George Gilbert Deming, a brick mason in Riverton in Barkhamsted, built his own brick Federal-style house at 2 Robertsville Road in 1824. Deming married Belinda Moore in 1825 and lived not far from the house of his father-in-law, Apollos Moore, and just a few doors down from another brick house he built for his brother-in-law, Charles Moore.
The First Congregational Church of Meriden had its origins in the 1720s, when people in the northern section of Wallingford began holding services in their homes during the winters. As related in the History of New Haven County, Vol. I (1892):
On the 9th of May, 1728, the inhabitants living in the above sections petitioned the governor and the general court to be established as a village or a parish, which prayer was granted and the new parish called Meriden. The new society flourished and having a successful ecclesiastical government soon longed for its own civil administration. This privilege, however, was not granted until 1806
The first meeting house had already been constructed in 1727 at the corner of Ann Street and Dryden Drive. This was followed by a new meeting house, built on Broad Street in 1755. This was in turn replaced, at the same location, by a larger one in 1830. A split occurred in 1848, as described in A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County, Volume 1 (1918):
Prosperity and population had come to Meriden in the period just before that, and the church had so increased its membership that it felt the need of a new and larger building. This was erected, in 1846, on Colony Street, half a mile from the old site. But something arose which caused a difference of opinion among the members. Most likely the then familiar question of the abolition of slavery had something to do with it. At any rate, something like half a hundred members withdrew and formed the Center Church. The old building on Broad Street was vacant, and they secured possession of it. There they have remained and worshipped ever since—they and the new worshippers who have come in the changing process of seven decades.
The 1846 building continued in use by the First Congregational Church. It was replaced by the current one, at 62 Colony Street, in 1879. The church was renovated in the 1950s, when the south-side portico was removed. Although there were plans to erect a steeple, it was never built.
One of the houses that will be featured in tomorrow’s Mark Twain House & Museum Holiday House Tour is located at 164 Oxford Street in Hartford. It was built for an Allen of Sage Allen Department Stores in 1915. Augusta R. Roemer, a resident of the house, was a department president in the Woman’s Relief Corps in 1940-1941. Its present owners are known for their elaborate Christmas decorations, including over 60 themed Christmas trees.
This coming Sunday, December 4, will be the 31st Annual Mark Twain House & Museum Holiday House Tour, presented by the Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum. One of the houses that will be featured on the tour is a brick Georgian Colonial at 191 Terry Road in Hartford. Built in 1923, it was designed by William T. Marchant, who was also the architect of many other Colonial Revival buildings in the area, including the Alfred C. Fuller and Wallace Stevens Houses in Hartford, the Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor and the old Hall High School, now the Town Hall, in West Hartford.
The first Masonic Lodge in Meridan was established on January 1, 1851. The current Masonic Temple, at 112 East Main Street, was built in 1927. The Neo-Classical building features two Egyptian-style columns at the front entrance.
At 76 Prospect Street in Rockville (Vernon) is the 1893 mansion built for George Sykes. It was the first in a series of Queen Anne-style homes built for the owners of Rockville‘s textile mills. George Sykes came to America from Britain as a boy and from early on worked his way up in the textile industry. In 1866, at the age of 26, he came to Rockville to manage Hockanum Company mill, of which he was later president.
John Allen (1763-1812), originally from Great Barrington, Mass., attended the Litchfield Law School from 1784 to 1786. He set up practice in Litchfield and became active in politics, serving as in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1793-1796) and the U.S. House (1797-1799). He was later a member of the State council and of the Supreme Court of Errors from 1800 to 1806. The John Allen House, at 91 North Street in Litchfield, was built around 1799. The Federal-style house was expanded and altered in the Italianate style around 1865.
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