CT State Historic Preservation Office

12/16/2025

SHPO quarterly newsletter! https://conta.cc/4rXM0I7

Email from State of Connecticut     Quarterly News and Updates December 16, 2025 | Issue 18 SHPO Grant Updates Non-matching grants for architectural plans and specifications If you have been invited t

08/28/2025

A Celebrate Summer post from the Merwinsville Hotel - The Merwinsville Hotel is one of the last standing track-side station hotels east of the Mississippi and is located in the Gaylordsville section of New Milford.
The hotel opened for business as a meal stop for passenger trains in 1843 – the same year that Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol. Business boomed up until the late 1870s when Pullman dining cars made stopping at the Hotel unnecessary. Years passed and although valiant efforts were made to try to keep the hotel going, it fell into terrible disrepair.
That’s where the restoration came in. 1971, several local townspeople decided to save the building. Through tremendous volunteer and fundraising efforts, it was saved from certain destruction. You can now visit a very grand building with a two-story wrap around porch, period decorated rooms, one of the most interesting staircases that you have ever seen, and a newly-restored third floor ballroom.
We hold some terrific yearly events that include several art and fine crafts shows, summer tours, a movie/book club, and a community-wide glass orb scavenger hunt. Please visit our website for further information on all our events.
We are on the National Register of Historic Places and in 2022 we were awarded a commemorative marker in recognition of the restoration and preservation of this historic landmark from the Roger Sherman Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Along with the ongoing care, restoration, and preservation of this amazing 183 year old building, our mission is to make the Hotel the social and cultural center of the community. Please be sure to visit our “hidden gem” located in Gaylordsville, Connecticut.

08/25/2025

As summer winds down, hopefully, you enjoyed the many great state parks across the state. Earlier this summer, Governor Lamont announced the most recent recipients of the state’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program (OSWA) and the Urban Green and Community Gardens Grant Program (UGCG) which will protect approximately 2,270 acres of open space. The primary purpose of preserving outdoor open space also affords permanent protection of our State’s important cultural resources that
might otherwise be lost to development. Of the 25 new properties to be
acquired, three contain historic resources that will be preserved in perpetuity.
A win for both the natural and cultural environments. For more information visit, https://buff.ly/FplzhVj

Photo: Clapboard Hill Cemetery, courtesy of Madison Historical Society

08/21/2025

The David Scott House, built in 1714 in the recently settled town of Ridgefield, stood for nearly two centuries at a prominent Main Street corner. When a builder, coincidentally also named Scott, planned a modern brick commercial building in the early 20th Century, he moved the old house to a nearby site. In its new spot, the building was used for apartments and offices — including, late in the 20th Century, the office of an architect named David W. Scott (again, no relation to the original Scott). It was serendipity, perhaps, that architect Scott knew the building well when it was learned that the owners were planning to create a parking lot where it stood, but would donate the building and funds to a group that wanted to save it. A committee of preservationists led by Mr. Scott and Jeanne Timpanelli, took on the task of finding a new home for the dismantled Scott House, whose parts were carefully numbered and stored in a trailer, awaiting the house's rebirth. The location was a piece of town land just a block east of Main Street. Rebuilt as the home of the new Ridgefield Historical Society, the ancient house is a wonderful example of adaptive preservation. Antique floorboards creak and antique beams are exposed to show the sturdy construction techniques, but beneath the house sits a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled vault housing the historical society's collections. Within the space once occupied by a massive chimney stack and fireplaces, there's a dumbwaiter, storage, and first and second floor bathrooms. Scott House is a busy place with volunteers and staff engaging with visitors and continuing to catalog donated materials. Ridgefield Historical Society staff and volunteers are constantly at work creating new programming to bring Ridgefield history to town residents. Offices and work spaces fill the second floor while a large room on the first floor can host small gatherings. There's a small library and a conference room as well as an administrative office and a small kitchen, also on the first floor.
Everyone who spends time at the Scott House learns about how it was saved and how a community rallied, with donations of money and of time and materials, to create a hub of Ridgefield history. Signs throughout the building honor donors, the leaders who believed that an antique house that was part of the town from its earliest days deserved a new life.

