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

William Hastings House (1890)

At 215 Valley Street in Willimantic is a large Victorian house. Built c. 1890, it is named for William Hastings.

Aaron Phelps was a successful farmer in Andover who built one of the first mills on Staddle Brook and also donated land in 1747 for the future town‘s first Congregational meetinghouse. He also donated land for a road to neighboring Hebron. In 1740 Phelps erected a house at what is now 40 Hebron Road. His house and barn were often used for worship services and Society meetings before the meetinghouse was built. Phelps’ house has a one-room deep main block with a rear ell and a later Greek Revival doorway. After Phelps died in 1750, 112 acres of his property on both sides of Hebron Road, including the house, were acquired by the Bingham family.

Richard Gay House (1855)

Some would date the house at 22 Main Street in Farmington to c. 1855 based on stylistic considerations (it combines Greek Revival and Italianate characteristics). The house, however, does not appear on an 1869 map of Farmington, so it has also been dated to c. 1870. It was built by William Gay, who operated a store in Farmington. In 1875 William Gay sold the property to his son Richard H. Gay. According to American Biography: A New Cyclopedia, Volume 12 (1922):

Richard Holmes Gay, the oldest son of William Gay, was born April 7, 1832, and died March 30, 1903. He married, September 25, 1856, Gertrude Rivington Palmer, who was born in Whitehall, New York, September 25, 1835, daughter of Hunloke and Mary (Rivington) Palmer. Their children were: Mary Rivington, Margaret Palmer, Anna Rivington, and Gertrude Holmes.

After Richard Gay’s widow Gertrude died in 1924 the house passed to their daughter Gertrude Gay Kimball. It has had numerous owners since then.

Josiah Fowler Tavern (1776)

Travelers along the Old Post Road could once find accommodations at Josiah Fowler’s Tavern in Northford (current address 1710 Middletown Avenue). Fowler, who came to Northford in North Branford from Durham, built his tavern in 1776. The front entrance’s original five-pane colonial overlight survives as part of a later Federal doorway. Josiah Fowler‘s son, Maltby Fowler started Northford’s first industrial enterprise when he built a Button Shop in 1830.

National Hall (1873)

On the west bank of the Saugatuck River in Westport, at 2 Post Road West, is the National Hall Building. It was built in 1873 to house the First National Bank of Westport, two stores and a meeting hall called National Hall. The building was constructed at a time when the west bank of the river was Westport’s commercial and social hub and it represents the town’s growing prosperity after the Civil War. Horace Staples, a prominent Westport businessman and president of the bank was the driving force behind its construction. Various businesses have used the building over the years, including the Fairfield Furniture store and a luxury hotel, the recently closed Inn at National Hall, where President Bill Clinton once stayed. Today it is home to Vespa Italian Restaurant.

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Charles Ellsworth House (1750)

The house at 36 Main Street in Ellington was built around 1750 by Charles Ellsworth. He was the grandson of Lt. John Ellsworth, who came to Ellington from East Windsor and passed away there in 1720.

Ados Israel Synagogue (1924)

On the other side of the street from the City Mission building (yesterday’s post) is the former Ados Israel synagogue at 215 Pearl Street in Hartford. Designed by Milton E. Haymon, the Georgian Revival structure was erected in 1924 for the First Unitarian Church. Hartford’s First Unitarian Society was formed in 1844 and had two previous churches/meetinghouses: the Unitarian Church of the Saviour (1846), which stood on Trumbull Street, and Unity Hall (1881) on Pratt Street. In 1962 the Unitarians sold the building on Pearl Street and in 1964 dedicated the new Unitarian Meeting House on Bloomfield Avenue.

Congregation Ados Israel, Hartford’s oldest Orthodox Jewish congregation, was first organized by Eastern European Jews in 1872. In 1898 the Congregation built a synagogue on Market Street. This architecturally impressive building was demolished in 1963 to make way for Constitution Plaza. Ados Israel then moved to the former Unitarian building on Pearl Street. Ados Israel was Hartford’s last synagogue when it closed in 1986.