W. L. Wellwood General Store (1787)

Wellwood Store

A section of the former W. L. Wellwood General Store at 1140 Main Street in Coventry dates to 1787, making it one of the oldest general store buildings in the nation. In 1820, the large Greek Revival portion was added to the original store and living quarters, which also attach to a later Italianate residence to the northeast. Another addition, containing the west wing grain room and butcher shop, was added in 1883. The Loomis family owned the store from about 1810 until 1881. After 1905 it was owned and operated by the Wellwood family. In 1974 the building went from housing a general store to becoming an antiques shop. It has more recently been the “Coventry Country Store” (as in the image above) and is currently “Coventry Arts & Antiques.”

Charles E. Kahrman House (1903)

kahrman-house

The house at 59 Maple Avenue East in Higganum (part of Haddam) was built c. 1903 for Charles E. Kahrman (1851-1911). Born in England, Kahrman was superintendent at the Lower Mill of the D & H Scovil Hoe Company. He financed the purchase of the land and construction of his home with a bonus from his employer. The house was inherited by his son Everett E. Kahrman (1882-1959) and remained in the family until 1966.

North Stonington Congregational Church Parsonage (1853)

North Stonington Congregational Church Parsonage

The parsonage (minister’s residence) for the North Stonington Congregational Church, located at 91 Main Street, was built c. 1851-1853. Ministers regularly resided in the Parsonage until 1983, when the church, for the first time, permitted the then minister to purchase his own home (see “Parsonage; A Home of His Own Doesn’t Mean Abandoning His Flock,” The Day, October 17, 1983). (more…)

Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford (1868)

Grace Episcopal Church

Grace Episcopal Church in Hartford was first established in 1863 as a mission chapel of Trinity Church on Sigourney Street and became an independent parish in 1912. Part of the original church, consecrated on November 11, 1868, survives as the central section of the current church building. That building’s entrance and belfry faced New Park Avenue. A ten-foot addition was added to the front of the original 50’x 22′ chapel in 1908-1909. The building, located at 55 New Park Avenue, was further enlarged in 1966-1967, when the nave was lengthened to include the present choir loft and the sanctuary was also expanded. The entrance was moved to the south side, which also included a new bell tower, and the Chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham was added on the north side. The chapel was rededicated in 2006 with the installation of a new icon, to St. Martin, Grace Church’s patron saint. The church has a connected parish house designed by George Keller. (more…)

William P. Jordan House (1885)

william-jordan-house

Built c. 1885, the house at 228 North Street in Willimantic was the home of William Peter Jordan (1863-1953), a hardware dealer who was born in Lebanon, Connecticut. His career is described in A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut, Vol. II (1920):

in 1884 he directed his attention to commercial pursuits by accepting a clerkship in the drug store of Wilson & Leonard of Willimantic. After a time Mr. Wilson became sole proprietor and in 1890 sold to Mr. Jordan an interest in the business, which was then conducted under the firm style of F. M. Wilson & Company. Mr. Jordan was a partner in the enterprise until 1898, when he joined his brother, Frederick D. Jordan, in a partnership and thus became prominently connected with the hardware trade of Willimantic. He has continued in this line and the business has since been reorganized under the name of the Jordan Hardware Company, of which he is the secretary and treasurer. The company conducts both a wholesale and retail business and their patronage is very gratifying.

William P. Jordan does not confine his efforts to a single line, however, for he is identified with many important business interests which constitute leading factors in the commercial and industrial development of the city. He is now the treasurer of the Windham Silk Company, of which he became a stockholder and director in 1901. He is also the president of the Watts Laundry Machinery Company, engaged in the manufacture of presses and mangles, on which they hold patents, their output being shipped all over this country and also to France under government contract. Mr. Jordan also became a stockholder and one of the directors of the Willimantic Trust Company, which he assisted in organizing in 1915, and he is identified with the Willimantic Industrial Company and is president of the Jordan Automobile Company, which is featuring the Dodge, Buick and Cole cars, their sales territory covering Windham and New London counties in the sale of the Dodge and Cole, while their sale of the Buick cars covers a part of Windham county and of Tolland and New London. Mr. Jordan’s interests have thus become important and extensive and his activities place him in the foremost rank of the leading business men of his adopted city.