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

Shubael Conant, Jr. House (1765)

The house at 552 Storrs Road in Mansfield Center was built around 1765 by Shubael Conant, Jr. (1739-1794). His father, Judge Shubael Conant (1711-1775) was a leading citizen of Mansfield and served as Speaker of the Connecticut General Assembly. As described in the second volume of Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College (1896), by Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Shubael Conant, Jr.:

was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, on the 10th of August, 1739, being the eldest son of Judge Shubael Conant (Y. C. 1732) by his second marriage with Ruth Conant. Two brothers were graduated here in 1765 and 1776.

He was a farmer in his native town, serving also in various town offices, and especially as Clerk of the Probate Court, of which his father was for some years Judge.

He died in Mansfield in June, 1794, in his 55th year. His estate was bequeathed to his widow, and to his brother and nephews and nieces.

He married Anna, third daughter of Peter and Rebecca (Storrs) Aspenwall, of Woodstock and Windham, Connecticut, who was born on October 26, 1748, and died in the early part of the year 1807.

In 1813, the house was acquired by Isaac Arnold, a carpenter.

B’nai Israel Synagogue (1911)

The New Hope Missionary Baptist Church at 1100 Park Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1911 as B’nai Israel Synagogue. First organized in 1855 and incorporated in 1859 as an Orthodox synagogue by Jews from Germany, B’nai Israel is oldest Jewish congregation in Bridgeport and the third oldest in Connecticut. By the time the Park Avenue Temple was built in 1911, the congregation had moved from Orthodox to Reform Judaism. The building was designed by Leonard Asheim with a Craftsman-style interior featuring natural wood finishes. In 1958, the congregation moved to a new building, at 2710 Park Avenue.

Berlin Train Station (1900)

Built in 1900 for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the Berlin train station at 51 Depot Road in the Kensington section of Berlin is considered to be one of the best preserved of Connecticut’s smaller historic railroad depots. Now serving Amtrak’s New Haven-Springfield line, the building has an original rounded walled ticket office in the waiting room. The station had structural renovations in 2005 but is awaiting a thorough restoration.

Update: Sadly, the station was gutted by fire on December 21, 2016. Deemed unsafe, the building’s ruins were demolished.

John Dudley House (1675)

The saltbox house at 566 Boston Post Road in Madison was long thought to have been built by John Dudley in 1675, making it the oldest house in town. The nomination for the Madison Green Historic District instead attributes it to Gilbert Dudley with a date of c. 1740. A plaque by the Madison Historical Society gives a date of c. 1720. On April 11, 1776, while on his way from Cambridge to New York, George Washington stopped to dine at the house, which was then a tavern run by Captain Gilbert Dudley.

Simon C. Sherwood House (1884)

Simon Couch Sherwood (1845-1906) of Southport was the son of Edwin Sherwood, a wealthy shipping merchant involved in the trade between New York and Savannah. Simon C. Sherwood is described in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut (1899):

Aside from his investments, he is living retired, in the enjoyments of a well-regulated life. On October 14, 1868, Mr. Sherwood was married to Miss Matilda Simpson, of Southport, daughter of John Simpson, and two sons—Simon W. and Richard S.—have been born to them. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood are identified with the Congregational Church, and he is a member of the executive committee of same. In his political preferences he was once a Democrat, but for some years past has been a Republican. He is a trustee of the Southport Savings Bank. Mr. Sherwood’s honorable business methods and his upright life have gained for him prestige in the community where he has so long made his home, while his genial manner enables him to make friends easily, and when once a friendship is won it is always his. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Sherwood’s house, built in 1884 at 67 Westway Road in Southport, features an eclectic mix of Victorian-era stylistic elements. After his death in 1906, the house continued as the residence of his widow and his son Simon Wakeman Sherwood until 1916.

Moses Downs House (1755)

At 662 South Britain Road in the village of South Britain in Southbury is a house built c. 1755-1760 by Moses Downs. Also known as the Perry House, it originally had a saltbox form, but was later enlarged to two full stories. It also has a Greek Revival doorway from the 1850s. A carriage house and a shed on the property are thought to date to c. 1780. When South Britain established its own Congregational church society, separate from Southbury, its first meeting was held at the Downs House on June 5, 1766. As related in South Britain Sketches and Records (1898) by W. C. Sharpe:

It was voted that the Society hire preaching for two months and meet at the dwelling house of Moses Downs for public worship. On the 15th of September it was voted to build a meeting house[.]

The house later became the Methodist parsonage. As related by Sharpe in the same book,

The following is from an old letter (not dated) from Titus Pierce, the venerable town clerk and local historian, to Henry M. Canfield, Esq.:

“Religious meetings were held at first in the chamber of what is now the Methodist parsonage. The chamber was undivided and loose boards were laid for a garret floor on which corn was laid. Here I will relate an anecdote as I heard it from my father. An aged negro by the name of Jethro was famous for opening his mouth to an enormous extent when singing. While touching on his highest strains an unruly boy in the garret had shelled a handful of corn which he threw directly into Jethro’s mouth, which caused great consternation in coughing, gagging, &c.

Sharpe also explains that:

Deacon Eben Downs removed first from West Haven to Southbury, then to South Britain. He bought most of the land in the central part and built his house a little west of the widow George Curtiss’ dwelling house, which was pulled down a few years ago. His oldest son, Moses, built the house now occupied as the Methodist parsonage, also the old red house which stood opposite Downs’ store, and late in life he built the house now occupied as the Congregational parsonage, where he died.

Flanders Elementary School (1916)

The two-story building (with a partially exposed basement) at 167 Boston Post Road in East Lyme was built in 1916 as the Flanders Elementary School. It was designed by architect James Sweeney of New London. It served as a school until a new Flanders Elementary School building, attached to the 1916 building, opened in 1964. The original school building then became the Central Office of the East Lyme Public Schools.