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HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FOR OFFICE USE ONLY BZ

BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES Town No I S11e No . H'1Sl 6

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z 0 ~ c. er t.> I,/) w 0

REV 6 83 STATE OF CONNECTICUT

UTM I I I CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION

59 SOUTH PROSPECT STREET. HARTFORD. CONNECTICUT 06106 OUAO I (203) 566·3005

OISlRICl I IF NA, SPECIFY

D s lN NA ~ Ac1ual I BUILDING NAME /Common} I ( H ISIOflCI

Per r y House Moses Downs Hou se 2 TOWN CITY I VILLAGE I COUNTY

Southbury South Rritnin New Haven 3 STREET AND NUMBER 1ana or 1ocat1onJ

662 South Britnin Roa d J OWNER1 Si

Pe rry , Rich a rd fY Mary 0 PuOl•c

5 L'SE • Preser.ri I 1H•SIO ,,CI

Residence Residence c I EX• ERIOA VISIBLE FROM PUBLiC ROAD

I INoERIOR ACCESSIBLE I IF YES. EXPLAIN

4CCESSIBIL'TY 0 Yes ~ No :o PUBLIC j ~ Yes 0 No

7 STYlE OF 3 UIL01NG I DATE OF CONSTRUCTION

Colonial ca . 17 60 B 1_.,AiE_j:11AUSl 1lncJ1ca1e use 01 .oc2 11on when aop1opr1ateJ

z c:aooca10 D Asoestos s1d1ng 0 Sric" D Other 1S"ec1trJ

n L.J w·ooc s'",in91e D t..spnat! s10 1ng D F1elos1one

r< LJ Soa•d 8 oa:ien 0 S1ucco 0 Cooo1es1one

LJ Aluminum D Concrete D Cul s1one $10 :"lg Type Type·

E STRUCTURAL SYSTE M

~ 'N:Joo frarre ~ Posi and beam 0 Balloon

LJ Lead :Jearing 'Tlasonry 0 S1ructura1 iron or s1eel

' I O~~er 1Soec 'r'

·o ~OOF i } OE'

~ Gac:e 0 F1a1 0 Mansaro D Monitor 0 Saw1001n

; l 0 0 H•? D 0 Gamb•el Snee Rouno 0 1ne1 1SpecilyJ

0 Ma1ena11

;-; Wood sri1ng1e D Ro 11 D Ton D S1a1e ason;i1:

~ .;s:>ria11 sr.1ngle r-i Bui!' uo 0 1 de D 01ne1 LJ • Soec.ty l

' l'J ll.SEFl OF STORIES i '-PP<:;QXIMATE 01MEr;S10 NS

2 · 2 CONDIT ION 1Sr1vcru1a11

~ E,ce11en1 0 Gooo 0 Fair 0 De1enora1t-d 0 Good

· ~ If\ TEGRIOY1loca11on1 I WHEN'

,S Qt"I ori91na1 !t•1e 0 Mo 1i1 ed I AL TERA TIONS

@ Yes 0 I IF YES EXPLAIN

·• "ELATED OUTBUILDINGS OR LANDSCAPE FEATURES ~ window in kitchen ,

porch a.oded . 0 6C'rn D Sneo D Ga1age ~ 0111er 1anos.cape lea:ures or bu1I01ngs 1Spec1ty1

i& Ca•r1age D Sn op D Garoen Wash Ho u se house

•S SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT

0 Ooen •ano 0 Woooiand rgJ Res1den11a1 D Scattereo t>uitoings visible trom site

0 Comme1c1al D lndus1ria1 D R ural D H1gn bu1101ng density

16 INlERREL ATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS

0 Fa11 0

compatible

0 Po1en11al

~ Povate

Deteriorated

rea r summer

Southerly oriented house contributes to histor i c c h a r acter of s treetscape in village.

(OVERI

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1; 01HER N01A8LE FEATURES Or BUILDING OR Sl1 E 11ntt'f•0' 3 "1 or e •renor )

The southerly oriented three-bay house has an interesting evolution. One of the oldest houses in town, it began as a three-bay saltbox (most other saltboxes in Southbury are 5 bays) with a secondary entrance on the west elevation. Of post-and-beam construction with a central chimney, the house most likely existed in that conf iguration into the 19th century . It was enlarged to a full two stories with boxed overhang ing eaves and blocky r e turns . The original sche me, however, is still apparent in th e attic where the original roof rafters and some be ams and plate s remain in place . During the 185 0s the house wa s upd ated in the Grecian taste . The central chi mney was removed , a nd a c e ntral hall with s traight-run mi d -19t h c e ntury staircase (see continuation sheet)

Southbur y La nd Re co r ds .

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I EU!!.DE:; I I

~ '.Ila ry E . '.11c Ca hon i 11 / 90 0 J: . = :. Q.

