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

New Haven Free Public Library (1908)

The New Haven Free Public Library goes back to its original opening in 1887 in leased space in a building on Chapel Street. Having outgrown this location by the first few years of the twentieth century, a permanent building was constructed at the corner of Elm and Temple Streets. Built between 1908 and 1911, the building was designed by the prominent architect Cass Gilbert of New York, who had won the design competition. He created a Colonial Revival structure, set back from the street, that would harmonize with the early nineteenth century architecture nearby, including that of United Church on the Green.

The Willis Bristol House (1845)

Located on Chapel Street, in New Haven’s Wooster Square neighborhood, the Willis Bristol House was designed by New Haven architect Henry Austin. Designed with a basic Italianate shape, the house has elaborate detailing in what has been described as either the Moorish Revival style or a style influenced by the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, which was built in the Indo-Saracenic style. Yale has original plans and illustrations of the house and a there is also a HABS record. The house was built for Willis Bristol, of Bristol & Hall, boot and shoe manufacturers.

The John Pitkin Norton House (1849)

Henry Austin designed one of New Haven’s earliest houses to be modeled on the style of an Italian villa: the John Pitkin Norton House on Hillhouse Avenue. Built in 1848-49, the house was inspired by the design for a villa published by Andrew Jackson Downing. As seen in HABS documentation from 1964, the house had lost much of its original detailing by then. In 2003, exterior restorations were made. The house was built for the Yale science professor John Pitkin Norton, an agricultural chemist who wrote Elements of Scientific Agriculture. Some additions were later made, including the third floor. The house was acquired by Yale in 1923 and is now a building of the Yale School of Management.

Timothy Bishop House (1815)

The Timothy Bishop House is a great surviving example of New Haven’s Federal-style architecture. Located on Elm Street, it was constructed soon after the land was purchased in 1815. The street was lowered and widened in the nineteenth century, resulting in the loss of the home’s front lawn and necessitating the addition of the exposed basement floor. The house is now used as offices.

John M. Davies House (1868)

When it was completed, on Prospect Street in New Haven in 1868, the John M. Davies House was the largest house in the city. It was designed by Henry Austin (with David R. Brown) for Davies, who owned a shirt-manufacturing company with Oliver Winchester, before the latter became famous for manufacturing firearms. The irregularly laid-out French Second Empire-style house lies on rising ground fronted by a wide lawn, creating a dramatic composition. In 1947, the house was purchased by a New Haven cooking school that would become the Culinary Institute of America. In 1964, while still owned by the Institute, it was the subject of a HABS study. In 1972, the house (now renamed the Betts House) was purchased by Yale University and remained unused for many years. Damaged by a fire in 1990, the house was restored in 2000-2002 and now serves as the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

Trinity Episcopal Church, New Haven (1814)

Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green, located just southwest of Center Church, is the third church comprising New Haven Green‘s carefully laid out plan of the Federal Period. At the time of its construction (1813-1814), Trinity Church, designed by Ithiel Town, was the most unusual of the three, as it was one of the very first three Gothic-style buildings in the United States. Town’s design has been significantly altered over the years, with the original wooden upper section of the tower being replaced by the current stone structure (and a pyramid, removed in 1930). Other changes include the addition of a chancel in 1884, by Henry Congdon. Town also designed Hartford’s first Gothic Episcopal church, which is now Chist Church Cathedral.

United Church on the Green (1815)

United Church on the Green, located on New Haven Green just northeast of First Church, was built 1812-1815. The Congregation dates back to the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century. In 1796, two congregations united: the White Haven church (formed in 1742) and the Fair Haven church (formed 1769). Their church building, originally known as North Church, was designed by Ebenezer Johnson, a member of the church committee, who made reference to the design of All Saints Church in Southampton, England (designed by C. L. Stieglitz; built 1792-5; destroyed 1940) as featured in a French architectural book. North Church was built by the noted Connecticut architect, David Hoadley. In 1849, the interior was totally remodeled by Sidney Mason Stone. In 1884, North Church joined with Third Church to form United Church. Both congregations had been involved with abolitionism: Third Church’s Simeon Jocelyn was a founding member of the Amistad Committee and North Church’s Roger Sherman Baldwin was a lawyer who defended the Amistad African’s rights.