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

Former Sacred Heart Church, Wethersfield (1880)

A reader who contacted me on Facebook a while back noted the similarities of the former Sacred Heart Church at 32 Garden Street in Wethersfield to another Catholic church, St. Augustine Church in Glastonbury. Perhaps they used the same plans? Sacred Heart Parish began as a mission of St. Mary, East Hartford in 1877 and later became a mission of St. Lawrence O’Toole, Hartford. The building on Garden Street, which was the first Catholic church in Wethersfield, was erected in 1880, on a lot purchased in 1876. The church was dedicated on May 29, 1881. Sacred Heart was made a parish on September 1, 1897 and in 1924 moved to a new building, the former Meggat Seed Warehouse on Hartford Avenue, which was converted into a church. A fire in 1938 forced the congregation to move back into the Garden Street church. By 1943 the former Meggat granary was again made a church and was used by the parish until the current Sacred Heart Church, at 56 Hartford Avenue, was dedicated on June 29, 1963. In the 1940s the former Sacred Heart Church on Garden Street became storage for John Oldham Art and Display (now Oldham Studios). The company was founded in 1931 by John W. Oldham, Sr., an illustrator who painted portraits of movie stars for film premiers in the Hartford area. Continued by his son and grandson, the company expanded into a trade show display design and fabrication company, based at 888 Wells Road in Wethersfield. The Queen Anne house next to the church was built in 1900 as the parish rectory. (more…)

273 South Main Street, Cheshire (1850)

The brick house at 273 South Main Street in Cheshire was built c. 1850. It is transitional in style between the Greek Revival and the Italianate Villa. Two owners of the house in the mid-nineteenth century were E. Talmadge and U. P. Hokum.

Fairfield County Savings Bank (1922)

At 67 Wall Street in Norwalk is a building constructed in 1922 for the Fairfield County Savings Bank. The bank, chartered in 1874, had an earlier building at 51 Wall Street whose facade was significantly altered in the 1970s. The building at 67 Wall Street was renovated in 1990. The Fairfield County Savings Bank merged with the Ridgefield Bank to form the Fairfield County Bank in 2004.

David Lyman I House (1785)

The house at 671 Main Street in Middlefield originally stood on the site of the David Lyman II House. Built in 1785 by David Lyman (1746-1815), it passed to his son William Lyman (1783-1869). After William’s son, David Lyman II (1820-1871), built his grand new residence on the property, the old Lyman House was moved to its current address in 1864 and was altered from a central chimney to a two-chimney house. The front columned verandah was possibly added around 1901.

Polish Falcons Nest 88 (1923)

The building at 20 Broad Street in New Britain was erected in 1923 as the Rialto Theater. The owners went into receivership in the late 1920s and the building was foreclosed in 1930. Nest 88 of the Polish Falcons of America acquired the building in 1934. The Polish Falcons are a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nest 88 was chartered in 1907 after a first meeting in Lee Hall on Lafayette Street in New Britain. The organization has an emphasis on physical fitness, but in the early twentieth century it also trained volunteers to fight for the independence of Poland. 300 recruits from New Britain were among the 20-25,000 Polish men from North America who went to fight in the War as part of Haller’s Army (also called the Blue Army), which was composed of Polish immigrants and fought under French command in Europe. The building in New Britain has retail space on the first floor while the entire second floor is dedicated to Nest 88, with the Club Office, Club Bar, two halls, a kitchen and meeting rooms.

West Hartford Armory (1913)

In 1911 the First Company Governor’s Horse Guards became Troop B Cavalry, Connecticut National Guard. Troop B soon began construction of a privately funded armory (with stables and drill shed) at 836 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford. The plans were provided by architects and troop members A. Raymond Ellis and Francis E. Waterman, who made the building very functional without extra features in order to keep costs down. Built in 1912-1913, the armory was soon officially acquired by the state. The unit served along the Mexican border in 1916 and in World War I as a Machine Gun Battalion. By the late 1930s mechanization was bringing an end to horse cavalry in the US Army. In 1940 the unit became part of the 208th Coastal Artillery Regiment and the Armory was converted to store large vehicles. After the War, the First Company Governor’s Horse Guards was reorganized as a state militia unit and today has a facility in Avon. The Army continued to house various units in the West Hartford Armory until the early 1980s, when the building was decommissioned and sold by the state. It was then extensively altered for use as professional office suites.

Giles Barber House (1825)

The Giles Barber House is an “L”-shaped plan Federal/Greek Revival style residence at 411-413 Windsor Avenue in Windsor. It was built c. 1825 using bricks made nearby, at brickyards on the east side of Windsor Avenue.