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~ l~~~~: hbury Histo r ica l u I Box 124, Southbury , CT 0 64 88

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Soc ie t y

~· io-1REJ-1S"OBU1.011JGORSl'IE

E J.p1aria1ion ------------------ --- - -

HlST-6A REV 3-81

ST.ATE OF CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION 59 South Prospect Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORM For Bu i lding~ and Structures

CONTINUATION SHEET Item numhcr . Date :

.. OR OP'P'ICK USK OHLY

TOWH HO.: SITE NO.:

UTM: tl/-1-1-/-1-/-QUAO: DIST.-1cT: • H.- : ACTUAL

~OTENTIAL

Item 17 662 South Britain Road

were added. Bold pilastered frontispieces were added to the front and south doors, and rectangular windows with Grecian geometric glazing pattern were added to the gable ends. A Greek Revival pilastered mantel was installed in the west parlor. The mo lding at the chi mney girt in the east parlor survived the re modeling as did the summer beam used in only the eas t chamber. Curiously su mmer beams are in place in both original rooms on the second level. Original 6-panel and batten doors remain on both levels, but the 12-over-12 light windows are 20th-century replacements o f the o riginals. The rear kitchen ell incorporates an earlier one, and the compatible rear summer porch incorporates the dug well. An excellent late-19th century carriage barn with the distinctive local detailing in the gable ends and roof overhang is located to the north of the house, and a wash house, listed in 19th-century deeds, also survives.

An independent agency attached to the Dept. of Education for Administrative purpose s only. HIST-6A

HlST-6A REV 3-81

ST A TE OF CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION 59 South Prospect Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORM For Buildings and Structures

CONTINUATION SHEET Ite m numhr r . Date: ---

.item 19

"°" O""IC• U•ll ONLY TOWN NO.: •ITE NO .:

UTM : t •/-1-1-/-1-1-QUAO: DIST"ICT: ACTUAL

~OTENTIAL

662 South Britain Road

This house in the center of South Britain has always been closely ~ssociated witn the life of the village and especially its churches, toth Congregational and Met~odist. Tradition has it that the house 1~=-s buil t by Meses Drn·ms [1] (so;r;etimes 'Dm·m' rn- 'Downes') ca 1755/60 [=J as a c2Gter chimney saltbox at the crossing of South Britain Road and Easl Flat Hill Road. Moses Do~~s {5th ge~.} was descended from D~acc~ Ebenezer {4}, Ebe~ezer {3}, John {2) and John Downes {1}~ who E~igr&~ed ta ~ew ~lave~ Colony from Cheshire, England, as early as 1646 [3 1 4, SJ. John u . .:, 'Gentleman,' first cf the na.me in Ne~-: England, w~s known to be a friend of the regicides, Whalley, Goffe, and

JohG {2}, founder of the family in Connecticut, was a minor in Ne w H~ve~ in 1643. His grandson, Deacon E~enezer Downs {4}, marri ed Di~&h Sristoll in Ne1~ Haven in 1727, and mo~ed his fanily of five sens (including Moses {5}, born 1734) and three daughters to the develo~ing village of South Britain, where they acquired large land ho!diGgs in the Pomperaug River val ley . The first English settlement in South Britain, then part of Woodbury, had commenced about 1715.

married A~n _____ , and together with many others the fa~ily, spe~t their lives in South Britain. By 1765, the

villaQe had ;rown to the p~int that 45 residents (includi ng Moses, his fathe~, 2nd twc brother s) petitioned the General Assembly for the establishment of 2 separate Eccle5iastical Society there [1J. The first meeting of the new Society was held June 5th! 1766, at the home cf Mose~ Do~~s {5}. It was voted that the Society hire preaching for two months and continue to meet at the Downs House for public worship. These religi ous me etings were held in the second-floor chamber of the saltbcx house, the time and plac2 being shown on notices on signposts in ':.hE· vi 11 agE. Or.2 of the si gnpo:;ts wa.s in, the 1 ane just north of the Doi..:r;s house adjacent tc the Town whipping post [6, 7J.

The chamber of the saltbG~ was uno1v1oed and loose boards were laid fer a garret floor on which corn was spread for the church meeting~. An aged negro by the name of Jethro was among the communicants and was famous for opening his mouth very ~ide when singing . Once, while touching t1is highest s trains, an unruly boy in the garret gathered a handf~l of corn which he threw into Jethro's mouth, causing great consternation, coughing and gagging. At a church meeting on the 15th of September 1766 it was voted to build a meeting house, and in 1770 the building - close by the Downs House - had progressed enough to be occupied, though not yet finished [1]. The South Britain Parish Church thrived throughout the remainder of the 1700s.

<See continuation sheet 2)

1 An independent agency attached to the Dep':. of: Education for Administrative purposes only.

HIST-6A

H~ST-6A REV 3-81 "°" Ol"P'IC• usa ONLY

ST A TE OF CONNECTICUT TOWN NO.: llTE NO. : I

CONN£CTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION UTM: 11/-1-1-/-1-/-QUAO:

59 South Prospec1 Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106 HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORM r or Building!> and Structures

CONTINUATION SHEET l1crn numhcr . Date: ---

Item 19 (continued>

DllTl'llCT: • ACTUAL

"0TENTIAL

662 South Britain Road

Both Moses Downs {5} and his father, Ebenezer {4}, were in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Later, returning to the ~illaa~, in the absence of other sources of reading material, it i s likely that Moses had a 'library' in his home near the church bef ore 1723 as one cf h i s neighbors, Di2ry, "We nt up to librc ry mee ting.

Dav id Hicock records in his Took out Edwards' life and

Most members of t h e Downs family were long lived, but by the turn ~· the 18th c entur y , they were dying off. In the 1820s, catastrophe struck a.s e<.n epidemic of the "Ne;..; Milford plagL•.e " hit the village (lJ, affecting older people especially har d. Moses Downs {5J died in 1822 at age 88, follo~ed during the next few year s by his brothers, Aaron a n d Benjamin and their wives, clus two sons [9J, and properties which h ad been in the Downs family for over 60 years changed hands. The foundations of the Congregational Society were sorely stressed, and the churc h was unable to support a minister for a number of years in the 1820 s [6]. About the same time, two counterbalancing developments w~re taking place in South Britain, however; first, manufacturing activity using the water power of the River was e x panding; and secondly, religious organizations other than the Congregationalists were emerging - especially Me t hodists.

