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

Grace Lutheran Church, Hartford (1951)

Grace Lutheran Church, at 46 Woodland Street in Hartford, is the descendant of three Lutheran churches that once existed in the city. One was the German Lutheran Church of the Reformation, which was founded in 1880. It was first located on Market Street in the former St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, later to become St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church. The German Lutheran Church moved to a new building on Charter Oak Avenue in 1898. Another Lutheran church founded by German immigrants was the German Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church, established in 1894, which had its church building at the corner of Russ and Babcock Streets. In 1916, these two churches, both founded by German immigrants, merged, retaining the name of Trinity Lutheran Church. In 1906, St. Paul’s English Lutheran Church was established. For a time it used the German Lutheran Church on Charter Oak Avenue, but soon moved to its own church building at the corner of Park Street and Park Terrace. In 1943, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church also merged with Trinity Lutheran Church. The united church then took the new name of Grace Lutheran Church. Finding its church edifice at Russ and Babcock Streets to be too small for the enlarged membership, the church acquired land at the corner of Woodland and Niles Streets in 1945. Construction of a new church building was approved in 1948 and work began in 1950. The church was dedicated on January 14, 1951. It was designed by Bessell (Wesley S.) and Matz of New York.

Henry Bunce House (1893)

The Henry Bunce at 34 Hackley Street in Black Rock, Bridgeport, was built in 1893 for the Bartram family’s head gardener. Bunce also worked for Rev. Henry Collings Woodruff, minister of the Black Rock Congregational Church. The house was constructed in the same year as its more elaborate neighbor on an adjoining lot, the Arthur Smith House at 118 Ellsworth Street.

Sheldon Curtiss House (1789)

At 5 Elm Street in Ansonia is a house built circa 1789 and altered in later years (including the addition of a Victorian-era front porch). Called the Sheldon Curtiss House, it was an inn in the early nineteenth century, serving the coach road between New Haven and Humphreysville (now Seymour).

Wilfred X. Johnson House (1928)

At 206 Tower Avenue is a house constructed in 1928. It was the home of Wilfred Xavier Johnson (b. 1920) from 1966 until his death in 1972. Johnson’s family came north from Georgia in 1925 and settled in Hartford. Johnson worked as a “runner” (messenger) after school for the Hartford National Bank. After World War II, in which he served as dental technician, Johnson returned to work for the bank. In 1955 he was promoted to teller, the first African-American to hold the position in the state. He held that position until his death. In 1958, Wilfred X. Johnson became the first black candidate to be endorsed by the Democratic Party in Connecticut. He served four terms as the first black representative in the state assembly. His wife, Gertrude Johnson (b. 1927), was also active in city politics. She served as treasurer of the Young Democrats in 1957.

David Plume House (1884)

At 67 Union Street in Thomaston is an elaborate Queen Anne-style house built in 1884. It is named for David Plume, Treasurer of the Plume and Atwood Manufacturing Company, which produced lamps and supplied brass for Seth Thomas clocks. The house served as living space for various mangers of the brass mill. It was owned by the company until 1914, when it was sold to a company stockholder, Leslie E. Blackmer.

Timothy North House (1704)

At 671 Farmington Avenue in Farmington is a saltbox colonial house built in 1704 by by Timothy North (the date of 1704 is probably a traditional date: it may date to much later, circa 1780; or it may have been built by Timothy’s father, Thomas North, as Timothy North was not even born until 1714). It was later home to Timothy’s son, Seth North (1752-1822), who was known as “Sinner North” because he never attended Sunday services in the meeting house and refused to pay the fines that he was then charged as a punishment. The village boys used to refer to him in a deferential manner as “Mr. Sinner.” As related in Farmington, Connecticut, The Village of Beautiful Homes (1906):

He was otherwise so much in accordance with modern ideas, that as he drew near his end, he ordered his body to be cremated, the place a lonely spot on the mountain between two rocks, and his friend, Adam Stewart, chief cremator, who was to inherit the house for his kindly services. The civil authority, however, interposed and insisted on giving him what they deemed a Christian burial, but Adam Stewart got the house and it remained in the family many years.

In 1898, when Alfred A. Pope was acquiring the various parcels that would make up the Hillstead estate, he purchased the North House. The house was remodeled, an old barn on the property was replaced with a new hay barn and an attached cow barn was also constructed, as well as two other small buildings (a shed and a shop) designed by Pope’s daughter, Theodate. In the resulting farm complex she raised a Guernsey herd.

Portersville Academy (1839)

Portersville Academy in Mystic was built in 1839 by the Town of Groton as its Fifth District School. Mystic was then called Portersville. It was constructed by Amos Clift (1808-1878), a local builder who also built many homes in Mystic Bridge. Originally located north of the Union Baptist Church on High Street, the building was moved in 1887 to its current address at 76 High Street, where it served as Mystic’s First Voting Hall until 1958. Portersville Academy was acquired and restored by the Mystic River Historical Society in 1975-1978. It is now open to the public as a museum.