
The house at 2195 North Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1919. Its first resident was Charles Levin, a clothier.

The house at 2195 North Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1919. Its first resident was Charles Levin, a clothier.

A Catholic chapel was built in Tariffville in Simsbury in 1856 and was destroyed by fire in 1876. A newly completed church was dedicated to St. Bernard in 1879. St. Bernard’s became a parish in 1881. The church was destroyed by fire in 1892 and the current Saint Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church, a wood-frame Gothic edifice on Maple Street, was dedicated in 1895.

Built the same year (1766) and similar in style to the David Hull House next door is the Joseph Chittenden House, at 78 Fair Street in Guilford. Born in 1727, Joseph Chittenden was a descendant of William Chittenden, one of the original settlers of the town. He lived in the house until his death in 1793. The house was in his family until 1827.

The John Collins-Stephen Spencer House, at 77 Fair Street in Guilford, is a Colonial saltbox house. In 1670, John Collins built an earlier house on the site. The current house was built c. 1727 around the the surviving chimney of the 1670 structure. Stephen Spencer, a blacksmith, had acquired the property in 1726. Deacon Peter Stevens of Saybrook bought it in 1804. Ten years later he sold it to the town of Guilford, which used it as an almshouse. In 1826, when East Guilford became the town of Madison, town property was divided and the almshouse, although located within Guilford, was owned by Madison. This situation lasted until 1832, when Madison sold the house to William H. Stevens.

At 83 Maple Street in Ellington is a Greek Revival house built in 1842. Its original resident was Flavel Whiton, who served as a state senator in 1849.

Located in the village of Westfield in Middletown, the house at 125 Miner Street is an Italianate villa-style residence. It was built in 1860 by Henry Cornwell. Acquired by Edgar Burns in 1888, it remained in his family until 1952.

The building at 625-631 Main Street in Middletown is a Late Federal-style mansion (with early Greek Revival features), built in 1821 by Arthur Magill, Jr. With his father, Magill founded the Middletown Manufacturing Company, the first woolen mill to use steam power. Financial setbacks and a lost law suit in the Connecticut Supreme Court forced Magill to give up the property in 1832. From 1835 to 1870, the house was home to a boys preparatory school, run by Daniel Chase. D. Luther Briggs later lived in the house. He was Mayor of Middletown from 1890 to 1893. By that time, the building had been converted to commercial use, serving as a hotel/boarding house under various names until 1943. It now houses a Community Health Center.
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