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

Otis Library (1850)

The old Otis Library building was constructed in downtown Norwich in 1850. It was founded by Deacon Joseph Otis, a retired merchant, who erected the building, purchased its first books and provided an endowment in his will for its continued operation. The library was originally housed on the first floor of the building, with a pastor’s study above. The library eventually outgrew the original structure and was moved to Main Street in the 1960s. The current Otis Library on Main Street was built in 2007. The original building is now known as the William F. Bourgun Memorial and serves as offices for the city’s Department of Human Services.

The Buckingham Memorial (1847)

William Alfred Buckingham was the governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1866. A wealthy businessman, he entered politics as a Whig, serving several terms as mayor of Norwich. Buckingham later became a republican, winning election as governor in 1858. In 1860, he traveled with Abraham Lincoln as the Illinois Republican made six speeches throughout Connecticut. The two became friends and the governor responded quickly when Lincoln, as president, requested volunteers after the firing on Fort Sumter. Buckingham served throughout the ensuing Civil War, leaving the governorship in 1866 to return to his former business pursuits. He later served as a U.S. senator from 1869 until his death in 1875. Buckingham‘s house, on Main Street in Norwich, was built in 1847. After his death, it was purchased by the veterans group, Sedgwick Post No. 1 of the Grand Army of the Republic. The house, thereafter known as the Buckingham Memorial, has more recently been turned over to the Norwich Historical Society for use as offices and perhaps, in the future, a museum.

Coggshell House (1816)

UPDATE: This house has been demolished.

Update: The house is in danger of demolition!

In 1816, Nathaniel and Rebecca Coggeshall (Coggshell) purchased property on Broadway in Colchester from members of the Bulkley family. It is uncertain if the Coggshells or the previous owners built the house which is now on the site. Rebecca Cogshell died in 1848, at the age of 81 and her three daughters were owners of the house.

The Medad Holcomb, Jr. House (1848)

Medad Holcomb, Jr. was a Guilford farmer who built a Greek Revival home on Fair Street around 1848. The house features expensive flush board siding on the front facade; the two pilasters on each side are later additions. Holcomb was the son of Medad Holcomb and his fourth of five wives, Nancy Parnel Dudley. When he died in 1871, he left the house to Sydney Dowd, a local temperance leader. The second floor of the house was used as a hayloft before an addition was built later on. There is also an historic barn on the property.

Edward W. Seymour House (1863)

The house of Edward W. Seymour, a Judge on the Connecticut Supreme Court, was built in 1863 on South Street in Litchfield. Today the house is attached to the adjacent St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and serves as a parish rectory.

Second Congregational Church, East Hampton (1855)

The Second Congregational Church of East Hampton was organized in 1740. This church originally served the communities of both Middle Haddam (pdf) and Haddam Neck, but these separated in 1855, when the Second Congregational Church was built in Middle Haddam. The church was moved to its present site in 1864 and was completely rebuilt in 1877 in the High Victorian Gothic style, to a design by Henry Austin. Today, the church remains the most imposing and architecturally significant building in Middle Haddam.

The Eliza Huntington Memorial Home (1832)

The Eliza Huntington Memorial Home in Norwich began as a private house, notable for its Greek Revival ornamentation. It was most likely built before 1835 (a “dwelling house” is already mentioned in an 1836 warranty to Jedidiah Huntington). Huntington bought the house when he retired from business. He died in 1872 and his will established the Eliza Huntington Memorial Home for Respectable and Indigent Aged and Inform Females on his former property. As described in a Report of the State Board of Charities to the Governor (1921):

The Home is located at no. 99 Washington Street and occupies a pleasant old-fashioned house surrounded by attractive grounds. It was formerly the residence of Mr. Jedediah Huntington, whose generosity established the Home as a memorial to his wife. The original endowment has increased until the income from it largely supports the Home.

As further explained in Caulkins History of Norwich (1874):

Mr. Huntington has made a deep and lasting impression upon the regard of our community, by the liberality which he has exhibited in his large and frequent donations to religious and benevolent objects, principally connected with the church to which he was attached. By his last will and testament, he gave the beautiful place, which was the residence of himself and wife for nearly forty years, as a home for indigent females, and appropriated $35,000 as a fund for its support. It is called the “Eliza Huntington Memorial Home,” as a tribute to his wife, who, during her last illness, expressed an earnest desire that a portion of his estate, which she would have received had she survived him, should be appropriated to found such an institution.