West Street Congregational Church, Danbury (1865)

Danbury‘s Second Congregational Church was organized in 1851, as described in James M. Bailey’s History of Danbury (1896):

A church that should be a church home for people, irrespective of social position or wealth, was a leading motive in the gathering in the basement of the First Church, May 20th, 1851. With no brilliant prospects and no encouragement from the older church, it was voted to try the experiment of a second Congregational church. Mr. Horace Bull was the chairman of that committee, and Henry Lobdell with L. C. Hoyt were appointed to arrange for a preacher and a place of meeting. Mr. William C. Scofield, of Yale Seminary, was engaged to preach for eight Sabbaths, and on June 17th enough encouragement had been received to warrant a vote to formally organize the new church, which organization was recognized by the Fairfield East Convention on July 9th. The church thus instituted numbered twenty-three, of whom twelve were men.

After worshipping in the building of the Universalist Society for four months, meetings were held in the court-room over the Town Hall, but May 6th, 1852, the young church dedicated its own house of worship on Main Street, nearly opposite the present Court House. It was built on leased ground, and after eleven years it was sold to the Roman Catholic Church.

The new church struggled during its earliest years, but eventually a new brick church was dedicated on May 9, 1865. Located at 32 West Street, it became known as the West Street Congregational Church. In 1889, composer Charles Ives, a teenager at the time, became the church’s organist. Today the building is home to Lighthouse Ministries International.

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Judson Bushnell House (1872)

In 1860, Judson Bushnell (1836-1906) of Ivoryton married Harriet Griswold (1839-1925). In 1872, he erected the house at 32 Main Street in Ivoryton, on land he had purchased from his father-in-law, Edwin Griswold, the partner of Samuel M. Comstock in the ivory comb-making business of Comstock & Griswold. The house was then occupied by Judson and Harriet’s son, Clarence (died 1940), who had previously lived in the former home of his grandfather, Edwin Griswold, across the street. Clarence Bushnell sold automobiles as a partner in the dealership of Behrens and Bushnell.

Medad Holcomb House (1805)

Medad Holcomb (died 1858) was a farmer in North Guilford who built the house at 2814 Long Hill Road in 1805. (His son, Medad Holcomb, Jr., would later build the house at 95 Fair Street in Guilford in 1848). In 1809, Rev. William F. Vaill acquired the house while he was pastor of the North Guilford Congregational Church. Later alterations to the house include the switch to smaller chimneys and shingle siding. The Holcomb farm, later owned by John Dudley, was operated as a dairy farm for many years and has many surviving barns and outbuildings.

William Boardman East Boarding House (1847)

At 123 Main Street in the Rockfall district of Middlefield is a Greek Revival house built between 1845 and 1847. It is unusual in that the entrance is on the west side of the house instead of on the front facade that faces the street. Originally, there was also a door on the east side. The multiple entrances provided access to what was built as a boarding house for workers employed at the mills along the Coginchaug River. Now a two-family house, the building was erected by William F. Boardman, who also built another boarding house just to the west.