The Gridley and Case Cottages, on Main Street in Farmington, were constructed in the late eighteenth century and are rare surviving examples of modest workmen’s cottages. The two cottages were built sometime after 1771, when John Case purchased the land. Case himself lived in his homestead nearby and workmen occupied the cottages. At some point, Alexander Gridley started living in the smaller of the two, which he sold it to John’s son, Coral Case, in 1797. It was then used as a hat shop by Coral, who died in 1800.
Many people owned or lived in the cottages over the years, until they were sold, in 1970, to James McArthur Thomson, who was living in the
Gen. George Cowles House. He worked to preserve the cottages and at his death in 1993 his will placed the cottages in a trust and provided that they should be conveyed to a non-profit organization to be used for charitable purposes. In 1998, the trustee of the trust deeded the cottages to the
Farmington Historical Society. The society’s offices are now in the larger cottage, while the smaller cottage is rented out as a residence.