A manufacturing breakthrough came when pedigreed Merino sheep and technolog y for making woolens were imported to Connecticut from England, Spain, and the continent, opening the way for a competitive woolen cloth i n dus try in the northeast [10, 11J. One of the purveyors cf change was John Winterbotham, who was a skilled manufacturer of woolens near M~~che~ter, England in the late 1700s. He was hired by Col. David Hu mphrey s of Humphreysv ille (nea~ Derby, Conn.) to come and set up an operatic~ there in 1811. Winterbotham produced the first woolen broadc l ot h b y industrial methods in America. Col. Humphries d:. e d in i8 2 i, a.:1 d Wi n tet-botha.::, 's daughter~ Ann Sophia., wi-ote, "Heai-ing tha t a pleas8nt old homestead was for sale in South Britain, Southbury Township, my fat h er purchased it.'' It was the Downs House that John Win t ertotham and his wife, Ann, bought in 1823, along with several other nearby p r operties [12]. Shortly after this he bought a factory sev eral miles below and went into the woolen business again.

In the period 1823-1829, people frequently stopped at John Winterbotham's Tavern and Store on Main Street in South Britain on their way to the Congregational Church to get coals for their foot

<See continuation sheet 3)

2

/..n independent agency attached to the Dept. o~ Education for Administrative purposes only. HIST-6A

o I q_

- . -:q

HlST-6A REV 3-81 r---------------. "lr- / <

ST A TE OF CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION 59 South Prosptc t Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORM For EJuildins:~ and Structures

CONTINUATION SHEET Item numhcr : Date : ---

Item 19 (continued)

l'Oft OP'l'ICI: USI: OHL Y

TOWN NO .: llTE NO. :

UTM : ta/-1-1-/-1-1-QUAD : DllT"ICT: • ACTUAL

~OTENTIAL

662 South Britain Road

stoves, since churches were not heated at that time. This courtesy was disc ontinued, however, when it became too popular. Ann t•h nte:-botha.m 1..:as educated in South Bt- i tai n · s one room school and at a local ' dames' school . She was thought to be rather 'wild' for those days, and meeting her on the street one day singing at the top of her voice, on e of the deacons said, "Ann , it seems to me you are singing too loud for the street." Ann answet-ed, "That 's a.11 right, deacon, I'm singing to the Lord." "Wal," said th,e deacon, "the Lord ain ·t deef, is he?"

I I ,.

For several years John Winterbotham prospered, but 1829-30 found him with heavy payments to meet, a falling and uncertain market, and a woolen establishment that for more than a year had been running at a dead loss. This ended in financial ruin. He gave up everything to his creditors, including the Downs House and his other local property, and moved his family to Ohio, where he farmed another 26 years before he died.

Shortly after her marriage in 1831, John's daughter, Ann Winterbotham Stephens moved to Maine and began a writing career in which s h e became one of the first successful writers of 'dime novels' a n d serial stories. From her sm2ll-town Connecticut beginnings in South Britain schools, she grew to be regarded by some as ''the mother of the p aper-ba.ck book." She beca.me editor of numerous ladies magazines and wrote humorous works as well as guides on needlework and crocheting in her successful writing career which spanned over 50 years .

DuriGg this same period in the ear l y 1800s , religious change was in the wind, threatening the domination of ~he Congregationalists in Connecticut . Methodist preachers came through Southbury ir. the early 1790s. Newton Tuttle had a large tract called 'Tuttle's Farm' in the southerly part of Southbury Pari s h [1]. He had been converted in 1784, was licensed to preach, and had charge of Southbury and other Methodist churches on the circuit. A class was formed in 1803 on George ' s Hill, where a group of hatters lived and worked - Samuel Smith, Thomas Solley, Judson Manville, Stephen Harris, etc. - but in the 1820s they began to move to South Britain to gain access to more water power [12, 13]. Land for a new Methodist-Episcopal Church in South Britain was given by Erastus Pierce in 1832; it was just north of the Downs house and east of the Congregational Church. Newton Tuttle and his family were part of this development, and in the 1830s

<See continuation sheet 4)

3 Mi independent agency attached to the Dept;. o~ Education for Administrative purooses only .

HIST-6A ,I

-l •

lil'ST-6A REV 3-81 I"°" Ol"l"ICK US• ONLY

ST A TE OF CONNECTICUT TOWN NO.: 91TE NO.:

UTM : 11/-1-1-/-1-/-QUAO:

I

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION 59 So11 th Prospect Street, H~rtford, Connecticut 06106

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORM For Bu il dings and Structures

CONTINUATION SHEET l trm numhrr Date : ---

Item 19 (continued)

Dl9T"ICT : • ACTU.-.L

l"OTENTl.-.L

662 South Britain Road

he acquired a number of John Wi nterbotham's earlier prop e rties, including the Downs House [1 2J . Over the nex t 30 years the house was own ed by several Tuttle relati ves and parishioners of the growing M.-E . Corr.mu.nity - Guthrie , Landers , Harris, etc. - and in 1865 was sold to the Trustee~ of the Methodist-Episcopal Church f or use as their parsonage, ~hich it remained for over 75 years .

