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

Barnum Museum (1893)

This is Historic Buildings of Connecticut’s 900th post, excepting the two April Fools posts, which some people have taken too seriously! What is that famous quote often attributed to P.T. Barnum? Well, with that in mind, let’s keep to the Barnum theme! The Barnum Museum is a place worth celebrating in an anniversary post, as it is a surviving legacy from one of Connecticut’s most important historical figures. P.T. Barnum had his famous American Museum in Manhattan, but this later burned. Barnum built four successive mansions in Bridgeport, where he served as mayor in 1875, but only a few traces of these survive today. The museum in Bridgeport which today bears his name was built in 1893 as the Barnum Institute of Science and History and originally housed a resource library and lecture hall. The building, which reflects the influence of Byzantine, Moorish and Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, was constructed of stone and terra cotta after Barnum‘s death using funds he had bequeathed for the purpose. The original societies which occupied the building ceased operation during the Great Depression and the city of Bridgeport assumed ownership in 1933. In 1943 the museum was closed for remodeling, reopening in 1946 as a city hall annex. In 1965, the city offices were removed and the building was again remodeled to reopen as the P. T. Barnum Museum in 1968, with exhibits about Barnum and the history of Bridgeport. The museum, which since 1986 has been operated by the Barnum Museum Foundation, was renovated in 1986-1989 and is today the only museum dedicated to the life of P. T. Barnum

Ralph Isham House (1820)

Around 1820, Ralph Isham, a merchant, built an impressive Federal style house on Colchester Green, next to the home of his father, Joseph Isham. The house was next owned by Henry Burr, a full partner in the Hayward Rubber Company, who had married Isham’s daughter, Lucretia. After her death in 1857, Burr continued to own the house, but rented it out. Among the tenants was the Justice of the Peace and house carpenter, Judge William Finley. The house had other residents over the years, but has more recently been used for commercial purposes.

The Joseph Parmelee House (1748)

The Joseph Parmelee House is on Water Street in Guilford and was built in 1748. Joseph Parmelee (1721-1804) was married three times, to Obedience Spencer, Abigail Cruttenden, and Mary Deming. At one time, the house had a lean-to, but this was later removed and other additions were then attached. The front door is surrounded by an impressive Greek Revival enframement, which was added later and has double pilasters on either side.

Wilton Little House (1888)

The Wilton Little House, at 122 Windham Street in Willimantic, was built around 1896 [edit (7/28/2014: 1888 according to the Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association] and is a fine example of the Queen Anne style. Addendum (7/28/2014): Little was an employee of of Hillhouse & Taylor. In 1896, Little sold the house to George P. Phenix, the second Principal of the Willimantic State Normal School (serving 1893 to 1904), which is now Eastern Connecticut State University. The property was next sold in 1904 to Henry T. Burr, who served as the school’s third Principal, from 1904 to 1918. Burr Hall at eastern was named in his honor.

Bacon Academy (1803)

Bacon Academy opened in 1803 in a plain but imposing three-story brick Federal-style building in the center of Colchester. The school was established with a $40,000 donation left in the will of Pierpont Bacon, a prosperous farmer, who died in 1800. It was decided by the new institution’s trustees that the school would focus on preparing young men for college, while local boys could also attend to prepare to enter business careers. The school had its heyday in the first half of the nineteenth century, especially under the leadership of John Adams (1803-1810), who later became principal of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and Charles Pomeroy Otis (1827-1837). Famous alumni of Bacon Academy include Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas, William Alfred Buckingham, Connecticut’s Civil War governor, and Lyman Trumbull, later a senator from Illinois. Bacon Academy’s national reputation declined in the early twentieth century, by which time it had become a more traditional privately endowed high school for the town of Colchester. It eventually passed from exclusive control by trustees to being supported by town tax money. Later additions to the building include the Victorian-era arched doorhood over the main entrance and a small rear ell, added in the early twentieth century. The current cupola is another nineteenth century addition, built over the original bell tower. By 1962, due to the growing student body, the students were moved to a new building. The original structure is still used by the town for school offices.

Wauregan Hotel (1855)

The Wauregan Hotel, originally known as the Wauregan House, was built in downtown Norwich in 1855 and soon became known as one of the finest hotels in New England. When Abraham Lincoln came to give a campaign speech in Norwich in 1860, he stayed in a room at the Wauregan. The Hotel was expanded in 1894 with the absorption of the neighboring Clarendon building, by which the Wauregan added a dining room and a ballroom. By the 1940s, the building’s Italianate cast iron ornamentation had been removed. Abandoned for many years and in a deteriorating condition, the Wauregan Hotel was in danger of demolition, but a preservation effort was successful: the building was restored to its original level of architectural detail and the interior has been adapted for reuse as an apartment building.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Seymour (1857)

In February 1797, a new Episcopal church was organized at a meeting in the home of Dr. Samuel Sanford in Seymour. By spring, the cornerstone for a church building had been laid but, due to a lack of funds, Union Church was only completed in 1816. Rev. Richard Mansfield served as the part-time rector until 1802. The church grew over the years and, in 1853, its name was changed to Trinity Episcopal. In 1857, the church was almost completely rebuilt, starting with only the old framework of the building, under the direction of architect Henry Austin of New Haven. There have been changes to the church over the years. The current spire is not as tall or complex than the one Austin originally built. At one time, the church also had Victorian-style ornamentation inside, but in 1997, when the church celebrated its 200th anniversary, the interior was completely renovated in the Colonial Revival manner.