First Church of Bethlehem (1836)

At the time of its settlement, Bethlehem was the northern part of the Town of Woodbury. As related in the History of Ancient Woodbury (1854), by William Cothren,

Four years after the first settlement, the number of families amounted to only fourteen; yet this handful of people felt able to support a minister a part of the time, and accordingly petitioned the General Assembly at its October session, 1738, for liberty to have “winter privileges,” for five months,” in the most difficult season of the year, viz., November, December, January, February and March,” as they lived so far from church, it was impossible to attend. […] In May, 1739, they petitioned to be released from parish taxes as long as they should hire a minister, and from school taxes, on establishing a school of their own, “the school in the first society being so far off it was of no use to them.” The request was granted, and they were permitted to hire a “minister and set up a school.” At the October session of the same year, they petitioned that the “east half of the North Purchase” might be set off as a distinct ecclesiastical society.

The Society voted to build a meeting house in 1740 and, again quoting the History of Ancient Woodbury, “The clerk of the society in 1743, reported the house covered, and in May, 1744, that materials were provided for finishing the inside of the house.” This building was later replaced:

The first house in the society after a time was deemed too small for its accommodation. Accordingly on the 4th of January, 1764, when there were about one hundred within its limits that paid taxes, they voted to build a second church. On the 28th of the next month, they voted again to build the house, “and to begin and go on moderately and Little by Little.” […] By a vote of the society, October 20th, 1768, directing the society’s committee to “seat the new Meeting House,” “and dignify the Pues [sic]” therein, we learn when it was finished and ready for worship. In December, 1793, a tax of sixpence on the pound was laid to build a steeple, provided money enough to purchase a “good decent bell and a Lightning rod” for the same should be raised by subscription. Eighty pounds were soon subscribed, and the bell was obtained.

The current First Church of Bethlehem was built as the Society’s third successive meeting house in 1836. It is a Greek Revival, Doric tetrastyle, clapboard church.

Shove Building (1867)

The Shove Building, 281 Main Street South in Woodbury, was built in 1867 as a residence by Dr. Harmon Shove. According to his obituary in The Medical News, Vol. LX, No. 6 (February 6, 1892):

Dr. Harmon W. Shove, of Woodbury, Conn., died of pneumonia, on January 23d, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was one of the most prominent practitioners in the section in which he lived. Dr. Shove was graduated from the Yale Medical College in 1853, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Woodbury. By his studious habits and almost unlimited capacity for work, he was, after nearly forty years of active service, still in the full and successful practice of his profession, which, by his unblemished life and dignity of character he helped to advance and elevate.

The house was acquired by the Town of Woodbury in 1952 is now used for town offices.

Benjamin Clark House (1800)

The Federal-style house at 603 Orange Center Road in Orange, which dates to around 1800, was the first house to be built on Orange Center Green. Records indicate that the property was owned by Benjamin Clark in 1810 and it has remained in the Clark family ever since. The Clark farm, known as Maple View Farm, was established in the 1790s. A working dairy and produce farm, it now provides horse-related activities for the public.

The Arcade, Stonington (1837)

The Arcade building, at 61-65 Water Street in Stonington, is a nineteenth-century Greek Revival commercial building, constructed in the wake of the fire of April 1837, which destroyed the commercial center of Stonington Borough. The building has contained numerous retail establishments over the years. In 1952, the building was given as a gift by Colonel Frederick Horner to the Stonington Historical Society. The Arcade was then converted into an office and apartments. A number of Stonington locations were used in the movie Mystic Pizza (1988), including the arcade, which was temporarily repainted from white to a buff color for the filming.

Arbus Block (1893)

Jacob Arbus was a furrier in Rockville. In 1886 he established his own store, doing business at various locations until 1893, when he had a Mansard-roofed building constructed at 74 Union Street to serve as his store and residence. On an 1895 Bird’s-eye view of Rockville, the Arbus Block is listed as “63. Jacob Arbus, Furrier, Hats, Caps and Gents Furnishing Goods.”

Thames National Bank (1911)

The 1911 Thames National Bank building is at 16-20 Chelsea Harbor Drive (formerly Shetucket Street) in downtown Norwich. As described in A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut, Volume 2 (1922):

The Thames Bank was the second institution of the kind chartered in Norwich, with a capital of $200,000, in 1825. By its charter the bank was obliged to purchase the stock of the Norwich Channel Company, and “maintain a depth of at least ten feet of water in the channel of the Thames river at common and ordinary tides.” The charter also permitted the bank to collect toll from all vessels coming to Norwich. These provisions of the charter were complied with so long as the bank operated under its State charter. The bank was also obliged to receive deposits from the State school fund, ecclesiastical societies, colleges and schools, at par, and pay on such deposits such dividends as were paid to their stockholders. The first bank rooms were on Main street

[…] Prosperity made it necessary to add to the facilities of the bank in order to properly meet the demands of increasing business, and in 1862 the bank erected enlarged quarters on Shetucket street. In 1864 the Thames Bank was succeeded by the Thames National Bank […] Its National Bank charter was renewed in 1884 and again in 1904, the home of the bank centering in the same quarters on Shetucket street until 1911, when the present building begun in 1910 was finished and occupied.