The period of the mid-1800s was one of v igorou s development in South Britain , as entrepreneu rs moved to capitalize on water power ~nere. Small factories sprang up a long the River to make h a ts, ~oolens , buttons, and numerous other articles. This was the growth center of Southbury, with the nearby Bradley mill turning out uniforms for the Union Army at the time of the Civil War. So with the increasing attraction cf Methodism , it was natural that their parsonage - the Do wns House - be improved and modernized. Although the roof of the saltbox may h ave been raised earlier to make two full stor ies, at this time the center chimney and firepl aces were removed and repl aced with a center hall stairway and cast iron stoves in each room , each connected to a much smaller central chimney. Another room was add ed on the north side of the house to be used as a kitchen and pantry. As with other neighb o ring residences, water was supplied to the Downs House from a s pring on the hillside of Rattlesnake Rocks to the east through a network of lead pi pes lea ding to a cistern at the house [12] . A 30 foot deep dug well near the back door supplied supp lementary water.

The Methodists thrived in South Britain into the early 20th century. The churches were the socia l as well as religi o us foc a l p oints fa r the community, and neighbors remember suppers at the p .:u-sc;nage h•her- e "i-.'e 2 11 went . " [ 14 J In the' 1920s , the cost was 35 cents . But with the advent of p e troleum-based energy , wa ter power lost its attraction, indust rial act i vi t y diminished, and South Britain b ecame just another out -of-the-way dirt road hamlet after World War I. The Methodi st congregati on d ec r eased correspondingly, and by 1941, was forced to cease operations. The church building and parsonage were both sold "on abandonment of the Method ist-Episcopal Church, according to discipline and usage of the Methodist Church.'' [12J And after over a century in South Britain, the Methodists departed, while the Congregationalists revived to carry on.

After briefl y changing hands several times during World War II, the Downs House was purchased in 1947 by Dana E. Perry and his wife,

<See continuation sheet 5>

4 An independent agency attached to the Dept:. o~ Education for Administrative purposes only.

HIST-6A

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nlST-6A REV 3-81 P'Oft Ol"l"ICll US& ONLY

ST-ATE OF CONNECTICUT TOWN Ho.: • tTE No.: '.

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION UTM : 11/-1-1-/-1-1-QUAD :

59 South Pr0spect Street, Hutford, Connecticut 06106

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORM r or Build ings and Structures

CON TINUA. TION SHEET l1cm number . Date: ---

Dl9Tl'tlCT: • ACTUAL

l'OTENTIAL

Item 1 9 (c ontinued) 662 South Britain Road

Helen, as their residence . Mr. Perry worked at the nearby Hawkins Comp~ny, the l ast remaining manufacturing operation in t he village, ~hich made button tacks and was t he largest manufacturer of ani ma l traps i n the ccuntry, but his real love was art . One of the Perry 's daughters, Charmion, ffiarried Rev. Ernest Bengston, mini ster at the ~eighboring South Britain Congregational Church which had b een founded in ~heir house al most ~00 years earlier . Re ligi ous l y, the Downs House n2o come full c ircle'

Upon the d emise of the Dana Perrys, the property was acquired in 1980 b y the present owner-historians , Richard C. Perry and his wife, Mary Curtis Perry - no known relati on to the prior Perry owners. Over its ca 230 year life, the Downs House has been and remains a very li vable home in the center of South Br itain 's changing life. The p rec ise boundaries c f the property are not defined even now, still being described as "bounded souther ly and ~Jesterl y b y the highway" hherever that i s ! It i s sited well on well-draining gravelly soil , facing south on a slight rise away from the road, the original maple trees still p rov iding natural air-conditioni ng, in testimony to the good housing judgement o f the Downs family over two centuries earlier.

F~Ef erences : [ 1] "South Britain Sketches and Records" by W. C. Sharpe, 1898 . [2J Ac cordi ng to Evelyn Williams Hicock in her ''1984

~:ef 1 ect i ans , " as adduced fr om the ma.ss i ve stone center chimney stack a.n d o\·ei-·= i z:e b eams , the hou.se might have b een bui 1 t ea.rl i er- in the i 74:)-;; by Moses · fat her· , Deacon Ebenezer Dm~ns {4} .

[3) " Th e Do1-1ns Fa.mi 1 y of Long I s l and" by Ar-thw- Channing Dm..:ns Jr. [4] Barbour Col lection , Connecticut State Library. [ 5 ) Vital Rec ords of New Haven. [6] South Britain Cong regational Church r ecords . [7J "Hornes of Old Woodbury," 1 959 . [8] Diary of David Hicock, 1776-1783 , Connecticut State Library,

as interpreted by Margaret Lipp incott, Church Historian, in h e r ''1984 Reflections ."

[9] South Britain Cemetery records . [10] "John Winterbotham " by Walter B. Woodcock, Polson, MT, 1985. [llJ "Seymour, Past and Present," b y Campbell, Sharpe, and Bassett . [12J Probate and Land records of Woodbury and Southbury. [13) "Search for an Ancestor," by Thomas Solley, 1911. [14) "1984 Reflections" by Mrs. He nry J. McCarthy.

