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

Finnish Hall (1924)

In Finland, as elsewhere in Scandinavia, Halloween traditions that we are familiar with in America (costumes, trick-or-treating, jack o’-lanterns) have only recently begun to become more popular. Instead, Finn’s celebrate All Saints’ Day, on November 1, as a quiet celebration of those who have passed away. Why am I writing about Finland this Halloween? Because today’s building is the Finnish Hall in Canterbury. It was built in 1924 by the Finnish American Education Association as a social center for the Finnish community in Canterbury, which had one of the largest Finnish communities in the state (about a quarter of the town’s population were Finnish farmers). The building, which has been enlarged over the years, was renamed Sampo Hall when it was acquired in 1963 by a Finnish group known as the Sampo Club, named for the famous magical artifact from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. In 1987, the Finnish American Heritage Society was formed to acquire and operate the building and has since constructed a new Heritage Center, with a library and research archives.

Charles A. Converse House (1870)

The Col. Charles A. Converse House on Washington Street in Norwich is a striking Gothic Revival villa, deigned by Henry Austin of New Haven. Built around 1870, it was first owned by Col. Converse, who was one of the founders of Hopkins and Allen, a major gun manufacturing company in Norwich. In 1907, the Converse Art Gallery, an addition to the Slater Memorial Museum donated by Col. Converse, opened to the public. The Converse Homestead property also has a barn built around the same time as the house.

Old Seymour High School (1886)

Seymour’s old two-and-a-half story High School, with its imposing bell tower, was built in 1884 to 1886. At one time considered one of the most efficient and well-equipped high schools of its kind, the institution grew over the years and an annex building was constructed next door. Finally outgrowing the available space, a new high school was built in 1916 and the old buildings, known as the Center School and Annex, became an elementary school until 1977. After briefly housing the Seymour Historical Society museum in three of its classrooms, the old high school building has since been converted into offices for private businesses. The Annex building now contains the Seymour Board of Education, Senior Center, and a nursery school and teen center.

Ansonia City Hall (1905)

Ansonia became a separate town from Derby in 1889 and was incorporated as a city in 1893. The city’s earlier borough court building on Water Street was superseded by a new City Hall on Main Street in 1905, which originally housed the police headquarters and city court as well. There are two monuments in front of City Hall: one honors Ansonia’s war veterans and the other the members of the Ansonia Volunteer Fire Department.

Tephereth Israel Synagogue (1925)

Congregation Tephereth Israel in New Britain was formed in 1925 when orthodox Lithuanian immigrants withdrew from the conservative Temple B’nai Israel. The synagogue on Winter Street, which combines elements of the Romanesque and Colonial Revival styles, was built in 1925 to 1928 and was designed by Adolf Feinberg, an Austrian-born architect who arrived in the United States in 1921. Feinberg also designed Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford. Congregation Tephereth Israel, which today has a small membership, is undertaking a building repair program. For five decades, Rabbi Henry Okolica has been spiritual leader of the Orthodox synagogue, as well as serving as Jewish chaplain at Central Connecticut State University.

Second Dr. John Redfield House (1780)

Dr. John Redfield of Guilford, who was living in an earlier home built in 1768, constructed a new mansion house on the Green in 1780. The property where the new house was built had previously belonged to David Naughty, a merchant. After Naughty’s death in 1739, his wife Ruth Naughty was co-executor of his will, along with nephew David Naughty II. Ruth Naughty successfully managed her husband’s affairs, paying his debts in Boston. When she died in 1773, she named Dr. Redfield as executor of her will, but he was soon caught up in a lawsuit with David II. Dr. Redfield won the case and, as owner of the entire property, tore down the Naughty House in order to build his own. The outraged Naughty later stipulated in his will that he be buried across the Green from Redfield’s house with his head sticking out above ground to stare at his enemy’s home. These wishes were never carried out. Since 1945, the Redfield House has been owned by the Guilford Savings Bank and serves as the bank’s main office.

Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1874)

The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church traces its origin to 1833, when the first African American church in Hartford split into two congregations. One was Talcott Street (now Faith) Congregational Church and the other later became Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion, which is Hartford’s oldest black Methodist congregation. With earlier church buildings having been located on Elm street and later on Pearl street, the congregation moved to the current church, on Main Street in Hartford’s North End, in the late 1920s. This High Victorian Gothic church was built in 1874 as North Methodist Episcopal Church and in 1926 it was bought by Emmanuel Synagogue, the interim owners until the building became the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church.