Strong Farmhouse (1878)

Five generations of the Strong family have operated Strong Farm in Vernon, one of the last farms to continue in the suburban town. The farm was established by Nathan Morgan Strong, who built the farmhouse at 274 West Street (at the corner of Peterson Road) in 1878. Originally a dairy farm, after 1965 Strong Farm switched to turkeys, pumpkins, and other crops. Norman Strong, who died in 2010 at the age of 93, was known as the “turkey man” of Vernon. He was happy to show local school children the working of the farm, a tradition continued by the Strong family today, who are working to transform the farm into a non-profit historical agricultural education center. In September, the house sustained damage when a car crashed into it.

Haskell-Vinal House (1873)

The house at 264 Court Street in Middletown was built in 1873-1874 on land that had once been part of the Russell Estate. The house was built by John and Maria Haskell and remained in the Haskell family until 1921. John Haskell was a partner in Willard & Haskell, a company that dealt in lumber and manufactured sash, blinds and doors. From 1921 to 1933, the house was owned by Mary T. Vinal and then by Sebastian Pappalardo. Since 1958, the house has been owned by Wesleyan University and used as faculty housing.

Norman S. Boardman House (1860)

Boardman House

One of the prominent Victorian-era residences in East Haddam is the Boardman House at 8 Norwich Road. Luther Boardman and his son Norman S. Boardman owned factories which produced Britannia spoons and nickel, silver, and silver plated ware. The Boardmans built two notable mansions in East Haddam, one of which is the house at 8 Norwich Road, an Italianate villa built around 1860. The National Register of Historic Places nomination for the East Haddam Historic District lists the house as the Luther Boardman House, while an 1880 bird’s-eye-view of East Haddam lists it as the residence of N.S. Boardman. In more recent years, the residence housed an antiques shop and is today a luxury inn called The Boardman House. (more…)

Bethesda Mission (1866)

Several religious congregations have used the building at 540 East Washington Street in Bridgeport over the years. It was built in 1866-1867 as the Bethesda Mission Chapel and Sunday School. It was later home to the East Washington Avenue Baptist Church (formed in 1874) and then to Congregation Adath Israel, the first Orthodox synagogue in Bridgeport. The edifice’s current cornice dates to 1902. Today the building is owned by the Apostolic Worship Center. The AWC purchased it in 1997 and completed renovating the sanctuary in 2002.

Alfred G. Hull House (1849)

The Alfred G. Hull House, at 58-60 Boston Street in Guilford, was built in 1849 with an Italianate flat roof. A French Second Empire mansard roof was added to the house around 1860. According to an obituary in The American Stationer, Vol. XXXV, No. 6, February 8, 1894:

Alfred G. Hull, secretary and treasurer of the American Copying Paper Company, Windsor Locks, Conn., died at the residence of Henry E. Pratt, his son-in-law, at Springfield, Mass., January 31, and was buried at Guilford, Conn., on Saturday last. Mr. Hull had passed through a siege of grip, when he was attacked by pneumonia, which ended his life. Alfred G. Hull was born in Clinton Conn., and was seventy-one years of age, and had spent his life in the lumber business, retiring from active business about ten years ago. Later he became secretary and treasurer of the company of which his son-in-law is president. He was treasurer of the town of Guilford for a number of years, was also justice of the peace for a long term, and for the last twenty-eight years had been a member of the Third Congregational Church of Guilford. He was widely known, and was as widely esteemed and respected.

A lumber dealer and contractor, who built a number of buildings in Guilford, Alfred G. Hull was also vice-president of the Guilford Savings Bank.