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

Linsly Hall, Yale University (1907)

This is my 100th post for New Haven. Check out my New Haven buildings Index!. Linsly-Chittenden Hall at Yale University in New Haven combines two different buildings. Designed by J. Cleveland Cady, Chittenden Hall, is a Romanesque Revival building, built in 1888-1889 as an annex for the old University Library in Dwight Hall. In 1906-1907, Linsly Hall was erected as a Gothic building to join Chittenden and Dwight Halls. It was designed by Charles C. Haight, who known as the “peacemaker” at Yale for his ability to unify the architecturally varied campus. Linsly-Chittenden Hall, restored in 1998, has served as classroom and faculty office space since Sterling Memorial Library opened in 1930.

Harry Bartholomew House (1876)

The Harry Bartholomew House, at 341 Main Street in Bristol, was designed by architect Joel Case. There is a local story, according to which Bartholomew was already building the Italianate house when he met Joel Case outside. Case told him the house needed a tower and Bartholomew immediately had the workers begin building one. The entire house, though, is very much in Case’s style of architecture.

Lathrop House (1752)

The house at 14 Elm Avenue in Norwich was built between 1747 and 1752 by William Morgan of Groton. In 1757 he sold the house to Nathan Stedman, an attorney. In 1764 Stedman sold the house to Azariah Lathrop, who enlarged it or rebuilt it. Azariah lived with his son, Dr. Gurdon Lathrop, who was a druggist and had a shop across the Norwichtown Green. Another son of Azariah, Gerard Lathrop, inherited the house in 1810. According to the 1895 book Old Houses of the Antient Town of Norwich, by Mary E. Perkins:

Gerard Lathrop had seven children, three of whom were born in Norwich. In 1814, he conveys his property in Norwich to his brother-in-law, Rev. Ezra Stiles Ely of Philadelphia, and later resides in Savannah and New York City. The house had then for many years a variety of tenants. Capt. Elisha Leffingwell resided here for a time. In 1823, it was sold to Capt. Bela Peck. In 1853, it passed into the possession of the Lanman family, and is still owned by the widow of Peter Lanman, who occasionally resides here.

Alfred F. Taylor House (1890)

The house at 51 Holmes Avenue in Waterbury was built in 1890 for Alfred F. Taylor, who owned a painting and decorating company. He had previous lived for about a year in the house next door at 47 Holmes Avenue. The house at 51 Holmes Avenue is now used as a law office.

United Presbyterian Church, Thompsonville (1901)

In 1841 there was a dispute in the First Presbyterian Church in Enfield over whether an organ could be used in church services. Those in opposition to using an organ (their rallying cry was “No fiddle in the Kirk”) formed the separate United Presbyterian Church in 1845. They built a meeting house in Thompsonville in Enfield the following year. The church was built on land acquired from Orrin Thompson’s carpet company for a dollar with the requirement that they return the property when asked. This eventually happened fifty-five years later when the company built an expansion. A new church building was erected at 100 High Street in 1901. The church had an organ, the original cause of separation having long disappeared by that time. The church was damaged by a fire in 1943 but was repaired after eleven months of work. The church merged with the First Presbyterian Church in 1973 to form the Calvary Presbyterian Church, located on King Street in the southwestern corner of Enfield. The old church building on High Street then served as the Enfield Senior Center from 1974-2003 and afterward housed town offices, a local theater group and the New Life Community Church. This year, the Town of Enfield solicited proposals for development of the property, which is now called the Village Center. The town requires adaptive reuse of the building that will preserve its impressive stained glass windows.

John Fuller House (1824)

The house at 463 Halliday Avenue in Suffield was built in 1824 by George Fuller. It remained in the Fuller family (and is known as the John Fuller House) until the Town of Suffield bought the property in 1887 to serve as a Town Farm. The house became the town’s “poorhouse” or “alms house,” whose able-bodied residents were required to work at the adjacent farm. In 1886, a man known as “Old Cato” died in the house who had been a slave owned by Major John Davenport in Stamford in the years before the War of 1812. The house was sold back to private ownership at auction in 1952. (more…)

Timothy Wadsworth House (1829)

The will of Eliphalet Wadsworth, who died in 1823, deeded his land in Farmington to his relative Timothy Wadsworth, but also gave life use of the property to his widow Mary. In 1829, Timothy Wadsworth replaced the original eighteenth-century (1795?) house with a new Greek Revival one. Here he lived with his wife Mary until he died in 1841. She continued to reside there until she passed away in 1862. Their children sold the property in 1865. According to tradition, the house was a station on the Underground Railroad. In helping fugitive slaves, the Wadsworth’s made use of the passenger boats on the Farmington Canal, which ran through their property behind their house. The Timothy Wadsworth House, which is located at 340 Main Street in Farmington, is now used for offices, having been renovated and expanded for that purpose, construction being completed in 2008.