5 P.n independent agency attached to the Dept. 0£ Education for Admini s trative purposes only.

HIST-6A

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ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTHBURY

Southbury, located in the extreme northwest corner of New Haven County, was until 1787 the second ecclesiastical society or south parish of the Town of Woodbury, which was initially settled in the last quarter of the 17th century. Southbury achieved parish status in 1731. Characterized by terrain ranging from fertile rolling farmland to rugged rocky hills, the town for most of its history was an agriculture-based community. Southbury parish was divided into two parishes in 1766, and they were incorporated as a town in 1787. The town tentatively explored waterpowered industries in the proto-industrial era, but neither the Pomperaug River nor any of the several brooks dammed since the 18th century were of sufficient flowage to sustain marked industrial development and growth. Consequently, the town remained largely an agriculture-based community that actually lost population for the 100 years between 1840 and 1940. The result is that much of the initial flush of prosperity the town enjoyed is preserved in its layout and architectural heritage. By the time 20th-century growth caught up with Southbury, mechanisms and attitudes were in place to maintain those features that contribute so significantly to the historic character of the town.

With the exception of South Britain, the village that grew up predominantly after 1760 around the small mills and shops on the banks of the Pomperaug River, Southbury developed more as a loose collection of farms than a town clustered around a central green and commercial center. Settlement in Woodbury, former Pootatuck Indian territory, dates to about 1673 and was the result of a dissension in the church in Stratford. Earliest concentrated settlement in the Southbury section appears to have been along Main Street North, the old Indian trail that has always served as the principal highway through the town. It was later part of the Woodbury Turnpike. The early settlers, including Hinmans, Stiles, and Curtisses, set out their two- to five-acre homelots along Main Street with larger allotments for farming to the rear. Further distributions were made for woodland and meadowland with the last division occurring in 1782. Fortunately, this original arrangement survives, with houses and barns to the rear standing on generous grounds.

Most of the extant houses that line the length of Main Street North are second generation and reflect post-Revolution prosperity rather than the initial rude structures erected by the original proprietors. The impression that the well-preserved assemblage of architecturally significant 18th- and early 19th-century houses and barns conveys is that of a rural community bypassed by time and the intrusions associated with the modern era. Commercial development in the pre-Civil War period was scattered in small-scale shops and stores located in simple buildings on the grounds of the proprietor's homelot. With the exception of Shadrack Osborn's store at 250 Main Street North,

which has been enlarged and converted to a residence, none of the early stores appear to survive. No c ommerc ial district developed on Main Street North.

The most common early house form was the one-and-one-half story Cape with massive central chimney and low ceilings, frequently with framing members exposed. Often arranged on a two-room plan or extended by a lean-to ell on the rear which provided spac e for the kitc hen and a s mall ke eping room, Capes were built well into the 19th century. They rank among the oldes t houses in Southbury and were built in all sec tions, from the rugged West Purchase area to Strongtown on Eight Mile Brook on the extreme eastern edge. The oldest examples in Southbury are not located along Main Street North but in the outlying portions of town. Good example s of early Capes are the Munn House at 1035 Southford Road, which has a ridge beam rather than the more common pegged rafters, and the Hennessey-Borg Farmhouse at 787 Georges Hill Road. The former house has small windows and originally was a single-pile (one-room deep) house that was enlarged by a lean-to addition shortly after the original sec tion was e rected. Such phased development is a typical 18th-century feature. So popular was the Cape that i t ranks as the most common pre-1850 house form in Southbury. Good examples of the ca. 1790-1800 Cape, which is often larger than its earlier counterpart and has three windows in the gable ends, are the Taber House at 487 Sanford Road; the Darrot House at 1581 Buc ks Hill Road, which has a framed overhang on the front in the Dutch tradition; and the Wolfel-DelGiorno House at 35 Brown Brook Road.

Another common early house form is the three- and five-bay two-story central-chimney dwelling with a narrow winder staircase opposite the front door. Twelve-over-twelve windows were used, and many of the early houses, such as the Pierce-Hveem saltbox at 2233 South Britain Road, have pegged frames with rails that e xtend beyond the stiles. The earliest houses uniformly seem to have stone fireboxes with large cooking fireplaces with a bake oven(s) at the rear of the firebox rather than at the side. Other good early two-story houses with rear lean-tos are the Cassidy saltbox at 715 South Britain Road and the ca . 1760 Moses Down House at 662 South Britain Road, both in the village of South Britain, and the ca. 1760 Kamphausen saltbox at 968 Main Street North. Good examples of full two-story houses with central chimneys are the ca. 1750 David Stiles House at 1127 Main Street North and the ca. 1785 Stoddard House at 302 West Purchase Brook Road.

An unusual framing feature observed in several pre-Revolution houses is a summer beam (a beam that runs fr om the chimney or interior girt to the end girt and is parallel to the ridge of the roof) used in only one room of the first floor. Summer beams, according to noted New England framing expert Abbott Lowell Cummings of Yale University, were not used much after 1770. They routinely occur in pairs (one in eac h room on the first

level), and why the use of only one, as in the Croucher-Richmond House at 886 Main Street North, the Kamphausen House at 968 Main Street North, and the David N. Stiles House at 1127 Main Street North is atypical. One common feature all three houses share is that they rank among the earliest extant houses on Main Street. Other examples of the use of the summer beam in only one room may exist in other houses that were not inspected during the course of the survey. Only one house, the ca. 1760 Moses Down House at 662 South Britain Road in South Britain, was documented as having two summer beams. Another unusual feature in some 18th-century houses is a segmental firebox opening -- a variation on the more common trabeated arrangement. Most 18th-century houses have fully paneled fireplace walls.

Another significant detail of late 18th-century houses is the handsome, well-detailed corner cabinet with butterfly shelves and plaster barrel backs. The cabinets, usually without doors, grace many of the pre-1800 houses on Main Street North as well as the Pierce-Hveem House at 2233 South Britain Road. The cabinets were probably locally produced, but by whom was not determined. They add a level of sophistication to the interior of the homes that is not usual.

