Joseph Booth built the house at 826 Worthington Ridge, c. 1800. It was remodeled in the 1830s or 1840s, when a Greek Revival doorway was added. As related in Catharine Melinda North’s History of Berlin (1916):
The property next south of the hotel was owned by Joseph Booth, who built the front part of the house in 1800. The large ell was added later. In the corner of the lot, on the north side of the house, Mr. Booth had a shop for making hats. These hats were made of wool or skins. The boys of the neighborhood earned many an honest dollar by catching mink and muskrats and selling the skins to Mr. Booth, to be worked up into hats. The old gentleman was very deaf and always carried an ear trumpet . He was a good trader and invariably understood the price at about half that mentioned by the boys, and then would never settle on any basis except according to hearing.