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

Wadsworth Homestead (1685)

The rear ell of the house at 107 Main Street in Farmington dates to around 1685. It was built by John Wadsworth, Jr. (1662-1718), nephew of the Joseph Wadsworth (1647-1729) who had hidden the Royal Charter in the Charter Oak. The house remained in the Wadsworth family, eventually passing to John, Jr.’s youngest son, Rev. Daniel Wadsworth (1704-1747), pastor of the First Church of Christ in Hartford (Center Church). In 1771, Asahel Wadsworth (1743-1817) purchased the property from his cousins, the daughters of Daniel Wadsworth. He hired the architect/builder Judah Woodruff to construct the front portion of the house, which was completed between 1776 and 1781. The columned front porch was added much later. During the Revolutionary War, Asahel Wadsworth was appointed to correspond with other towns about “Colonial matters” and transact matters related to the Continental Congress. The Wadsworth farm ceased operation until the 1970s but the house has remained in the Wadsworth family for nine generations.

101 Main Street, Ellington (1832)

The house at 101 Main Street in Ellington displays features of the Gothic Revival: board-and-batten siding, decorative bargeboards and drip mold window crowns. The house was probably built as a simple version of the Greek Revival style (c. 1832) and later altered (c. 1860) in the Gothic Revival style.

Charles Caldwell House (1740)

In volume 58 of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1904), it is written that Charles Caldwell

Charles Caldwell and his brother John Caldwell came from Beith, in Scotland, to New England about the year 1718. It is said that they deserted from the army in the early part of the rebellion of 1715. They were aristocratic in their manners, and unaccustomed to the industrious habits of the early settlers of New England. John was married before he came to this country, but Charles was unmarried. Soon after their arrival, they bought a house, a shop or store, land, etc. They were traders. John remained in Hartford, but Charles removed to Guilford. . . [Charles] married, Nov. 3, 1724, Anna, daughter of Rev. Thomas Ruggles. She died May 19, 1760; and he died Feb. 12, 1765.

Charles Caldwell‘s house in Guilford, built circa 1740, is at 159 Boston Street. The house’s original central chimney was replaced by two smaller ones circa 1815 and the front porch was added around the same time.

First Baptist Church of Waterford (1848)

The first Baptist church in Connecticut was established in Groton in 1705. Families west of the Thames River, who did not want to have to travel across the river every Sunday, established their own Baptist church, only the second in Connecticut, in 1710 in what would later be the Town of Waterford. Meeting in private homes and, for a time, sharing a meeting house with the Waterford Seventh Day Baptists, they eventually built a church on Mullen Hill Road around 1796. It was here that the first meeting of the Town of Waterford was held in 1801. The town continued to meet at the church for a century until a town hall was built. The current Greek Revival meeting house of the First Baptist Church of Waterford was constructed in 1848 at 105 Rope Ferry Road. Construction of the church stimulated the development of its immediate vicinity as a residential community, an area known as Jordan Village.

Mapleton Hall (1883)

Mapleton Hall, at 1305 Mapleton Avenue in Suffield, was constructed in 1883. First known as Central Hall and located on Crooked Lane, which was soon changed to Mapleton Avenue, the building was used as a meeting hall for town government and farmers’ associations. As described in Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of Suffield, Connecticut, October 12, 13 and 14, 1920:

A strong community spirit has characterized the people residing in that part of the town long known as Crooked Lane and later as Mapleton. Early in the seventies they began to hold Lyceum and Farmers’ meetings in the old brick school house at the foot of the hill. It became too small for the interesting meetings and in the winter of 1879-80 a public hall was suggested. This sentiment quickly grew and at a meeting early in 1880 a committee consisting of Cecil H. Fuller, Arthur Sikes and Edward Austin was appointed to draw up articles of organization and agreement. They were presented at a meeting at the school house April 16, 1880, and an association organized. The articles of agreement were accepted and the following officers elected: president, Edward Austin; secretary, John L. Wilson; auditor, Dwight S. Fuller; trustees, Cecil H. Fuller, Henry D. Tinker and D. D. Bement. In the next two years enough money was raised so that the construction of Mapleton Hall was begun in the spring of 1882. It was ready for use in January of the next year and was dedicated January 16 with exercises that included an “old home week.” At first it was called Central Hall, but the name was later changed to Mapleton Hall. In 1896 a large addition was built to meet the requirements. All debts are paid and the association has money in the treasury.

The old Lyceum and Farmers’ meetings were continued in the new hall till 1885, when the Grange was organized to take their places. The organization occurred February 19, 1885 with Henry D. Tinker, master, Arthur Sikes, secretary and George A. Austin, lecturer. From that time till the present the organization has held meetings twice a month. When organized there were twenty-eight charter members; the membership is now two hundred.

Mapleton Hall later fell into disrepair but was restored over twenty years by the Mapleton Hall Association. Since 1978 it has been the principal performing space of the Suffield Players, who purchased the building in 1999.

Morgan-Williams-Francis Cottage (1885)

At 4 Agawam Avenue in the Borough of Fenwick in Old Saybrook is a Queen Anne cottage that was once located on the waterfront in Fenwick. It was built in 1885 for Henry P. Morgan of Brooklyn, who owned a large dry goods business, and was moved to its current location (4 Agawam Avenue) around 1901 by Ernest Williams, who was in the building supply business. His daughter Dorothy married Everett Francis of Middletownn. You can read more about the cottage in Marion Hepburn Grant’s The Fenwick Story (Connecticut Historical Society, 1974), page 170. (more…)

Jonathan Starr House (1790)

At 181 Bank Street in New London is a former house that now has a commercial facade on the ground floor. The house was built in 1790 for Jonathan Starr, whose earlier house, built in 1702, had stood on the same site. Starr operated a lumber yard that was located right across the street from his home. From 1914 to 1996 the Starr House was used as the James Drug Store and more recently has housed a restaurant, an antiques store and a hair salon.