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

First Lutheran Church of the Reformation, New Britain (1906)

With its prominent location on Franklin Square, New Britain’s First Lutheran Church has been a notable landmark since it was built in 1906. The church began as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, Maria, as described in David Nelson Camp’s History of New Britain (1889):

The first regular mission of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in New Britain in the latter part of 1877. The meetings were held in the chapel of the Methodist Church, the preaching services being conducted by Rev. J. Medlander of Portland, Conn., Rev. T. O. Linell of Rhode Island, and Rev. A. P. Monten of Philadelphia. Students from the Lutheran Seminary of the latter place occasionally visited New Britain and assisted in the services. In March, 1881, the congregation or church was organized. There were different preachers for the first few months, but Rev. O. A. Landell was installed as pastor soon after the organization of the church. In 1883-85, a small but convenient church edifice was erected at the corner of Elm and Chestnut streets. The corner-stone of this edifice was laid in July, 1883, and the church was dedicated March 8, 1885. The building is of wood with a belfry and a basement, which is used for Sunday-school and for other meetings. The main audience room, including gallery, has seating capacity for about six hundred. Rev. O. A. Landell was dismissed in 1836, and Rev. O. W. Form was installed pastor September 27,1887.

Rev. Sven Gustaf Ohman, who served as pastor from 1895 to 1922, oversaw construction of the church’s current grand edifice at 77 Franklin Square. A Gothic building of light Vermont granite, it was designed by New Britain architect William Cadwell and was inspired by Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden. In 1924, the church became known as the First Lutheran Church of New Britain. In 1974, the church merged with Reformation Lutheran Church in New Britain, which had been established in 1906, to become the First Lutheran Church of the Reformation.

The church‘s two towers were originally topped by tall spires, but these were removed in 1938 because of structural weakness. By the twenty-first century, deferred maintenance over the years had led to the towers starting to become separated from the main body of the church. The prospect of an extensive restoration, requiring that the towers be dismantled and rebuilt, led the church to consider tearing down the building and starting over. An innovative and less expensive solution was found using the Cintec System, which uses stainless steel anchors instead of masonry for tower stabilization. The restored church continues to be an important part of New Britain’s architectural heritage.

Nathaniel Johnson House (1730)

The Nathaniel Johnson House is a large saltbox house with a later Greek Revival doorway. Built in 1730, it is located at 58 Fair Street in Guilford. The leading Episcopalian in town, Johnson helped to establish Christ Church in Guilford. He was the brother of Samuel Johnson, an Anglican clergyman and the first president of King’s College (later Columbia) in New York.

Porter Cook House (1789)

At 38 North Elm Street in Wallingford is the Porter Cook House. As recorded in Porter Cook‘s diary (and quoted in the WPA report on the house):

In 1789, Octrober 3, Saturday my new house on Lower Town St. was raised. Samuel Doolittle of Pond Hill hued and fraimed the house, and Timothy Carrington and his son Lemuel clapboarded and shinggled the house. Col. Isaac Cook dighed the sellar wall, Zebilon Potter of this town near Tyler Cook’s East, North of this Town, made the brick. Trobridge and Jordan of New Haven put up my chimney, topt it of in eight days. (Up to Oct. 29, 1790, Bill Brout in and settled $17.00) Captain John Mansfield of Wallingford did the inside work, with them and Abel Mansfield, son to John Mansfield.

A farmer, Cook donated land for Union Academy in Wallingford in 1812.

Benjamin Lord House (1876)

Built around 1876, the Benjamin Lord House is a Stick Style/Queen Anne residence at 154 Pearl Street in Thompsonville, Enfield. Benjamin F. Lord was the proprietor of the Thompsonville Hotel, which was torn down in 1975. In recent years, the house was a bed and breakfast.

George Langdon House (1865)

Born in Plymouth in 1826, George Langdon graduated from Yale in 1848. After experiencing a financial reverse as an industrial entrepreneur in Colchester after the Panic of 1857, he returned to Plymouth, where he owned a farm. He became the wealthiest man in town. He served as state representative in 1859 and as first selectman from 1859 to 1865. His Gothic Revival house was built at 688 Main Street in Plymouth circa 1865.

Daniel Buck House and Store (1780)

On the property that is now 778 Farmington Avenue in Farmington, Elijah Lewis is said to have had a store going back to 1780. In 1841, the property (which was then part of the Lewis Place, later the Elm Tree Inn) was sold to wheelwright Daniel Buck by Eunice J. Woodruff, daughter of Noadiah Woodruff (son of Judah Woodruff). Buck used it as his home and workshop/store. It has had many owners over the years, including Alfred A. Pope, who purchased it in 1900. By that time it was being used as a plumbing shop and Pope purchased it for Arthur Joseph Parker, a plumber whom he had hired to install the plumbing and heating in his new house, Hill-Stead.

Turn Halle, Rockville (1897)

The Turnverein was a German gymnastic/athletics movement. German immigrants to America founded Turnvereine in many communities, including the Rockville Turnverein, which was established in 1857. Members of the club (called Turners) built a Turn Halle on Village Street (a street that had strong associations with the German community) in Rockville in 1897. The building, which has been much altered, was later used by the Polish American Citizens Club.