Southbury reached its pre-modern peak during the 60 years following the Revolution. Prosperity from farming and mercantile enterprises, as well as success by several local attorneys, stimulated a building boom that was unparalleled until recent times. The style of favor when wealthy farmers and merchants were erecting their homes was the elegant, refined Federal mode noted for its handsome attenuated proportions, large windows with thinner muntins than earlier sash, and delicate carved decoration on both the interior and exterior. So successful was the agrarian-based local economy during the first quarter of the 19th century that the two-story five-bay Federal dwelling with large 12-over-12 windows with cavetto cornices is one of the most common house types in Southbury. Due in measure to the inherent stateliness of the Federal style itself, Southbury's main residential street is one of the most cohesive and elegant in the area. It offers an encyclopedic array of Federal details including Palladian-motif windows, delicate pedimented entrance porticos with settles, well-detailed mantels and door surrounds, graceful leaded transoms, boxed overhanging eaves, and handsome proportions. Of particular note are the well-preserved Main Street North examples at 185, 194, 276, and 782. Good examples in other sections of town include the 1824 Hicock House at 191 Community House Road and the Brinley House at 750 Main Street South.

In contrast to Southbury which developed as a linear settlement with no commercial district, South Britain grew as a nuclear self-sufficient village whose economy was based on the agriculture of the surrounding countryside and mills powered by the Pomperaug River, which was dammed prior to the Revolution.

Established as a separate parish in 1766, South Britain was a milling center with grist, saw, and fulling mills, some of which were converted to textile mills in the early 1800s. By 1835, according to John Warner Barber's notes, South Britain "is a thriving settlement containing upwards of 20 dwelling houses, two churches, three mercantile stores, one carpet manufactory, and two or three hat manufactories" (Barber, p. 251). The early mills and merchants stimulated settlement of the village, which features some of the oldest houses in all of Southbury. But it was the waterpowered industry, especially textiles, that brought the real money to the village, which reached its economic peak prior to the Civil War. A variety of small trades and manufactories fl ourished in antebellum South Britain, including carriagemaking, several hat shops, blacksmithing, milling, tanning, and spinning of yarn for carpet weaving and textile weaving. The 1850 industrial census lists Ira Bradley & Company, manufacturers of cassimers, as the only operating textile mill in South Britain at that time, but in 1866 the Bradley Hoyt & Company mill was started on the east bank of the river at the head of Hawkins Road. About 1901 this mill became the home of the Hawkins Company, world-recognized manufacturers of animal traps. So optimistic were South Britainites about their industrial future that local investors formed the South Britain Water Power Company in 1853 to build a canal and reservoir to ensure a constant supply of water. The 40-acre reservoir was constructed north of the village, with a smaller pond north of East Flat Hill Road, but the system was never utili zed , and it deteriorated. The reservoir was dubbed "Lake Disappointment." The late 18th- and 19th-century prosperity from the trades as well as from the merchants who traded in the village resulted in long-sustained prosperity of the local economy and, in turn, a built environment that is more varied than other areas of Southbury.

South Britain and the surrounding countryside feature some of the oldest documented houses in Southbury. The handsome albeit aluminum-sided gambrel-roofed Colonial at 584 South Britain Road is believed to have been constructed prior to 1770, and the Perry House at 662, originally a saltbox, was built ca. 1760 and was the site of meetings to organize the South Britain society. The Cassidy saltbox at 715 South Britain Road also dates to ca. 1770, as does the Pierce-Hveem saltbox at 2233 South Britain Road at an intersection historically c alled Pine Tree Corner for a large non-extant tree. Some of the most handsome Federal houses in town, such as the Mitc hell double house at 545 South Britain Road and the ca. 1810 Canfield House at 524 South Britain Road , are also located in South Britain. They are as elegant and sophisticated as any along Main Street North and stand as testament to the early prosperity of the vi llage. The hands ome Congregational Church was built in the center of the village in 1825.

The Greek Revival style, noted for its temple-like massing with

pedimented gable end and bold but chaste detailing, was in vogue nationally from 1820 until the Civil War, and its popularity coincided with the peak of prosperity in the village. As a result, it, like the Federal style that it eclipsed, is well represented. At first the change to the Grecian taste was gradual, with several houses such as the ca. 1825 Smith-Pierce House at 583 South Britain Road marking the transition from one style to the other . While some of the detailing is in the delicate Federal mode, molding profiles in the cornice are Greek. The ca . 1840 gable-ended house at 605 South Britain Road, built some 15 years later, is fullblown Greek Revival style. Interestingly, however, both the Federal and Greek Revival styles utilized the side hall house plan, with the same basic house being finished in a different style of trim. Two of the most significant are the handsome brick Greek Revival dwellings with limestone sills and lintels at 24 Hawkins Road and 657 South Britain Road. The nearly identical ca. 1835 houses, built for hatter Judson Manville and carriagemaker Benjamin P. Downs, rank among the town's finest examples of the Greek Revival style and are surpassed in local architectural signficance only by the Mansion House in Southbury.

