Rev. Noah Benedict House (1760)

The house at 256 Main Street South in Woodbury was built in 1760-1763 by Rev. Noah Benedict (1737-1813), who served as the third minister of Woodbury’s First Congregational Church from 1760 to 1813. He dug and stoned the well with his own hands. Rev. Benedict built another house for his son nearby in 1795 and his own home was occupied by his widow until her death in 1861. The house then passed to Nathaniel Benedict Smith, son of Rev. Benedict’s only daughter, Ruth. It was acquired in 1874 by George Crane, who sold it to Charles Harvey in 1888. The house, originally a saltbox, has been much altered over the years, with chimneys replaced and eventually removed.

Russell Gladwin House (1825)

The house at 416 Saybrook Road in the village of Higganum in Haddam displays the architectural features of the Federal style. It was built in 1825 by Russell Gladwin (1799-1824), a ship carpenter, shortly after his marriage (February 18, 1824) to Susan (aka Susannah) Dickinson. The couple had a dozen children and the house remained in the Gladwin family until 1900. In the mid-twentieth century, Harriet and Warren Smith lived in the house and Mrs. Smith rented rooms upstairs to returning veterans of World War II.

Plymouth Cordage Company Ropewalk (1824)

Preserved at Mystic Seaport is a section of the original ropewalk of the Plymouth Cordage Company of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1824 by Bourne Spooner, who had learned the art of ropemaking in New Orleans. He opposed slavery, so he set up his business back home in Plymouth, hiring free labor. Spooner ran the company until his death in 1870, producing rope for many kinds of vessels, including the Great Republic, the largest clipper ship ever built. By the late nineteenth century, the company had become the largest manufacturer of rope and twine in the world. The company remained in business for 140 years. The ropewalk remained in operation until 1947, when changing technology led to the end of its use by the company. In 1951, a 250-foot section of the 1,000-foot ropewalk in Plymouth was saved and reassembled at Mystic Seaport. It came with its machinery, which is no longer powered but is set up as though it were still functioning in order to illustrate the process of spinning rope.

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Robert Palmer, Jr. House (1907)

In 1850, Robert Palmer and his brother started a shipyard in Noank that would be continued until the death of Robert’s son, Robert Palmer, Jr. (1856-1914). The Palmer shipyard became the largest business enterprise in Noank. Robert Palmer, Jr. resided in the grand Colonial Revival-style house at 25 Church Street in Noank, built in 1907. His biography is related in Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Connecticut (1905):

Robert Palmer, Jr., was born Feb. 15, 1856, and he received his education in the schools at Noank and Mystic, and at Scholfield’s Business College, at Providence, R.I., finishing the latter at the age of twenty-one. He entered his father’s employ, and has thoroughly familiarized himself with every branch of the business. In 1877 he was admitted to partnership, the firm name being Robert Palmer & Son, which was afterward changed to Robert Palmer & Sons. On Dec. 10, 1897, when a stock company was formed, Mr. Palmer became the secretary and treasurer, and has proved himself a most important factor in the progress of the Palmer shipyard. He has shown himself a genius as a shipwright, and under his direction the Company has built several fast boats of unique design, which have carried off a number of regatta prizes.

The “Irma,” built in 1894, and owned by Fred Allen of Galveston, Texas, was one of the first of these prize winners, showing remarkable adaptability for racing in both the calm waters of the Bay, and the rough waters of the Gulf. She was thrice a prize winner, and became known as the “Queen of the Gulf.”

The “Novice,” built a year later, strictly of original design, a sail boat 27 feet long and 10 feet wide, proved a wonder, easily distancing all class boats, and taking the prize over all the noted boats and yachts in Southern waters. She was of the skimming dish type with an overhanging end, and a center-board.

The “Jennie,” a steam yacht 33 feet long, 8 feet beam, attracted much attention among yachtsmen along the Atlantic coast.

The “Gleam,” a 24-foot cat boat, but eligible to the 20-foot class, was built in 1895, and won three of a series of races at Bushby Point, July 11, 25, and 31, 1896.

In March, 1881, Mr. Palmer married Miss Elizabeth L. Murphy, of Noank, daughter of Charles and Nancy Murphy. Their only child, Bernard Ledyard, died March 5, 1885, aged two years and eleven months. Like his distinguished father, Robert Palmer, Jr., has long been an interested participant in the political life of his locality, a representative and influential member of the Republican party. The same high standard of citizenship that has so long characterized the Palmer family at Noank, is found in him. In 1886 he represented the town in the Connecticut Legislature, serving on the committee on Appropriations. He is a prominent member and liberal supporter of the Baptist Church.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Meriden (1936)

In the 1870s, Italian immigrants began settling in the northwest corner of Meriden. For many years they attended existing Catholic churches in the city, but soon wanted to found their own parish. The Diocese of Hartford established Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in 1894. The first parish church was a wooden building on Goodwill Avenue. The current church, located at 109 Goodwill Avenue, was dedicated on February 16, 1936. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School was established in 1944 after the parish purchased the Nathan Hale Public School from the city of Meriden. In recent years, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Laurent Parishes in Meriden shared a priest. Earlier this year, as part of a reorganization throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Laurent and three other parishes merged to form the new Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish, based at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.