Historic Buildings of Connecticut - Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Bristol Bank and Trust Company (1922)

In downtown Bristol there are two buildings which once housed the Bristol National Bank (established in 1875). The first building is at 245 Main Street and was succeeded by the second building, at 200 Main Street. Built in 1920-1923, the second building later became the Bristol Bank and Trust Company, and still bears that name. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White, although McKim and White had died by that time. The building was probably the work of Stanford White‘s son, Lawrence White.

Rose Haven (1888)

Rose Haven is a Colonial Revival house at 31 North Street in Litchfield. Built by Charles Beldon, it was converted into a home for the aged in 1946. Note: This post was written on 09/02/2011 and backdated so that there would be a regular post for 04/01/2011 as well as an April Fool’s Post.

Memorial Hall, Windsor Locks (1890)

Memorial Hall in Windsor Locks was dedicated in 1890 in honor of the town’s Civil War veterans. Funds for the building‘s construction were provided by Charles E. Chaffee, a textile manufacturer. Soldiers Memorial Hall originally housed the J.H. Converse Post, No. 67, Grand Army of the Republic. The Post, formed in 1884, was named for Major Joseph H. Converse, who was killed in action at the Battle of Cold Harbor, on June 4, 1864. Memorial Hall was designed by Frederick S. Newman in the Richardsonian Romanesque style (Newman also designed the Linden apartments in Hartford and the Chicopee Bank in Springfield) The museum inside the Hall now honors Windsor Locks veterans of all wars and the building hosts the town’s American Legion post. Memorial Hall is open to visitors by guided tour. (more…)

Augustus Hall House (1760)

At 198 South Main Street in Wallingford is the Augustus Hall House, built in 1760. It has a similar appearance to the nearby Samuel Parsons House, but has an asymmetrical front facade. The smaller north chimney is probably a later alteration.

The Isaac C. Lewis House (1868)

The Meriden Britannia Company was established in 1852. It produced the durable Britannia ware, which by the 1850s had replaced pewter in most American homes. Isaac C. Lewis was president of the company for fourteen years and served as mayor of Meriden from 1870 to 1872. Lewis built a mansion at 189 East Main Street in 1868. In 1950, the house was purchased by the Polish League of American Veterans and was used as a funeral home from 1998 to 2006. The house has since been vacant.

William Jerome House (1742)

One of the older houses in Bristol is the William Jerome House, at 367 Jerome Avenue. William Jerome I and his wife, Elizabeth Hart Jerome, purchased land adjacent to the house in 1741 and then the house itself the following year from Caleb Palmer, who had just built it.

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Naugatuck (1875)

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church on the Green in Naugatuck is a High Victorian Gothic structure, built in 1875 and designed by David R. Brown, who had been an apprentice of Henry Austin. St. Michael’s Parish was formed in 1786 and a church was built in Millville in 1803. That structure was moved to what would become the center of town in 1832, to land donated by innkeeper Daniel Beecher, who also provided land next door for the Congregational Church and established Naugatuck’s Green, thereby providing the then dispersed communities of Naugatuck with an institutional center. The relocated original church was in use until 1875, when it was sold to the Naugatuck school board and removed to make way for the current church.