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

St. Anthony Church, Ansonia (1915)

Lithuanians in Ansonia sought to establish an ethnic parish when they incorporated a lodge of the Lithuanian Society of St. Anthony in 1907. Bishop John J. Nilan of the Diocese of Hartford rebuffed their request, insisting that the Lithuanians remain within Assumption parish. The Lithuanians began to build a church in 1912 without episcopal approval, hoping that the bishop would reverse his decision, but he maintained his previous position. In 1915, an appeal directly to Rome succeeded and St. Anthony parish was given sanction by the Pope to operate as an independent parish. St. Anthony’s Church was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day 1915 by Father Matthew Pankus of Bridgeport.

Update: In 2015, the church celebrated its 100th anniversary and then closed.

P.L. Perry House (1865)

The house at 512 East Washington Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1865 for P.L. Perry, assistant superintendent of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company. The house, designed by the firm of Lambert & Bunnell, is now the Iglesia Pentecostal Unida Hispana, Inc.

Oliver Boardman House (1785)

The house at 168 North Street in Litchfield is described in Historic Litchfield, 1721-1907 (1907), by Alice T. Bulkeley, as follows:

Retracing our steps down North street toward the center, the next house of historical interest is the Lord house, built in 1785 by Oliver Boardman on Glebe Land. The east side of North street, from the corner of East street to the Lord house, was owned by the church and called Glebe Land.

The land on which the house was built was either leased by or sold to Boardman by the church authorities, and bought of him by Sylvester Spencer, Litchfield’s former real estate dealer. It was also owned by Samuel Beach, who sold it to George Lord, the brother of Augustus, who with his sister resided there until his death at the age of eighty-seven. His sister, Miss Lord, occupied the home until her death in the Spring of 1907 at the age of 80 years and 11 months, when the house descended to her nieces. The side doorstep, an immense block of stone, was brought from Salisbury, requiring twelve pair of oxen to draw it.

Dudley House (1890)

At 47 Granite Street in New London is a Queen Anne house, known as the Dudley House, which built around 1890. Today, it is home to the Granite Street Gallery.

Second Edward G. Greening House (1912)

Edward G. Greening, owner of the Village Store Company, built two adjacent houses in the Statfield area of Bridgeport. The first, at 620 Clinton Avenue, was built in 1906. The second, at 622 Clinton Avenue (image above), was built in 1912. Both houses now contain offices.

Arnold Ward House (1828)

In 1827, Arnold Ward purchased land on Main Street in Durham from David Smith and proceeded to build a house and blacksmith shop on the property. The following year he sold the house and land, except for the blacksmith shop, to Silvester Ward. The house’s front porch was added later.

Rev. Erastus Denison House (1851)

In 1831, Rev. Erastus Denison (1791-1866) of Mystic became the first pastor of the Third Baptist Church of Groton, remaining there until 1848. Third Baptist later joined with the Second Baptist Church to form Union Baptist Church in 1861. Rev. Denison served from 1862 to 1865 as pastor of the Third Baptist Church of Stonington, an African-American congregation. Rev. Denison’s house, at 56 Pearl Street in Mystic, was built in 1851.