08/18/2025

THE RESTORATION OF HARTFORD'S ISLE OF SAFETY - From the Connecticut Trolley Museum
The iconic Isle of Safety, one of Hartford's notable landmarks, had been located at State House Square in the center of downtown Hartford from 1913 to 1976. During that time, it served as a waiting station and shelter for tens of thousands of trolley cars, and later bus passengers, traveling to and from Hartford from many of its surrounding towns. Known for its distinctive terra-cotta tile roof and situated next to the Old State House it was a familiar
and beloved structure to many Connecticut residents.
This historic structure which is now 112 years old was nearly lost in 1976 when State House Square was paved over. It was rescued by the Knox Foundation which moved it to a temporary location and then later to East Windsor where it was re-erected at the Connecticut Trolley Museum.
Unfortunately, time had taken its toll, and the structure was in poor shape with considerable rot in the wood that supported the tile roof, and virtually all of the tiles were chipped and faded, many having fallen off. In 2018 the Trolley Museum launched a campaign to restore the structure to its original condition. By 2020 the work was completed, and the Isle of Safety is once again serving trolley passengers - in this case the passengers are visitors to the Museum who are waiting to board one of the Museum's vintage trolleys
for a ride. The Isle of Safety sits at the entrance to the Museum grounds and
once again serves as a notable landmark.
Some things to note about the restoration - It was thanks to the support of many individuals, foundations and businesses that the project was a success. A deep dive into the archival records into the City of Hartford's Building Department resulted in retrieving an original copy of the architectural drawings for the structure ensuring a historically accurate restoration. And amazingly the terra cotta roof tile manufacturer, Ludowici, of New Lexington, Ohio was still in business manufacturing the same exact tiles in the original color for us to purchase to re-cover the roof.
Finally - to memorialize the Isle of Safety's sixty-three years in Hartford, an outline pinpointing its exact location has been installed in contrasting color brick into the brick walkway at State House Square along with a nearby pictorial exhibit telling its story.
Photo Caption 1-The Isle of Safety on a busy day in Hartford in 1924
Photo Caption 2-The fully restored Isle of Safety at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor

08/14/2025

Through the research efforts of the former town historian, and one of the original founding charter member of The Bolton Historical Society, Hans DePold, discovered that the site of the Revolutionary War French Camp #5 was right in Bolton Center.
This location became property of the Bolton Congregational Church. In 1781, the old Minister’s House and fields were where French and Continental troops under General Washington, Rochambeau and others camped on their March To Victory in Yorktown.
In 1999 the town of Bolton purchased that 100 acre Rose family farm.
During 1999 the Bolton Historical Society was formed. Hans and fellow historical society member Pat Morianos contacted our US Senators & US
Representative of CT 1st Congressional District to have them introduce legislation in Congress to have the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route made into a national historic trail under the USPS. President Obama signed the bill into law in 2009 (link below).
Part of the farm is now a CT state archeological preserve (link below). In 2023, the Bolton Historical Society partnered with the CT Archeologist and the CT State Library in their “Digging Into History” project to see if there was any more old evidence of the French and Continental troops encampment at French Camp #5. We donated money to help defray lodging costs at CCSU for the 29 French and Connecticut students who participated in that archeological study (link below).
With contributions from fellow Boltonians who donated to the Bolton
Heritage Farm Commission’s “Pennies For The Porch,” the town funded repair of the farmhouse porch. Additional fundraising for the Farmhouse Restoration Fund helped the town of Bolton with 50% matching grants to replace the roof of the old house in 2019. Matching fund to replace the 300 yr old carrying beam in the house in 2024 were also raised. Check out the links below for more information.
https://buff.ly/RnbdDkS
https://buff.ly/mt8irbu
https://buff.ly/T3WYB3i

08/11/2025

From historic home to boutique hotel, the Belden House & Mews is a stylish, design-forward full-service hotel at the heart of Litchfield, CT. In collaboration with world class firms Champalimaud Design, PBDW Architects, and Reed+Hilderbrand landscape architects, as well as local craftsmen and artisans, such as Dumais Made lighting, Ian Ingersoll furniture, twenty2 Grasscloth and Lakeville Interiors, the Belden reinvigorates the 1888 Dr. Charles Belden house and “The Mews” — a 1959 modernist addition to the estate.
Of the total 31 guestrooms on offer, 10 are located within the original 1888 Belden home and echo the home’s historic framework and carefully preserved details, such as original moldings, parquet floors, fireplace hearths and mantles, door k***s and plates and even the original 1888 silver chandelier and sconces in the living room. Working with local firm, Twenty2 Grasscloth, we've emulated original details found in the restoration, such as a scrap of floral wallpaper, the patterns from tin ceilings, and even 19th century signatures discovered on the dry wall left by the original craftsmen.
The Mews, the modernist three-wing structure set apart from the Belden home, contains 21 guestrooms and suites, nine with private, lushly planted terrace gardens.
The rehabilitation utilized the state and federal historic tax credits.

08/07/2025

Save the Cabin, Manchester, CT - by Susan Barlow
In 2022, a small group of activists opposed the demolition of the 1917
summer house in the wooded 600-acre Case Mountain Recreation Area. The Town of Manchester had owned the Adirondack-style cabin since 2006, but didn't properly maintain it. By 2020, the Town allocated funds for demolition. "The Friends of the Cabin" agitated for redirecting that money to preserve the building. They organized online and paper petitions, lawn signage, social media, public events, and presentations at Town meetings. The town said cabin restoration would cost a million dollars and argued against the preservationists’ ideas. The controversy was picked up by WFSB Channel 3, The Hartford Courant, and The Journal Inquirer. In early 2023, the Board of Directors responded to the publicity by establishing a subcommittee to research possible preservation. In April 2023, the Friends group incorporated "Case Mountain Cabin, Inc.," a 501(c)(3) and offered to take on the preservation themselves. Eventually a 5-year lease was agreed upon, but the Town allocated no money for the project. In July 2024, the activists finally received keys to the building and began cleaning out debris, securing and stabilizing the site, removing overhanging trees, building an informational kiosk, and foundation stabilization. Fundraising has included private donations, three grants from local organizations, and in-kind donations. We have held three open houses, and the public is enthusiastic about our progress. In 2025, we improved the security system and worked on bringing in light and ventilation after the cabin's many years of being boarded up. Next phases include rebuilding the missing porch, improving drainage around the cabin, and recreating the historic garden with its decorative pools and bridge. The cabin will be a tourist attraction along the trails – visitors will be able to peek in the windows, sit on porch benches, and read signage about the history of the cabin and its owners. The trails, waterfall, and carriage paths have long been regional attractions, and the restored cabin will be a central jewel.

