At 333 Hazard Avenue in Hazardville, Enfield, is the Olmstead-Allen House. It is a Greek Revival house, built in 1848 for George Olmstead (or was it John Olmstead?), who ran the tin works that provided canisters for the Hazard Powder Company.
In 1837, Col Augustus Hazard bought into the powder-manufacturing enterprise in the section of Enfield that would become known as Hazardville. Hazard donated land (at the corner of Hazard Avenue and North Maple Street) for the construction of the Hazardville Institute, an Italianate-style building that was used as a meeting space by the community. It fell into disrepair in the 1970s and was saved from demolition by a group of preservationists in 1979. The building has recently been restored by the Hazardville Institute Conservancy Society.
The Greek Revival house at 1280 Enfield Street in Enfield was built in 1830 for Rev. Francis LeBaron Robbins. Rev. Robbins (b. 1787) was a Congregationalist missionary who became pastor of Enfield’s Congregational Church in 1816. He served as pastor for 34 years, until his death in 1850. The house continued in use as a parsonage until the mid-twentieth century.
This week we’ll be focusing on buildings in Enfield. At 121 Pearl Street in Thompsonville (a section of Enfield) is an extravagant Queen Anne-style residence (with a stick/Eastlake porch), built in 1886. It was the home of William Mulligan, who was probably the same William Mulligan who was a dealer in coffins, caskets and funeral supplies (he retired c. 1905) and the William J. Mulligan who was State Deputy of the Knights of Columbus.
At 1886 Park Street (corner of Amity Street) in Hartford is Tempolo Sion Pentecostal Church. The church was built in 1900 as St. Paul’s Methodist Church. Designed by George W. Kramer, it replaced an earlier St. Paul’s built in 1894. The Romanesque Revival church has a flexible design (following the Akron Plan) adapted to its relatively small urban lot. The church lost its steeple in the 1938 hurricane.
At 3 Pratt Street in Essex, near Essex Square, is a Greek Revival house built in 1838 by Champlin Lamphier as a speculation. He immediately sold it to William Gladding, who changed his last name to Gladwin. Gladwin’s family lived in the house until 1891.
Joseph Wright was a prosperous farmer in Glastonbury. He kept detailed diaries for over 30 years that are an important source for Glastonbury history. His house, at 2033 Main Street, was built in 1808. According to tradition, two bricklayers worked on each half of the house and when they got to the middle of the front facade, they discovered that their work did not line up. This is why the brickwork above the front door does not line up today. The house’s ell is part of an earlier Wright family home that was located on Wrights Island in the Connecticut River.
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