HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORV-- ..._- ..- - ....~

FOR OFFICE USE ONL y

BUILDIN' AND STRUCTURes T_n No. I Si'. No 351HIST·6 NEWS 77

HATE OF CONNECTICUT UT~ , I I I, .' I . I t ICONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION

• .. . . . . . . . .S9 SOUTH PROSPECT H~EET. HARTFORD. CONNECTICUT 06106 QUAD:l

(203) 566·3005 O~TR'CT I IF NR SPEC IF v

Os oNR o Actual 0 Potential

t: BUILDING "A"'E (C ...... , IH,scOIicl

First Church of Chris~ Congregational I sameT. TOWN 'CITY ICOUNTY

% Farmington Unionville Hartford0t= J .. '1<.1<0 AND Ultd ot./OC".'innl~ 2 School StreetuII. 4.0WNER151t= First Church of Christ Association oPublic fi] ..'1......%\II0 S USE (,.,." .... 11 I'I~~~;·~h- Church

6ACCESSIalLITvlEXTERIOA VlSlBLE FROMF'UBLC ROAD I INTERIOAACCESSIBLE I IF YES. EXPLA'N

. TO PUBLIC: [i)v., DNa ~v., DNa Daytime7 ;>' rL.1<. U"

DATE OF "UN" ;U" IUN

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o OtheroCI.,ltoord 0 A.b.,to, Sidin, oa,ick (Sp.cUyl

o WoociShI",I. o A,pholt Slell", o Fi.leI,ton.

d80~rcI& a ......

.o Stucco o Cobbl. "0".

.

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II S 'RUC TURA'L SY5 :EM

oWoad.,_. o Po,. ond b..... o...II_n DOth., ISpecily'

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10 ROOF oT .." .. ,o Gobi. o Flat o Mon,o,eI oMoni'o, o ,.wtooth

o Gomb,el o Sheel (i] Hip o RoundDOth.'

%ISpec.lyl

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(i) Roll o Tin o SlateU A,pholt

'"\II O.he,0 C A,ph.1t ,hi",le o Built up o Til. 0'Speclly'

II NUMB£R OF STO"IE~ APPROXIMA 'E DIME N!oIONS

2~ 44 X 24: 42 X 77. 30 X 77. 104 X 63l.l "n", .", ""HeIUfoO.

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II INTEGRIT v •L" ......... WIo4EN• ·tii·';~~"'DNo I t~;:~t£X:~~~tion.lXl On .,i,ln.1 oMo....d rear entry porchsit.

U- RII::LATED OU 'BUILO'N~l> OR LAN-o~ lIPE ... " UREl>

LJ B.,n o Shed o Garote o O,h.r landscope I.a.u,., 0' buildin,s !Spec.l",

o Carriot·oShap o Gordenhouse

IS SURROUNOING ENVIRONMENT

=:J Open land o Wood. [i) R.sid.nt.ol:l' I -

landL..-; Scotte,ed buildings "i sible I,om site

oComme,c.alo Indus· o Ru,ol =:J High buolding den,;t)'

',ial16 INTERREL"TIONS"'P OF t!UILDING AND SuRROUNDINGS

The First Church of Christ, Congregational, Un,ionville lies prominently at theintersection of Main and School streets. It faces east and occupies a triangular plotof land west of the veterans grcen~ A small playground and parking lot exist to thesouthwest.

(OV[R)

- .. ... ' ..' .... --- - .. .".- ..

�-TH£R NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILOING OR SITE IlH, .."m .,,,el ('f ".'"''C'''Made of grey granite, this Gothic Revival-style church is large in scale. Its rock-faced surface of light and dark contrasts highlights many of the building's detailssuch as the window and door surrounds and corner quoins. The main hip roof is adjoinedby.several gable-roofed projections. The original front facade consists of a two-storypicture window made up six sections and separated by a cement band of trefoil reliefs.The belfry (once featured a steeple that was dismantled and reused in later addition)towers over the roof. The front entry has been covered with a modern porch. The?rominent, windows, belfry vents, and entrances are shaped in pointed arches. Contrastingquoins are found on the building's corners and large modillions decorate the cornice.Two chimneys banded with cement are visible. A modern addition lies to the east and hasaltered . al facade.

In 1840 six men (George Richards, Eber Gibl:s,Edward K. Hamilton, Eli D. Preston,William Brady', and Daniel Johnson) and the Reverend John R. Keep formed the Union-ville Ecclesiastical Society. The first church was completed in 1841 and sat atMain and Lovely streets just west of the cemetery. Constructed in the Greek Revivalstyle, it was moved in 1851 to the south side of School Street and enlarged in 1852.By 1883 the building proved to be too small. and with a loan of $16.000 the presentchurch was erected in 1885. The old bell from the original church was installedin the new belfry, ringing first on the death of ex-president Ulysses S. Grant.The first church served as the town.hall until it burned in 1899." In 1959 severaladditions were constructed using the Burlington-quarried granite stones from theoriginal belfry.

The First Church of Christ, Congregational is architecturally significant toUnionville due to its good state of preservation and association with the Congre-gational community in the town.

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Farmington Land Records; Farmington Probate Records; Farmington Vital Records; FarmingtonCemetery Inscriptions, W.P.A., 1934; Avon Cemetery Inscriptions, W.P.A •• 1934; 1853 E.M.Woodford Map; 1855 E.M. Woodford Map; 1869 Baker and Tilden Map; 1878 O.H. Bailey & Co. Map.Bickford. Christopher P. Farmington in Connecticut. Canaan. New Hampshire: Phoenix Pub-lishing for the Farmington Historical Society, 1982.

0 Alex Paredes 5/85I-0 NEGATIVE ON FILE:x:IL 6.:6

DATE>1tI Ruth A. Bedrosian 8/85Qw N

..JIL Greater Middletown Preservation Trust~0u CT

o Vandalism o DevelopersEJ None knowr.

o Deterioration o Zanin\! o Explana'iono Private

o O'her _

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