08/04/2025

On July 8th, the SHPO celebrated the completion of the newly rehabilitated Landers, Frary, and Clark industrial complex on Ellis Street in New Britain.The rehabilitation created 157 affordable housing units across the four industrial buildings in the complex. The Landers, Frary, and Clark company manufactured housewares and military items during its 70 year tenure in the Ellis Street plant. Speaking at the ribbon cutting was Governor Lamont, Elizabeth Shapiro, Directly of Arts, Historic Preservation, and Museums, New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquaro-Bruno, and more. The project received state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. In fact, the historic tax credits accounted for almost 20% of the total project financing, making it the largest single source of financing for the project. Historic tax credits can plan an important role in the rehabilitation of historic structures. For more information on the programs, visit our website at https://buff.ly/mBaDBtx.

07/31/2025

Randall Nelson, stone carver and conservator - In their own words:
I am a stone carver and conservator for several of the oldest cemeteries in CT. Recently, I have been working on a project carving replicas of the badly deteriorated gravestones of Revolutionary War veterans, as replacements for the original stones. This requires a lot of research, first to determine who the carver of the stone to be replicated was, then the specifics of his decorative carving style and also his lettering style. I will make a rubbing from the original stone, trying to get as much design information as I can, as well as the dimensions of the original stone. The next step is finding an appropriate piece of stone to use for making the replica and then shaping it to the dimensions of the original. Once that is done I lay out and carve the decorative elements of the headstone. When all of that is done, I then lay out the text and carve it, trying to match the original carver's lettering style as closely as I can. Once the stone is finished I take it to the cemetery and install it. Since most early cemeteries in CT were built on hillsides this often requires the help of several people to get the stone to the site and finally installed. I have done replicas for Revolutionary War
veterans in the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford, in the Old Durham Cemetery in Durham and in the Riverview Cemetery in East Haddam.

07/28/2025

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) operates Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden and applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for funding to reimburse the cost of repairs to the park caused by a significant storm event. The repairs included widening a trail by removing portions of stone outcrops. CT SHPO recommended to FEMA that the Sleeping Giant State Park is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) of importance to tribal communities and as a historic landscape of local importance associated with the development of the Connecticut Park system. It was CT SHPO’s opinion that this work changed portions of the park in ways that affected character defining features of the park. As a result, and in consultation with local tribal communities, treatment measures to offset the changes caused by the repair work were developed and incorporated into a Memorandum of Agreement. The stipulations required the completion of two tasks: training on Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, best practices, and the disaster grants process presented to State employees; and installation of an interpretive panel to illustrate the importance of Sleeping Giant to Native American Tribes and an explanation of the land ownership patterns within the park. On September 20, 2023, the interpretive panel was unveiled during a Tribal Acknowledgement ceremony held by CT DEEP and the Sleeping Giant Park Association.

07/24/2025

Our Historic Preservation Story - John Baroody and Cynthia
Vannoy, Sharon, CT.

The first owner/builder of our house was William Lewis III, of Farmington, CT, born 1713; died in 1780. He acquired property in the White Oak area of
Farmington in October 1765 from another Farmington resident, Solomon Cowles, and then completed building the house by 1768. Dates and ownership have been verified through deeds and dendrochronology analysis of the tree rings in the main beams. Plainville, CT was split off from Farmington in 1869 and our house was there on New Britain
Avenue in a commercial zone, vacant, and slated for demolition (photo attached) in the summer of 1992. We acquired the building making plans for it to be dismantled, moved to Sharon, CT and restored to the period of its original construction. The house was placed on the Connecticut Register of Historic Places in January 1993. The Plainville Historical Society supported the preservation of this house by relocation. The restoration work took place in 1993-95. After saving all period materials and dismantling the post & beam timber frame, everything was trucked to our property in Sharon. The 18th century house was reconstructed to include a lean-to “saltbox” on the back and a separate addition to provide space for bathrooms and the kitchen without compromising the original structure. Interior details have original woodwork as well as reproduced architectural features. The building met all codes but maintains its period character. A new center chimney serving 4 period correct fireplaces was built. All wrought iron latches, hinges, and other hardware we used are antique and not reproductions. The restoration work was well-researched, including paint colors. The entire process and results have been very satisfying. Photos of the house as it stands now in Sharon, CT are attached. (One exterior and one interior shot.)