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

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse (1886)

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, a 49-foot cast-iron tower, first activated in 1886, is located at Fenwick Point, near Old Saybrook. Commonly known as the “Outer Light,” it assists the earlier Lynde Point Light, which is located a mile-and-a-half away, in marking the mouth of the Connecticut River. Saybrook Breakwater Light was built on a large sand bar at the harbor entrance and the interior was lined with brick to provide insulation. It was equipped 1,000-pound fog bell in 1889, but this was replaced with a smaller one after residents objected to the noise. The light was automated in 1959. An image of the lighthouse is also featured on the state’s popular “Preserve the Sound” license plate. In 2007, the Federal Government announced that he lighthouse would be sold under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, although the planned sale is currently on hold. The Coast Guard will continue to maintain the light, while the eventual new private owners will maintain the historic structure. Edit: There is HABS info on this building.

E.G. Robbins House (1790)

The E.G. Robbins House, on Main Street in Wethersfield, was originally a gambrel-roofed structure, built by Elijah Wright around 1790. Wright served as a militia captain in the Revolutionary War. The house was extensively remodeled in the Italianate style around 1850, probably by the seed company owner, Silas W. Robbins. By 1869, the house was owned by Robbins’s brother, Edward Griswold Robbins. It was later the Pyquaug Inn and now the building houses ~~a hair salon~~ The Charles restaurant.

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The Jacob and Abigail Strong House (1698)

With this post, Historic Buildings of Connecticut celebrates its second anniversary! That’s two years of daily entries of historic buildings! There are many more to do (that’s an understatement!), so please keep reading!!! For our Second Birthday Post, the featured building is the Jacob and Abigail Strong House (also known in the past as the David Strong House) in East Windsor Hill (South Windsor). This is an early “First Period” or Post-Medieval English home, built in 1698. Originally the home of Jacob Strong and his wife, Abigail Bissell, the house is now the residence of Edward Sunderland of Sunderland Period Homes.

Saint Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church (1911)

The origins of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in New Britain go back to the late nineteenth century (New Britain’s first Ukrainian immigrant arrived in 1889). Many of the Ukrainians who settled in New Britain and elsewhere in the United States (such as the coal regions of eastern Pennsylvania) were from Transcarpathia and Galicia. Transcarpathia is a region of the Carpathian mountains which includes parts of modern Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. Galicia (named after the city of Halych) is the western section of modern Ukraine. Early on, in New Britain, the Halychany (Galicians) attended Holy Trinity Byzantine Catholic Church, a Ruthenian Church, whose leadership and clergy were dominated by Carpatho-Rusyns, also known as Uhorsky Rusyny, or Rusyns (Ruthenians) who had been living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire under Hungarian rule. Conflicts between the two groups led to a riot in the church in 1908 and the decision of the Galicians the following year to form their own parish. Initially holding services in rented space in the basement of Sacred Heart Church on Broad Street, the new parish soon constructed St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, on the corner of Winter and Clark Streets. It was built in two stages. The basement section, designed by the architects Unclebach and Perry, was dedicated in 1911. With the growth of the parish, the upper structure, designed by Clarence Palmer, was built in 1915-1917. The Eastern Basilica-style church was later repaired, after being damaged by a fire in 1973.

Holy Trinity Byzantine Catholic Church (1928)

The Carpatho-Rusyn people come from from the region of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains in Europe, an area where today the borders of Ukraine, Slovakia, and Poland meet. Many Carpatho-Rusyns (also known as Ruthenians) were members of the Ruthenian Catholic Church, a Greek Catholic Church which is in communion with Rome, but which uses the Byzantine liturgical rite. Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants in New Britain founded the Holy Trinity Byzantine Catholic parish in 1900. A small wood-framed church was built on Beaver Street in 1901. After this building burned in 1909, a second wood church was constructed in 1910. With the parish growing, resources were gathered to build a larger church on the same site. The present steel and brick structure, designed by Hartford architect Frederic C. Teich, was completed in 1928.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, New Britain (1913)

Carpatho-Russian immigrants settling in New Britain founded SS Cyril and Methodius Othodox Church, built on Beatty Street in 1902. In 1913, the old church was sold to a Greek Orthodox parish and a new and larger church building, on Washington Street, was consecrated to the Holy Trinity. The church’s missionary work in the region led to the founding of other Russian Orthodox parishes, including All Saints Orthodox Church in Hartford in 1914.

New London Harbor Lighthouse (1801)

The New London Harbor Lighthouse, located on the west side of the harbor entrance, was built in 1801 and is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Connecticut. With its octagonal, brick-lined brownstone tower (with cast-iron lantern) rising to 89 feet, it is also the state’s tallest lighthouse. The present New London Harbor Light replaced an earlier stone tower with a wood lantern, built in 1761. The current Keeper’s house was built in 1863 and was enlarged in 1900. In 1904, the sound of a new fog siren annoyed local residents and in 1906 it was replaced with a trumpet. The fog signal was moved to the New London Ledge Light in 1911. Today, the detached Keeper’s house is privately owned, while the tower is maintained by the New London Maritime Society. New London Harbor Light is still an active aid to navigation.