Black Rock School (1860)

The Black Rock School in Killingworth is a one-room schoolhouse built around 1860. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was one of Killingworth’s eight district schoolhouses, which were in use until 1949. Originally located on Route 148, the school was later moved by the Killingworth Historical Society to its current address, on town property, at Route 81 and Recycle Way, where it is now a museum. The Society also owns the Union district school on Roast Meat Hill Road and recently accepted the donation of the Pine Orchard School, which has also been moved from Route 148 to town property, in this case, Parmelee Farm, where it will eventually be rebuilt.

Newtown Meeting House (1812)

Newtown’s first meeting house was built in 1720 on Main Street, where the flagpole stands today. In 1792, this building was moved 132 feet to the middle of West Street. As explained in Newtown’s History and Historian, Ezra Levan Johnson (1917):

Nothing more appears on the society minutes about the meeting house, either for its adornment or repairs, until 1792, when the Church of England people having the consent of the town to build a church for public worship on the ground where the town house was standing, provided they would remove the Town house to some other site, without expense to the town. The meeting house standing near to. and in front of, the Town house made an objection to putting the Church of England house there without removing the meeting house also, and it was proposed to them that their house be removed to the opposite side of the north and south road

The meeting house was replaced with a new one in 1812, which was improved over the years. Quoting from the same book as above:

During the Rev. Jason Atwater’s ministry, between 1845 and 1852, the exterior of the building was very much improved, the belfry was closed in, a new steeple was built, the building newly covered and painted. Twelve hundred dollars were spent in renovating the exterior and in 1852 the basement was fitted up, the main floor raised to its present level, [and] new seats and a pulpit were provided for the audience room

By 1873, the meeting house looked much as it does today. In 1988, the Newtown Congregational Church moved to a new building and sold the old meeting house to the town. The Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown, Inc. then restored and now maintains the Meeting House, which serves as a place for concerts, meetings, weddings and other events.

Williams Memorial Institute (1891)

The Williams Memorial institute opened as a high school for girls on Broad Street in New London in 1891. The school was privately endowed by a bequest from the estate of Harriet Peck Williams as a memorial to her son, Thomas W. Williams II, a mechant who died in 1855. After New London High School opened in 1951, the Institute became a college preparatory school. The Williams School moved to the campus of Connecticut College in 1954. The Richardsonian Romanesque-style former school building, designed by the firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, became a courthouse of the Connecticut State Judicial system in 1972. The state purchased the building in 1997. It has recently been renovated.

Francis Hubbard House (1862)

Captain Job Camp built a house on Main Street in Durham in the eighteenth century, which later passed to his son, Manoah Camp and then to his grandson, Elizur Camp, both of whom were shoemakers. In 1861, this original house was given by Elizur Camp to his daughter, Susan E. Camp, who had married Francis Hubbard in 1857. They replaced the old house with a new one in 1862. Francis Hubbard was an owner of the Merriam Manufacturing Company. The house remained in the Hubbard family until it was sold to Frederick Brewster, a wealthy New Haven businessman who owned Brookfield Farm in Durham. Concerned about the fact that Durham did not have a resident physician, he rented the house to a series of doctors from 1928 to 1941.

Citizens Block, Rockville (1879)

As Rockville in Vernon developed as an urban center in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, known architects were sought to design prominent buildings. S.M. (or S.W.?) Lincoln of Hartford was the architect of the Citizens Block, a commercial building on the corner of Park Place and Elm Street, built in 1879 by John G. Bailey. In recent years, town officials have been seeking ways to revitalize the now dilapidated structure, ranging from sale to a developer to the use of federal funding. The building currently houses the Rockville Downtown Association.

Rufus Avery House (1787)

In the early hours of September 6, 1781, Rufus Avery, on watch duty at Fort Griswold, was the first soldier to observe an approaching British fleet. This force, led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre, eventually stormed the Fort in what became known as the Battle of Groton Heights. Capt. Avery later lived in a house at 142 Thames Street in Groton, built for him in 1787 by Henry Mason, another former defender of Fort Griswold. Around 1800, Rufus Avery had a second house constructed next door for his two sons. That home is now known as the Avery-Copp House.