Joseph Skinner, one of the developers of Prospect Street in New London, erected the Greek Revival house at 7 Prospect sometime between 1838 and 1842. It is possibly the work of John Bishop, a notable local builder. The house’s bay window, bracketed window hoods and front porch are later additions.
James E. Mallette came to Torrington as a stable boy and ended up becoming a leading real estate developer and financier. In 1916, he built the structure at 56-66 Main Street (next to the Warner Theatre) for the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was president. Today, the building is home to the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, which has restored and expanded the building, adding a new facade on the first floor.
The house at 1152 East Street in Southington was built for Ezekiel Woodruff in 1785, the year he married Huldah Allen. He passed away in 1855 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Known locally as the Yellow Building (and later named the Diane S. Toulson Building), the Beaux-Arts structure at 38 W River Street in Milford was constructed in 1908-1909 as a high school. It was later used for all grades but in the 1980s it was threatened with demolition. Local citizens fought to save it and it was reused as senior housing. Today it continues as part of Elderly Housing Management under the name River Park Apartments.
James Spargo was a Bridgeport housing contractor. In 1889 he built row houses at 580-4 Kossuth Street in East Bridgeport which are interesting for their combination of Queen Anne and Richadsonian Romanesque architectural features. One of the original residents of one of these houses was Rev. Henry M. Sherman, who had been rector of Calvary Church in Colchester and Trinity Church in Torrington, the latter from 1876 to 1890.
The Moosup United Methodist Church is at 13 South Main Street in Plainfield. As related in the Plainfield Bicentennial, A Souvenir Volume (1899):
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Plainfield began its history in 1825, when it was included in the Norwich circuit, though, before 1800, preachers were sent here and occasional services were held. At first, the church met in the old Separate meeting-house on the corner near Evergreen cemetery for occasional services […] [A revival occurred in 1843 and] That same year they purchased of the Separatists, or their successors, the old meeting-house which had been removed to Union Village. A new church was built in 1871, a little further up the river and was dedicated, February 1, 1872.
As related in Vol II of the Souvenir history of the New England Southern Conference (1897):
The church in which the people now worship is in the very centre of the village, and pleasantly situated. It was built in 1870 by the arduous labors of Rev. Lewis E. Dunham, and marked a new era in the prosperity of the society. In 1882, during the pastorate of E. J. Ayres, the building was raised, and a vestry provided in the basement. The interior of the church has recently (1896) been thoroughly repaired, a steel ceiling and chancel introduced, making it a most attractive and inviting place of worship. The parsonage, one of the most convenient and commodious, stands on the lot adjoining the church. It was built during the pastorate of the Rev. W. W. Ellis of sainted memory.
The church was completely remodeled and rededicated in 1908.
The Luman Andrews House at 469 Andrews Street in Southington is one of the earliest in the town, having been constructed in 1745 with a fifth bay being added to the north side in 1795. The house was built by Nathaniel Messenger, who sold it to Dan Bradley in 1779. In 1782, it was acquired by Eunice Judd Root, wife of Jonathan Root, Jr., who she later divorced. In 1806, she deeded the house to her son, Capt. Nathaniel Judd Root upon his marriage to Sarah Dunham. In 1818, Root sold the house to Luman Andrews (1776-1839). In 1825, Andrews and his neighbors, Anson Merriman and Sheldon Moore, discovered an outcrop of blue limestone on the property and confirmed with Professor Benjamin Silliman of Yale that it was the blue limestone needed to make Portland Cement. The farm then became a quarry, with kilns and mills to process the cement. The quarry was active until around the time Bennet Andrews, Luman’s son, died in 1860. Charles Moore, grandson of Sheldon Moore, bought the house in 1873 and his family owned it until 1980.
You must be logged in to post a comment.