Methodist Episcopal Church of Thompsonville (1884)

Former Methodist Church

The former Methodist Episcopal Church of Thompsonville, in Enfield, is located at 25 High Street. As related in the second volume of the Memorial History of Hartford County (1886), “In 1840, chiefly through the labors of the Rev. John Howson, who had come from England for employment in the carpet-works, the Methodist Episcopal Church of Thompsonville was formed.” The church was officially organized in 1841 and a church edifice was later erected on High Street, east of Pearl Street. The building pictured above was built in 1884, west of Pearl Street. The church, later known as the Enfield United Methodist Church, moved to a modern building on Brainard Road in 1964. The old church was sold to Amvets. It is currently vacant and up for sale.

Byron Tuttle House (1793)

Byron Tuttle House

At 655 Main Street in Plymouth is a Federal/Greek Revival house built in 1793. It was later the home of Byron Tuttle. As related in the Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut (1891):

Mr. Tuttle was born in Plymouth, Conn., August 23, 1825, the son of a farmer, and his early years were spent at home with the best of life training, that of a New England farmer boy; having the advantages of the common district school of those days. On the 26th of August, 1847, he entered the carriage establishment of Augustus C. Shelton of Plymouth, afterward entering into partnership with him under the firm name of Shelton & Tuttle.

As described in the History of the Town of Plymouth, Connecticut (1895):

Byron Tuttle entered the employ of Mr. Shelton August 26, 1847, for $13 per month and board. The next three years he worked for $1.00 per day and board. January 1, 1855, he was taken into partnership with one-half interest. Their trade originally was with the southern market. From 1854 to 1860 every carriage was sold through their house at Chicago. Their western business proved a great success owing to large advance in price of their goods. In 1864 they built a repository on Madison street, Chicago, which they occupied until April 1, 1870, when the business declining the building was disposed of and the partnership so far as the manufacturing was concerned was dissolved. From that time forward Mr. Shelton carried on the business in a limited way until his death in 1880.

Again from the Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut:

In 1864 they built a repository on Madison street, Chicago, which was burned in the great fire of 1872, without much loss to the company, when the property was sold and Mr. Tuttle retired from the business. […] Aside from private business Mr. Tuttle has occupied a prominent place in the affairs of the town, having been elected justice of the peace in 1864 and selectman in 1878, which offices he has filled continuously to the present time. […] Mr. Tuttle’s characteristics as a business man are energy, promptness, thoroughness, and integrity. It is perhaps the secret of his general success in life, that in whatever he engages he observes the same rules of conduct that govern him in the management of his business affairs.

Frederick Crum House (1836)

120 Main St., Unionville

At 120 Main Street in Unionville is a Greek Revival house (pdf) built in 1836 by Frederick W. Crum (1813-1895) and his wife Ellice C. Crum (1812-1846). Crum’s second wife was Susan M. Crum (1822-1902). His company, Hill and Crum, manufactured saws. As related in the second volume of the Memorial History of Hartford County (1886):

in 1854 Mr. Albert Hills and Mr. Frederick W. Crum built a small factory on the Cowles Canal. The business continued until the rise of the great saw-factories in Pennsylvania, during the war period, made competition too severe for small concerns. They sold out their factory to the Union Nut Company.

Crum later made caskets and became an undertaker.

Samuel Lay House (1732)

Samuel Lay House

Samuel Lay married Hannah Hayden in 1726. In 1732, they built a house at 57 Main Street in Essex, near the boat wharf. It was on this property that the earliest Lay home in Essex had been built. The Lay House had numerous owners over the years. By the turn of the twentieth century it had become a crowded tenement. In 1907 it was leased to the Dauntless Yacht Club, which is now located across the street. The house was remodeled in 1939. Among later twentieth century residents was the author Hartzell Spence. In 2012 the house was acquired by the neighboring Connecticut River Museum.

Gridley-Munson House (1849)

Gridley-Munson House

Having built a store north of the Congregational Church in Watertown in 1846, Amos Gridley built his Italianate-style house next door (10 Deforest Street) in 1849. Gridley eventually went bankrupt. The house had other owners. In 1912, James Woolson remodeled it in the colonial revival style, adding the porches on the side of the house (the front portico is original). The house was later owned by William J. Munson, who donated the house and land to the town in 1928 in memory of his wife. The house now contains the Board of Education offices and the land, known as the Marion B. Munson Memorial Park, is joined to the Watertown Public Green.