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

Temple Beth Shalom (1940)

The building at the corner of Myrtle and Linden Streets (63 Linden Street) in Manchester was built in 1940 by Temple Beth Shalom. The synagogue added a school wing in 1946. The Temple later moved to a larger building at 400 Middle Turnpike East and in 2009 merged with Temple B’nai Israel of Rockville to form Beth Shalom B’nai Isreal, which is one of the largest Conservative Jewish congregations east of the Connecticut River. The former Temple Beth Shalom building was purchased by the Town of Manchester in 1965 and was remodeled to become the Manchester Senior Center. Today it houses the Manchester Youth Service Bureau.

207 Bank Street, New London (1901)

The commercial building at 207 Bank Street in New London was built c. 1901 by Charles Klinck next to his home. The Klinck House itself was torn down in the 1920s and replaced by the Klinck Building. Charles H. Klinck operated a successful meat market, located in the Bulkeley House, that serviced steamships.

Daniel Norton House (1814)

Part of the house at 130 South Main Street in Suffield was built by Daniel Norton (1751-1814), c. 1812-1814. After his death, the residence was later completed by his son, D. W. Norton. Daniel Washington Norton (1801-1874) was a prominent businessman and a town office holder. In 1870 he headed the committee that planned the celebrations for the Bicentennial of Suffield

Salvation Army, Bristol (1891)

Merry Christmas! Pictured above is the Salvation Army’s Bristol Worship and Service Center at 19 Stearns Street in Bristol. Much altered over the years, the building was erected in 1891 for the Swedish Lutheran Lebanon Congregational Church (later simplified to Lebanon Lutheran Church), founded in 1887. In 1963 Lebanon Lutheran merged with Bethesda Lutheran Church of Forestville to form Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. The newly formed church erected a new building on Camp Street in Forestville and the old building on Stearns Street was sold to the Salvation Army, which had previously had its headquarters on Prospect Street.

William S. Nevins House (1840)

William S. Nevins built the Greek Revival house at 21 Main Street in Farmington around 1840. He sold the house soon after, in 1843, to Samuel Burgess, who sold it six years later to the sisters Clarissa K. Jones (d. 1881) and Belinda Jones (d. 1883). The house had a number of owners through the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Abraham Brainerd House (1861)

As related in The Genealogy of the Brainerd Family in the United States, with Numerous Sketches of Individuals (1857), by David Dudley Field:

Abraham Brainerd [of Higganum] married Almira M. Clark, of Southwick, Massachusetts, June 5, 1840, and has two children:

Francis Gertrude Brainerd, born Aug. 15, 1841.
William ” ” July 29, 1849.
They lived on the paternal homestead a few years, and then moved to Madison. They keep a house of entertainment on the shore of the Sound, near the East Wharf, where they furnish sea food for those who call upon them, or board with them. Among the latter are numbers, especially in the warm season of the year, seeking health from sea air and sea food.

The family returned to Higganum (in Haddam) where Abraham Brainerd built the vernacular Italianate house at 34 Maple Avenue on land he had acquired from Orrin Freeman in 1861. As related in The Genealogy of the Brainerd-Brainard Family in America, Vol. II (1908), by Lucy Abigail Brainard:

He was commissioner on ferries from 1869 to ’74, inclusive. He was grand juror in 1862; justice of the peace from 1846 to ’51, inclusive; selectman in 1847; notary public and postmaster at Higganum for three years, and commissioner of the Superior Court from 1869 to ’75, inclusive. He was a representative from Haddam in 1846, and nominated delegate to the Whig State Convention in 1848. He lived in the Brainerd district, Higganum, Conn. Mr. Abraham Brainerd d. Aug. 7, 1884, ae. 68 yrs. Mrs. Almira M. (Clark) Brainerd d. Aug. 5, 1890.

Branford Block (1925)

Later known as the Branford Block, the Art Deco-style building at 221 Montowese Street in Branford was built c. 1925-1930 by Connecticut Light & Power Company. The terrazzo entry floor has a sunburst pattern with the letters “CL&P Co.”