Without the necessary flowage to power larger-scale industry and with the absence of rail service directly to the community, South Britain was eclipsed in industrial importance by regional centers such as Derby and Waterbury. The village, however , continued to serve as the mercantile and legal center of the town. Southbury had a store or two , but South Britain, with its active Congregational and Methodist (founded in the late-1790s on Georges Hill and moved to South Britain in 1831) churches, mills, and several stores, was selected as the site of Southbury's first (and until 1964 only) town hall. It was built in the picturesque vernacular mode in 1872. A district school was also located in the center of the village, and a private academy was in operation from the mid-1840s until the mid-1860s. The post office was established in 1834, and for many years thereafter it was located in the north wing of the handsome Federal-style Bray-Thomson House at 636 South Britain Road.

While residential development in South Britain was basically complete by the Civil War, several stores were built in the 20th century . Most significant of the group is the still-operating Mitchell-Williams Store, an ambitious picturesque v ernacular building with apartments over the large retail area. Constructed in 1904 to replace the earlier mid-19th-century store that burned, it has a handsome Mesker Company cast-iron storefront. Henry McCarthy and John Condon both built simple commercial vernacular stores in 1928, and the post office is still housed in the north side of the Condon Store. The three stores attest to the vitality of the village well into this century. A library was built in 1904, and the animal trap factory operated until the late-1960s.

Like Main Street No~th, South Britain survives in a remarkably complete state of prese rvation ~ith its to~n hall , library, stores , 1:1aj· ... ·.· ;:ii .11 ;:i r . rl hnnrlsome Colonial , Federal, and Greek Rev iv al home s i n t a c t . I t ''as l i s t e d i n the ~\at i on a 1 Re g i st e :..- 0 t Historic Places in 1986, and concerned citizens are currently seeking l ocal historic district status. Preservation of its 19th- century appearance is due in part to its remote location, the absence of majo r industry or encroaching institutions, and the fact that the railroad, ~hen it finally came to Southbury in 1881 , bypassed the village.

Another water - po~ered industrial area developed at Southford along Eight Mile Brook on the southeast side of to~n. Like South Britain , it ~as the site of small-scale gristmills and sa~mills since earliest times, and by the mid -1 9th century, Eight ~lile Brook ~as literally lined with mil ls ful l ing cloth, sawing lumber , grinding grain , making kn i fes , tools, and furniture , and , after 1850 , making paper ~hich ~ould become the dominant industry in the area. Due to Southford ' s l ocation on the Litchfield- New Haven Turnpike , being about mi d - point between the t~o to~ns , inns and h otels were constructed in the v il lage beginning about 1800 . Two of them survive : the handsome Federal-style Oatman Hotel , ~hich operated into this century , and the Sher~ood House , ~hich is now an apartment and office building . Impetus to keep hotels operating ~as provided by the New York and New England Railroad ( later part of the New York New Haven & Hartford system) · completed in 1881. It crossed Eight Hi l e Brook just north of the vil l age center. Service to Southford and Southbury continued unti l 1948 .

The largest industry i n Southford was the papermaking factory operated this centurr by the Diamond Match Company. St arted about 1837 as a grist and tool mill by Daniel Abbott, it ~as converted to papermaking after 1850, according to the 1850 industria l census. The Abbotts expanded the business and sold toi R . B . Limburne r in 1864 . The mill · burned in 188 1, and a larger brick one was constructed in 1882 by the Southford ~anufacturing Company . It continued in operation unti l it too burned in 1920 . The mill ~as a large employer in the community and built some company housing across Quaker Farms Road from the factory .

Although much smaller than South Britain , Southford had several merchants and stores (the longest live d is the Davis Store, which still operates at 1514 Southford Road) , a union church built in 1835 and enlarged in 1851, a district school, a feed and seed store , and the 18 80 s train depot north of to~n . vnlike South Britain, however, Southford is not ~ell preserved due to

extensive mid-20th century redevelopment. Better preserved is the cluster of early Capes associated with the Munn, Bronson, and Curtiss families north of the village on Southford and Sanford Roads. South of Southford stands the ca. 1793 one-and-one-half story Wheeler-Dwyer House, one of the best preserved 18th-century houses in Southbury. With its two interior chimneys and framed front overhang in the Dutch tradition, it is not typical of 18th-century dwellings in town, but the framed front overhang is seen on several other Capes such as the Hennessey House at 40 Plaster House Road and the Darrot House at 1531 Bucks Hill Road.

Interestingly, early Capes such as the Lovdal House at 492 Hulls Hill Road and the Smedley-Schade House at 17 Hurley Road were updated as architectural tastes changed. The ca. 1825 Smedley-Schade Cape was refreshed ca. 1840 by the addition of a pilastered Greek Revival frontispiece at the front door, a common way to make a house more modern. The Lovdal House, originally a central-chimney Cape, was extensively remodeled during the late-19th century by the removal of the central chimney and the replacement of the small-light 12-over-12 or 6-over-6 windows with 2-over-1 sash. A wrapping millwork verandah with turned posts and flat-sawed corner brackets was added. Removal of the central chimney, considered hopelessly old-fashioned when central-hall plan houses came into vogue in the early 19th century, is a common alteration to early houses as is the addition of later verandahs and porches. The impressive aspect of the historic alterations to early houses in Southbury is that so much of the 19th- and early 20th-century trim remains . Connecticut is noted for its wholehearted acceptance of the Colonial Revival style, which usually resulted in the removal of all additions. Particularly in the outlying areas of town, these "improvements" remain as contributions to the architectural history and significance of the structures.

