Rev. John Bates Ballard House (1840)

At 24 Linwood Avenue in Colchester, next to the Cragin Memorial Library, is a historic house which is now home to the Colchester Historical Society. Built around 1840 by Reverend John Bates Ballard, a Baptist minister, it is transitional between the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. The house remained in the Ballard family until 1908, when it was bequeathed to the Colchester Borough Baptist Church for use as a parsonage. After the Baptist congregation merged with the Colchester Federated Church in 1949, the house passed through various owners. By the 1990s, it was in a dilapidated state, but was saved with grant money and funds from the Colchester Historical Society (founded in 1963). It is now a museum of the town’s history.