George Washington

Jonathan Camp House (1911)

The Jonathan Camp House, at 1430 Asylum Avenue in Hartford, may look familiar to those interested in American history. It is a virtual replica of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, in Virginia, but features some grand additions to its model, including a much fancier entry with a semicircular fanlight and side lights, as well as an elaborate balustrade along the roof. Mount Vernon also influenced the design of other Colonial Revival style houses, like the Hill-Stead, but this house, designed by Edward T. Hapgood and built in 1911, follows the first president’s home very closely, with some early twentieth century aggrandizement.

Oliver Ellsworth Homestead (1781)

The house of Oliver Ellsworth, on Palisado Avenue in Windsor, was originally at the heart of the Ellsworth estate, called Elmwood. It was built in 1781 by Samuel Denslow, to Ellsworth’s specifications. Oliver Ellsworth had been born on the property in 1745 and went on to become a member of the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War, an envoy to France, a framer of the U.S. Constitution, the chairman of the Senate Committee that framed the bill organizing the federal judiciary system, and the third Chief Justice of the United States. Ellsworth married Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth in 1772 and the couple lived in the house until his death in 1807. Two sitting presidents visited the house, George Washington in 1789 and John Adams in 1799.

In 1788, Ellsworth commissioned Thomas Hayden, a notable Windsor architect-builder, to construct a two-story addition to the house on the south elevation. The addition’s first floor was a drawing room, in which Ellsworth’s daughter Abigail married Ezekiel Williams, son of the merchant and Hartford County Sheriff, Ezekiel Williams of Wethersfield in 1794. Ezekiel Williams Sr had served with Ellsworth on the Committe of the Pay Table during the Revolutionary War. The Greek Revival-style colonnaded porch was added by Martin Ellsworth in 1836. Members of the Ellsworth family continued to live in the house until 1903. It was then deeded to the Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution by Oliver Ellsworth’s descendants. Restored in the 1980s and 1990s, the house is open to the public as the Oliver Ellsworth Homestead.

The Old State House (1796)

The Old State House in Hartford was designed by Charles Bulfinch, who sent the plans from Boston. Bulfinch was perhaps influenced by the design of the Town Hall of Liverpool, England. The original design was much simpler than what is seen today. Many important features were added later, including the balustrade along the roof-line, added to protect firefighters, and the cupola, with a figure of Justice, completed in 1827. It was designed by John Stanwood and modeled on the cupola of City Hall in New York. The entrance to the Old State House faces the Connecticut River, emphasizing the importance of the river to the city at that time. The Connecticut General Assembly, which alternated sessions between Hartford and New Haven until 1875, held its Hartford sessions in the building from 1796 until 1878, when the new State Capitol Building was opened. The Connecticut Supreme Court also met in the Old State House until 1878. Famous events to take place in the building include the infamous Hartford Convention of 1815 and the first Amistad Trial in 1839.

The Old State House building next served as Hartford’s City Hall from 1878 to 1915, when the new Municipal Building was constructed. For many decades, a large Second Empire style Post Office building occupied the front lawn of the Old State House until it was torn down in 1934 and the open area in front was restored. In the twentieth century, the building was either neglected or in danger of being torn down on several occasions, but citizens groups stepped in to save it. It has also undergone several restorations and been open as a museum operated by several different organizations over the years, most recently the Connecticut Historical Society since 2003. The Old State House was in the news earlier this year due to a funding crisis. This prompted a variety of responses and ideas about the future of this historic building.

First Church of Christ, Wethersfield (1761)

Built in Wethersfield in 1761-1764, the First Church of Christ was the town’s third Meeting House. Designed in the Georgian style, it is a rare survival of a brick colonial meeting house. The steeple was most likely modeled on that of an Episcopal church, Trinity Church in Newport, R.I., which was in turn modeled on Christ Church in Boston. George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau attended services here on May 20, 1781, during the period they were holding their important meetings in the nearby Webb House. In 1774, John Adams, who was visiting Silas Deane, wrote in his diary:

“We went up the steeple of Wethersfield meeting-house, from whence is the most grand and beautiful prospect in the world, at least that I ever saw.”

Joseph Webb House (1752)

Built on Main Street in Wethersfield in 1752 for the wealthy merchant, Joseph Webb. This gambrel roofed house is typical of the Georgian mansions built for the wealthy in the mid-eighteenth century. During the Revolutionary War, in May 1781, George Washington made this house his headquarters for several days when he met here with the Comte de Rochambeau. The two generals planned the beginning of the campaign that would end five months later with the victory at Yorktown. Originally opened to the public by Wallace Nutting in 1916, it is currently administered by the National Society of the Colonial Dames as part of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum.

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