The Greek Revival style coincided with Southbury's last major building period. The economy of the town, until the 1950s, was largely based on agriculture, and as settlement in the Midwest and West increased, and with it the agricultural wealth of the country, Southbury's fortune declined. There was little development after 1860. But before the economy flattened, several important examples of the Greek Revival style were erected. Finest of the lot is the elegant and well-preserved Mansion House at 127 Mansion House Lane. Built in 1827 as a ''house of public entertainment" with a handsome and well-proportioned giant order (two-story) Ionic portico, the building ranks as one of the finest residential examples of the style in the state. It is depicted in John Warner Barber's 1836 Connecticut Historical Collections, and its ballroom wing may have been removed and relocated across the street to serve as the White Oak District School. Three churches, the 1843 United Church of Christ (formerly the Congregational Church), the Union Churc h in Southford, and the former Methodist Church in South

Britain, were all renditions of Grecian temples with pedimented facades. The United Church of Christ is the most architecturally distinguished.

Any number of two-story ~able-ended houses such as the McCarthy House at 698 South Britain Road were constructed. In other instances, early houses were reworked in the Grecian taste, with the extremely handsome and stately R. B. Curtiss House at 1770 Bucks Hill Road being the most dramatic remodeling. The five-bay central-chimney house was enriched with a raising of the roof to accommodate a deep frieze pierced by frieze windows, and the addition of corner pilasters and a bold frontispiece with corresponding pilasters and recessed two-panel entrance door flanked by sidelights. on a smaller scale is the frequent addition of a pilastered frontispiece to the entrance door such as the ca. 1845 "improvement" to the ca. 1825 Smedley-Schade Cape at 17 Hurley Road and the Perry House at 662 South Britain Road.

Although Southbury's economy slowed markedly after the Civil War and the total number of houses dating from the second half of the century is low, several significant examples were built in the picturesque revival styles with the highly decorative millwork then in vogue. Most impressive of the late 19th-century dwellings are two located in the verdant farmland of Pierce Hollow north of South Britain. Most significant is the ca. 1885 High Victorian Italianate house at 13 Flag Swamp Road. Standing in a remarkably complete state of preservation, the house is picturesquely massed with gabled side pavilions and adorned with a rich variety of milled trim, including the wrapping verandah with chamfered posts on pedestals. The double-leaf entrance doors have bold applied moldings -- all features commonly associated with late 19th-century buildings. A nearly identical house was built at 709 South Britain Road ca. 1885. Italianate verandahs and porches were also often added to earlier houses in an effort to update their appearance, as at the Hine House at 220 Main Street North.

Another architecturally significant late 19th-century house was built by successful farmer John Pierce in 1897 at 1038 Roxbury Road. It reflects the burgeoning picturesque Colonial Revival style, which was based on America's turning back to its own pre-1850 building tradition. The Colonial Revival moved away from the bold silhouettes associated with High Victorian architecture and used more rectangular massing and restrained detailing. The boxy Pierce House relies on fenestration placement and square bays for its ornament, and it has gabled porches with truncated columns. During this era Colonial Revival Tuscan-columned verandahs were added to many houses such as the Mitchell-Williams House at 91 Library Road. Other noteworthy late-19th and early 20th-century dwellings stand in Southbury, but they were not included in the survey, which was intended to

emphasize earlier buildings.

The 20th century has been kind to Southbury. It remained a quiet farming community with little industrial activity until the 1950s, when limited suburban development triggered the first increase in population in decades. Its pristine bucolic qualities were recognized by Wallace Nutting, who moved to the old Wheeler farm in the "Poverty" are in 1907 and immortalized the rural character of the area through his famous and influential tinted photographs. According to one long-time resident, Nutting was also responsible for bringing talented women to the community as his colorists . Many of them married local men and stayed to raise their families and contribute to the quality of life in Southbury. Russian immigrant families, primarily from the greater New York area, established a summer community in the southern part of town after 1917. Churaevka, or Russian Village, as the area is called today, was composed of writers, artists, and others who wanted to keep alive the language, faith, and customs of Russia. The village was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. In 1940 the State of Connecticut established the Southbury Training School for the care and training of the mentally retarded on a 1720-acre campus north of South Britain. It did not adversely impact the area, and it has consistently been a large local employer. Schools were consolidated in 1942, but the local high school was not opened until 1956, illustrating how sparsely populated the town was well into the middle part of this century . Many of the newcomers commuted to Waterbury for employment .

The greatest impact on the historic character of the town resulted from the construction and opening of Interstate 84 in the mid-1960s. The four exits in Southbury have provided impetus for regional shopping centers , services , and businesses, and all have come to Southbury. Heritage Village, a prize-winning planned retirement community based on the concept of cluster housing, was developed around the old Wheeler farm in the 1960s, and it has swelled the local population by several thousand. Growth has most dramatically affected the intersection of Main Streets North and South with large commercial developments and road realignment. Main Street South, once a quiet rural road, has become the town's main street, with shopping centers and offices clustered along it. The second town hall, constructed to replace the original 1872 facility, was built on Main Street South in 1964. It has been joined by other town buildings including an even larger third town hall built in 1978, most local businesses, and even the main post office.

The redevelopment of Main Street South has spared other areas of town from such pressure , and indeed, so well preserved are other sections of town that no less than three early 20th-century general stores are still operating in Southbury. Another important remainder from Southbury's past is its impressive

assemblage of barns and carriage houses. Farming was always important to the community, and dairy farming was a major activity this century. The barns, as much as the houses, reflect the heritage of the community and give Southbury its decided agrarian character. They contribute greatly to the architectural and historical significance of the community, one of the best preserved 19th-century towns in the area.