also be an earlier residence, c. 1795, on the site that he enlarged at that time). A sea captain in the West Indies trade, Comstock was the father of Samuel Merritt Comstock, who established his ivory factory across the street in 1847. In 1857, the house was acquired by Marsena Comstock, who started his own ivory business on the property.

Thaddeus Cook House (1758)

The large house at 1640 Tuttle Avenue in Wallingford was built in 1758 by Col. Thaddeus Cook (1728-1800). As related in Charles Henry Stanley Davis’ History of Wallingford, Conn (1870), Thaddeus Cook

was born in that part of the town now embraced in the township of Cheshire. On the breaking out of the war of the Revolution he entered into the service of his country; was made Colonel of his regiment, and was under the command of Gen. Gates during the memorable battle at Saratoga in 1777, and greatly distinguished himself as a brave and skillful officer. He died in Wallingford, Feb. 28, 1800, aged 72 years.

The Colonel’s Orderly Book, which preserves a notable order from Gen. Benedict Arnold, is in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Mass. Thaddeus’ grandfather, Samuel Cook, was one of the original settlers of Wallingford and the family owned a large amount of property in town, which extended into what would become the town of Cheshire. Cook Hill Road is named for the family.