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

St. James Episcopal Church, Winsted (1926)

As related in Annals and Family Records of Winchester, Conn. (1873), by John Boyd:

The first stated worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Winsted was begun in 1847, by Rev. H. Frisbie, and some funds were then raised for a church edifice. During the following year arrangements were made for building a church and a location was agreed on. The present Episcopal Church was soon after contracted for and was completed in October, 1848; and on the 27th day of that month the parish of St. James was legally organized [. . . .]

The location of the church, influenced by the liberal subscriptions of individuals in its immediate vicinity, has been deemed ill-judged, and is supposed to have essentially retarded its growth. Endeavors have been made to obtain its removal to a more central point, intermediate between the east and west sections, but as yet without success.

The current St. James Episcopal Church, at 160 Main Street, was built in 1926.

Richard Buell House (1785)

The Richard Buell House is located at 17 Waterside Lane in Clinton. Built in 1785, the house displays features of the Federal style. Material used in the construction of the house actually came from part of a raft that hauled lumber to construct the home at 23 Waterside Lane. The raft was guided down the Connecticut River from Essex and then dismantled and the logs brought to the building site by a team of oxen.

David N. Prentice House (1849)

The David R. Prentice House is a classic Greek Revival-style residence, located at 30 Church Street in Mystic. Built in 1849, it was the home of Mr. Prentice, who served as Stonington selectman in the early 1850s.

Van Dusen-Chamberlain-Priest House (1825)

The history of the house at 540 Main Street in New Hartford is given in Sketches Of The People And Places Of New Hartford In The Past And Present (1883), by Henry R. Jones:

A few steps to the south, is the house owned by the late Seth K. Priest and occupied by Mrs. E. Y. Morehouse, her two sons and two daughters. It was built in 1825 by Anson Van Dusen [died 1853] who came to New Hartford in 1831 from Claverack N.Y. At first he drove stage on the route from Hartford to Albany, making this his stopping place, driving to and from Hartford every day. The lot on which the house stands was purchased of Capt Harry Cowles for $80, the builder doing the work being Henry Lee of Barkhamsted. Mr. Van Dusen continued as driver on the stage route but about a year, when he engaged in the sale of clocks for William Markham, Jr, and others, which business he continued more than twenty years, traveling through the southern states, but retaining his home in this village. In 1847 he sold the place to Hiram Chamberlain, who carried on the butchering business.

Seth K. Priest bought the house from Chamberlain in 1855 and

in 1874 remodeled and improved it. He was for many years prominent in the business and political interests of the town. Commencing work here with his father, a master builder, he carried that on but a few years; subsequently he became a merchant, and continued as such for upwards of thirty years, during which time he was a member of several firms — Elmore and Priest, Priest and Crow, S. K. Priest and Co., and sole proprietor. He represented the town in the legislature, and was for a number of years first selectman. He died Nov. 21, 1880. His widow still owns the property.

The house is now home to Gallery 44 and Haller Custom Framing.

John Northrop House (1871)

The house at 89 Main Street in Ivoryton was built in 1870-1871 by Samuel Merritt Comstock for John Northrop (1836-1897), to whom he sold it in 1874. Comstock was head of the ivory cutting business Comstock, Cheney & Co. Northrop was the company’s treasurer and in 1872 he married Comstock’s daughter Elizabeth (1840-1925). After her death, the house passed to Lucia Tully Chapman of New London, who sold it in 1929 to Laura Wright Wetmore, daughter of Northam Wight of the Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company of Centerbrook. She was the wife of Edward Van Dyke Wetmore of the Essex Paint and Marine Company. The house was originally a Stick Style Victorian residence, but after 1930 it was altered to a colonial revival appearance.

Abner Hinckley House (1871)

The Abner Hinckley House, 105 Church Street in Guilford, was built in 1871. The house has a Colonial Revival porch, probably added in the early twentieth century, which replaced an earlier porch (that was probably similar to that of the house at 72 Church Street). The house now serves as psychologist and orthodontist offices.

Willimantic Armory (1913)

Completed in 1913, the Willimantic Armory is an excellent example of the castellated architectural style, also called the medieval castle revival style, which was typical of armories built in Connecticut during the first fifteen years of the twentieth century. The state legislature granted the community’s request for an armory in 1911, although some felt that military construction at the time already exceeded the state’s needs. The Willimantic request had already been postponed in 1909 due to the large number of requests for armories at the time. The Willimantic Armory, located at 255 Pleasant Street, was designed by Whiton and MacMahon of Hartford (the same firm designed such buildings as the Corning Building and St. Justin Church, both in Hartford). After World War II, Willimantic’s military company, by then designated Company B, 169th Infantry, continued to use the armory until the early 1960s. It was then used by the 248th Engineering company until 1980, when the company was moved to a new facility in Norwich and the Willimantic site was deactivated. The Armory was converted into apartments in the 1980s.