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

The J. Shipman House (1836)

Built around 1836, the J. Shipman House, on Main Street in Old Saybrook, has bold Greek Revival detailing and a later side bay window and enclosed side porch. The building now houses Old Saybrook Youth & Family Services.

Durham Academy (1844)

Durham Academy was established in 1843 as a private school during a period of time when public schooling was very inadequate. The Greek Revival-influenced Academy building was constructed in 1843-1844 and attracted students from a wide area. After the establishment of Middletown High School as a public alternative, the Durham Academy declined and eventually closed in 1884. The building was purchased by the town of Durham in 1891 and became the Coginchaug School, a consolidated school which also offered two years of high school-level instruction. This was dropped in 1898 for financial reasons, but the building later did serve as a high school, from 1916 to 1923. It next became a Lodge of the Knights of Pythias until 1973. It also served as a post office from 1935 to 1958.

Anne V. Torrant School (1874/1912)

The Anne V. Torrant School in Plainville consists of two connected buildings. The earlier Italianate structure was built in 1874, when the town’s various one and two room schools were consolidated into a single building. The second structure was built of brick in 1911-1912. In style, both buildings are similar to other schools built in Connecticut during the same period. The school was called the Broad Street School and later was renamed in honor of Anne V. Torrant, who worked there for fifty years, starting as a teacher in the 1920s and later serving as principal. The school was named for her shortly before her retirement in 1972. Today, the building is no longer a school but has been converted into housing for the elderly and is called the Torrant House.

William Wheeler House (1850)

Capt. William Wheeler was a farmer and stonemason in Plainville who built his brownstone house on North Washington Street himself around 1850.

Horace O. Adams House (1859)

The pink Horace O. Adams House is on Broad Street in Plainville. This brick house, built in 1859, is transitional from the Greek Revival to the Italianate style, although there have been significant alterations to the building.

Alfred Hall House (1839)

Alfred Hall, a lawyer in Portland, was an executive at the Portland brownstone quarries and a grandson of their founder, Joel Hall. His house, on Main Street in Portland, has brownstone walls and was designed in the Greek Revival style by the influential architect A.J. Davis. Today, the house has been converted to serve as a bank.

Former Colchester Baptist Church (1836)

Before Colchester’s Baptist Church joined with the town’s Congregational Church to form the Colchester Federated Church in 1949, the Baptists worshiped in an 1836 church building, which is still standing at 168 South Main Street. The original steeple was destroyed in the 1938 hurricane and was replaced by the current shortened steeple. The congregation decided to sell the church due to their having a diminishing congregation by the 1940s. The church was sold to Nathan and Israel Liverant, who opened an antiques businesses in the old church and converted it to commercial use. The entrance originally featured a central window flanked by two entry doors, but now has a central door with bow windows on either side. Nathan Liverant and Son Antiques continues to occupy the building today.