Eugene L. Cushman House (1920)

Another house in West Hartford’s West Hill Historic District is the house built in 1920 for Eugene L. Cushman. Located at 14 West Hill, it was designed by Cortland F. Luce in the Tudor Revival style. As reported in The Iron Age, Vol. 104, No. 26, December 25, 1919:

Eugene L. Cushman died at his home in West Hartford, Conn., Dec. 18, aged 65 years. Mr. Cushman was chairman of the board of directors of the Cushman Chuck Co., Hartford, Conn., having formerly been president of that organization.

Could this be the father of the house’s first occupant, or did Cushman die before it was completed?

Center Congregational Church, Torrington (1867)

Center Congregational Church, at 155 Main Street in Torrington, was originally known as the Third Congregational Church of Torrington. It was established in what was then known as Wolcottville, a village that later became the center of Torrington. As related in The Torrington Register Souvenir Edition. An Illustrated and Descriptive Exposition of Torrington, Connecticut, 1897:

The Third Congregational Church is so named, not as many strangers suppose because there are two others in the borough, but because it is the third Congregational church formed in the town, the one in West Torrington being the oldest and the one in Torringford being the next in age. The Torringford church was formed because of the deep swamp which its people had to traverse to get to the First Church. The third came into being in later times because the petitioners alleged that they must either ascend a hill of 630 feet to go to Torringford, or one-half as high to go to the First Church. The building of the First Church was then up on the hills toward Goshen. A debt of gratitude is due to Capt. Uri Taylor, who gave the land and built thereon a Congregational meeting-house before the church was organized. Later on, he added to his gift a parsonage and lot. The ecclesiastical society was formed Dec. 3, 1829, and the Church was organized July 11, 1832, with twenty-nine members. This was at a time when the population of the village numbered about 500. The meeting-house built in 1828 was remodeled in 1844, by running a floor under the gallery. The present building of stone was erected in 1866[-1867] at the cost of great sacrifice on the part of the members. The Chapel was built in 1880.

The church was expanded to its present size in 1900 and was renamed Center Congregational Church. The church was burned by arsonists in January 1979. The interior was destroyed, but the granite walls survived. The church was restored and reopened in October 1980.

Alexander T. Pattison House (1896)

At 750 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury is a distinctive house constructed in 1896 for Alexander T. Pattison. The following biographical entry is from Taylor’s Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut for 1903-1904:

Hon. Alexander T. Pattison of Simsbury, Republican Senator from the Third District, is the son of Joseph and Delia (Sceery) Pattison. He was born in East Weatogue, town of Simsbury, March 26, 1861, and received his education in the public schools of the town, Granby Academy and Prof. McLean’s School, Simsbury. He began his business career as clerk in the general store of Judson Wilcox, which was established in 1851. Since January, 1886, he has successfully managed the business. He married, October 7, 1885, Miss Ella Ruth Wilcox, daughter of Judson and Nancy S. (Chapman) Wilcox of Simsbury. They have had four daughters: Lucy W., born October 14, 1886; Stella C, born September 1, 1888, died Dec. 26, 1888, Julia E., born August 26, 1890, and Ruth Frances, born June 8, 1902. He has been secretary and treasurer of the Simsbury Cemetery Association since 1888, and is a director and secretary of the Simsbury Electric Co. He was a valuable member of the House in 1897. This session he was Senate chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and plainly showed that he was the “right man in the right place.” He was also chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills. Senator Pattison’s influence is ever felt for the good of the community in which he resides.

Horace R. Grant House (1923)

One of the houses in West Hartford’s West Hill development of the 1920s is the Horace R. Grant House, designed by Cortland Luce and built in 1923. Horace R. Grant, President of the Allen Manufacturing Company, is credited with conceiving the idea for the development. He planned it with Stanley K. Dimock, who had inherited the land from his father, Ira Dimock, a silk manufacturer. Ira Dimock had purchased the former Vanderbilt Mansion on the property, which was later demolished to make way for the new houses. The Grant House has a rear addition, dating to 1937 and designed by William T. Marchant.

Elisha Steel House (1720)

The house at 64 Tolland Green in Tolland was built around 1720. From 1765, the residence was home to Elisha Steel. As described in Waldo’s Early History of Tolland (1861)

Elisha Steel, the son of Rev. Stephen Steel, married Sarah Wolcott, of Windsor, April 26, 1758. He graduated at Yale College in 1750, was educated for the bar, located in the town of Tolland, and engaged in the practice of his profession. He was chosen a representative in the General Assembly in 1761, and was reelected five times. He was one of the two Justices of the Peace from 1761 to 1766 inclusive. He was the first lawyer ever located in the town of Tolland, and the only one while he lived. He died August 17, 1773.

South College, Wesleyan University (1825)

When Wesleyan University was founded in 1831, it took over a campus on which two buildings, North College and South College, had already been built in 1825. They were originally constructed by the City of Middletown for use by Captain Partridge’s American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy. In 1829, after the Connecticut legislature declined it a charter to grant college degrees, Capt. Alden Partridge moved his Academy to Rutland, Vermont. The Academy later became Norwich University and the Middletown buildings were acquired by Wesleyan. The book, Norwich University, 1819-1911, Vol. I (1911), provides the following description of South College (originally called the Lyceum) and North College (called the Barracks):

These buildings were constructed of brown sandstone from the quarries in Portland. The “Barracks” was four stories high, 150 feet long and 52 feet wide, with a large attic and basement. Halls extended the full length of the building. The “Lyceum” was located 20 feet south of the Barracks, was three stories high, with a basement partly above the ground. At the front of the building was a tower 14×16 feet and 73 feet high. The basement floor was used for an arsenal and laboratory and the first and second floors for class rooms; the third floor called the “Hall of the Lyceum” was used as a chapel, drill room, and for public services.

The original North College was destroyed in a fire in 1906, but South College survived, being converted into offices that same year. The cupola and the belfry, which contains the Wesleyan Carillon, was designed by Henry Bacon and was added in 1916.

Alfred Alford House (1838)

The Alfred Alford House is a brick Greek Revival-style residence, built c. 1834-1838 and located at 3 Main Street in Riverton.  Alfred Alford was the brother of Abra Alford, who was the partner of famous chairmaker Lambert Hitchcock, and of Eunice Alford, who married Hitchcock.  The Alford brothers continued the manufacture of chairs in Riverton after Hitchcock moved to Unionville in 1842.  Alfred Alford’s company also produced wood planes.