St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Hartford (1845)

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, at 30 Prospect Street in New Hartford, was originally built as a Baptist Church in Barkhamsted. As related in the History of Litchfield County, Connecticut (1881):

In 1845—46 a Baptist Church and ecclesiastical society was organized in Pleasant Valley [in Barkhamsted], and a neat house of worship was erected. Rev. George B. Atwell became settled pastor in December, 1846, and Hart Doolittle was elected deacon. The church at this time numbered twenty-six. In 1847 the church gained accessions, and for several years continued to grow and prosper, although its membership never exceeded seventy-five. In 1858, Rev. J. J. Bronson succeeded Elder Atwell as pastor. In 1859 the members who resided in New Hartford formed a separate organization, known as a “Branch of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.” The original church, although reduced in numbers and strength, still retained its vitality, and Rev. T. Wrinkle succeeded to the pastorate, and was ordained in June, 1861. He remained but a few months, and the church was left without a pastor until 1865-66, when the remaining members united with the New Hartford branch, the house of worship was removed to that place, and the Baptist Church of Pleasant Valley became merged in that of New Hartford.

The church was moved from Pleasant Valley to New Hartford by being floated down the Farmington River. Its new location was on Holcomb Hill, on the east of the river. The commercial center of town would develop on the west side of the river. It was thought at the time that the East River Road, which ran by the church, would be extended, but instead the current Route 44, on the west side of the river, became the major thoroughfare through town. The Baptist church was acquired by the Lutheran church circa 1907.

636 Old Post Road, Fairfield (1954)

The Georgian Revival-style building at 636 Old Post Road in Fairfield was built in 1954 and housed the Fairfield Historical Society for half a century. In 2007 the Society erected a new building, the Fairfield Museum and History Center, at 370 Beach Road. Their former building is now owned by the neighboring First Congregational Church and houses the administrative offices of Operation Hope.

Copper Ledges (1924)

Copper Ledges is a Colonial Revival mansion in Bristol built in 1924 for Fuller F. Barnes (1887-1955). Barnes expanded the business started in 1857 by his grandfather, Wallace Barnes, who manufactured springs for clocks. Barnes and his brother, Henry, developed the company into the Associated Spring Corporation, which was organized in 1923 with Fuller Barnes as president. Associated Spring, part of the Barnes Group, would become the largest manufacturer of springs in the world.

The mansion stands on a prominent knoll at 60 Founders Drive, just southeast of the intersection of Stearns and Bradley Streets. Designed by local architect Henry Hayden, it was named Copper Ledges because the area is rich in copper. Extending to the south of the house are long formal gardens that end at a swimming pool and a dramatic loggia, erected in 1926. When it was constructed, the mansion was part of a 14-acre estate, which Barnes acquired in 1920. The Barnes family compound included the home of Fuller’s brother Henry Barnes, known as Chimney Crest, and various outbuildings. The estate has since been subdivided. Before he died, Fuller Barnes donated the house to Bristol Hospital, with the plan that it be made a convalescent home. The idea proved unworkable and the two Barnes houses instead became home to Laurel Crest Academy (later Laurel Crest Preparatory School), a private boys’ school, from 1960 to 1970. A girl’s school was added in 1970 and the name was changed to Devonshire-Laurel Crest, but the school closed in 1971. Copper Ledges is now a private residence. (more…)

Congregational Parsonage, Canton Center (1876)

In 1874, Linda Hosford left her property at 210 Cherry Brook Road in Canton to the Ecclesiastical Society of the First Congregational Church for a parsonage. An older house on the land, erected between 1787 and 1813 by Rev. Jeremiah Hallock (1756-1826), was torn down and the current house was built in 1876. The first minister to reside there, in 1877, was Rev. D. B. Hubbard. It is now a private home.