Winsted Hosiery Mill, Building #2 (1905)

On Whiting Street along the east bank of the Still River in Winsted are the buildings of the former Winsted Hosiery mill. The company, which produced hosiery and underwear for men, was organized in 1882 and become the largest hosiery manufacturer in Connecticut by 1936. In the 1960s, the company switched to woolen manufacturing and moved Asheville, North Carolina in 1965. Building #2, pictured above, was built around 1905. A four-story brick structure, it stretches thirty bays along the Still River and has a six-bay extension added in 1911. The building was later converted into apartments.

Frederick A. Benjamin Homestead (1854)

At 1135 West Broad Street in Stratford is an impressive Italianate villa, considered to be one of Connecticut’s best examples of the style. It was built in 1854 on the site of the old Benjamin Tavern where Washington and Lafayette are said to have dined on September 19, 1780. They were served potatoes, which were then a rare delicacy. Col. Aaron Benjamin served in most of the major battles of the Revolutionary War. His son, Frederick A. Benjamin, became a successful New York merchant. In 1852, Frederick A. Benjamin retired and returned to the old homestead in Stratford, which he soon replaced with a new mansion, designed by architect Frederick Schmidt. Benjamin’s son, Arthur Bedell Benjamin (d. 1914), was a prolific photographer and a yachtsman who owned the steam yacht Continental.

Portuguese Holy Ghost Society and Club of Stonington (1836)

Since 1929, the Portuguese Holy Ghost Society and Club of Stonington has used the house at 26 Main Street as its club building. Every year, the club celebrates the Azorean Holy Ghost Festival, a traditional feast that goes back to Queen Isabel of Portugal (1271-1336), also known as Elizabeth, who devoted herself to helping the poor and feeding the famine-stricken Portuguese people. She was canonized by Pope Urban VIII in 1625. The house was built in 1836 by Courtlandt Palmer (1800-1874), first president of the Stonington & Providence Railroad, and it remained in his family until 1913.

Canton Historical Museum (1865)

The building in Collinsville that today houses the Canton Historical Museum is one of the original buildings of the Collins Axe Company. Built in 1865, it was used by the company for finishing agricultural plows. In 1924-1925, the building was converted to become a recreational facility for employees, with bowling alleys and a rifle range. At that time, the verandas and chimney were added to the north side of the building. Today, the museum features artifacts and memorabilia on three floors.

C. Gilbert Shepard House (1930)

One of the houses to be featured in The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum 32nd Holiday House Tour on Sunday, Dec. 2, is the Colonial Revival residence located at 4 Mohawk Drive in West Hartford. Built in 1930, the house is the work of architect Lester Beach Scheide and builder Louis Slocum. The house won a West Hartford Historic Preservation Award in 2005. The jury marveled at the amount of work done, which was based on extensive research and use of photographic evidence to restore the home’s former grandeur. The original plans for the house are in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society, where it is described as a “House for C. Gilbert Shepard.” C. Gilbert Shepard was the son of Charles E. Shepard, whose own house, built in 1900, is on Prospect Avenue. The younger Shepard served as a lieutenant in France in the First World War. Like his father, he became an insurance agent. The Yale Club of Hartford gives the C. Gilbert Shepard Award each year to freshmen from the area who excel at scholarship and athletics.

St. John’s Roman Catholic Church (1852) & St. John’s School (1887)

At the northern end of Main Street in Middletown is St. John’s Square, where two impressive structures, St. John’s Roman Catholic Church and St. John’s School, stand side-by-side. The church, the oldest in the Diocese of Norwich, was built in 1852, replacing an earlier brick church, constructed in 1843 by builder Barzillai Sage. The new church was built of brownstone, which was donated by the Portland quarries. Lots in the cemetery behind the church were given for free with a $20 donation to the church, which added to the building fund. The tower and spire were completed in 1864, the same year a church Rectory was built to the east of the church. Next to St. John’s Church is St. John’s Parochial School, built in 1887 and blessed in 1888. The building once had a belfry, which was replaced around 1900 with the current raised gable and cross. The church and the school are joined by an arch, which had earlier been attached on one side to the church and was then attached on the other side to the school.