Second Baptist Church, Suffield // 1840

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Early Baptists in the area of present-day Suffield, Connecticut, organized in the western part of town, and built a church there in 1769, far from the town center, which began to rapidly develop in the early 19th century. By the turn of the 19th century, residents not wanting to travel all the way to West Suffield to attend services, petitioned to create a Second Baptist Church congregation. By 1840, the members were able to fund this handsome brick edifice, built in the Greek Revival style by architect, Henry A. Sykes, who had trained under Ithiel Town of New Haven, clearly where he mastered church designs by a prominent practitioner of the Greek Revival style in New England. The Second Baptist Church of Suffield features a massive portico on its facade with six fluted, Ionic columns supporting the pediment above. The tower of the church is two stages, one squared and the upper round, with fluted piers and Ionic columns and carved consoles. The tower is capped by a gilded dome with weather vane.

Williston Saddle Shop // 1776

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Before the invention of the automobile, horseback was the most effective way to get around. In nearly every town in New England, a saddler would make harnesses, straps, and saddles from leather in small, vernacular shops like this structure in Suffield, Connecticut. The Williston Saddle Shop is said to have been built in 1776 by Consider Williston (1739-1794), who served as a Lieutenant in the American Revolution, and is sited on the town’s iconic Main Street, which is lined by stately homes, churches, and institutional buildings of all eras. The vernacular Williston Saddle Shop retains its unique character, even since it was converted to a private residence.

Bryon Loomis House // c.1855

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This Italianate mansion on Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, was built around 1855 for Byron Loomis (1831-1896), near the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Cowles in 1854. The house was possibly as a gift from his father Neland, one of the many successful tobacco barons that harvested tobacco, and packaged and shipped the product to markets all over the east coast. The Byron Loomis House is a large Italianate mansion with a boxy form with walls covered in flushboard siding. The low sloped roof with broad overhanging eaves is supported by large brackets and is topped with a large square belvedere.

Charles Loomis House // 1862

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Located on Suffield’s iconic Main Street, this enchanting 19th century residence stands as a testament to the impact and role the tobacco industry had on the community historically. The residence seen here was built for Charles Loomis of the Loomis Family, who made their fortune in the tobacco farming and rolling industry in Suffield, Connecticut. Charles F. Loomis used his tobacco money to have this asymmetrical Italianate Villa constructed in 1862. The home features a prominent three-story tower capped with iron cresting, broad overhanging eaves with brackets and some stickwork, and a gorgeous door with arched transom and sidelights.

George Loomis House // 1860

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This large Italianate style residence on Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, was built in 1860 by John Wells Loomis for his son, George. George ran a cigar shop in a separate building on the lot, selling rolled cigars from tobacco that his business harvested and rolled. The mansion features a belvedere atop the low sloped hip roof with broad overhanging eaves. George was set to run the family business after his father, George. In 1881, two years after his father’s death, George Loomis sold the tobacco business founded by his father and moved to New Haven. In 1912, Polish residents bought the house, and it became the rectory for St. Joseph Church.

John W. Loomis House // c.1840

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This stunning home sits on Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, and was apparently built as a center-chimney home in the 18th century. By the 1840s, it was purchased by John Wells Loomis (1805-1879), and altered to fit the then-fashionable Greek Revival style, replacing the center chimney with two smaller chimneys, new pilasters were added to the corners and at the entry. John Loomis was the head of the Loomis family which made a fortune in the tobacco industry in Suffield, rolling and shipping products as far away as California. He operated his cigar business in a large warehouse, now gone, behind the house. Before his death, John Loomis built his son George a house nearby, knowing that his son would carry on the business, which he did until a couple years after his father’s death, until he sold the business and moved to New Haven. The Loomis House is one of the finest examples of a Greek Revival residence in the community.

Dr. Asaph Bissell House // c.1835

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Dr. Asaph Bissell was born into the wealthy Bissell family which started here when John Bissell, the progenitor of the family in America, came from Somerset, England, and landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1628. He became one of the settlers of Windsor, CT. His descendant, Asaph Bissell (1791-1850) became one of Yale’s earliest medical graduates and built this stately Greek Revival style home on Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, where he practiced medicine. Dr. Bissell often made house calls from his home right on Main Street until his death in 1850, after which, it was inherited by his eldest son, Charles Bissell. The house is Greek Revival in style with its entrance on the side elevation sheltered by a Classical porch, all facing southwards. The street-facing facade is four bays with large corner pilasters, a massive entablature, and pedimented gable-end with fanlight set within it.

John Fuller House // 1823

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This lovely brick, Federal style farmhouse was built in 1823 for John and Mary Fuller in rural Suffield, Connecticut, in 1823 and operated as a farm by the family for over fifty years. The town of Suffield purchased the house and farmland before the 1880s for use as the town’s poor farm. Poor farms (also known as almshouses) were often rural houses where paupers, mainly elderly and disabled people, were supported at public expense. The land was available for the elderly and workers to harvest crops for sale and sustenance. One of the “residents” at the poor farm was “Old Cato” a formerly enslaved person who was owned by Maj. John Davenport, a lawyer and politician in Stamford. Davenport offered Old Cato his freedom in 1812 if he enlisted to serve in the War of 1812, which he did. By the 1820s, he moved to Suffield CT, and worked at the West Suffield Congregational Church, paid to ring the bell at the church, likely also maintaining the property. He eventually ended up at the poorhouse and died, estimated to be over 100 years old. The old Fuller/Poor House was sold by the town in 1952 and converted back into a single-family residence.

Spencer – Mearkle House // c.1824

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Built in 1824 by Hezekiah Spencer, this beautiful Federal style residence is located on South Main Street in the charming town of Suffield, Connecticut. Hezekiah Spencer (1795-1873) lived and raised his family here with his wife, Cecelia, who farmed the land behind. During the 20th century, the house was occupied by Annie Mearkle, a poet who wrote under the name of Angela Marco. The Spencer-Mearkle House is a great example of a Federal style residence in a side-hall form, with its gable-end oriented to face the street. The house retains its original leaded glass fanlight in the gable and glazed door surround.

Charles Shepard House // 1824

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The Charles Shepard House on Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, is a stately and well-proportioned Federal period residence that contributes to the iconic streetscape of historic homes that have been lovingly preserved by centuries of ownership. The residence was built in 1824 for newlyweds Charles Shepard (1792-1867) and Cordelia King of the wealthy local King Family of Suffield. Charles was a local attorney who practiced in town for a few years until he moved to Hartford following the death of Cordelia in 1825, soon after this house was completed. The large residence was later owned by William Henry Fuller a local businessman and politician. The house features larger first-floor double-hung windows, fan motifs in the flushboarded gable ends, dentilled cornice, and early 20th century rear addition and entry portico on the facade.

Rowe House // 1767

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One of the older homes on Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, the Moses Rowe House was built in 1767 was later “modernized” to its present appearance. The house was constructed as a two-story Georgian home with minimal detailing, as the family home of Moses Rowe (1733-1799), his wife, and nine children. According to historical maps of the area, the home appears to have been purchased by Horace Sheldon, who in the 1830s, modified the home in the Greek Revival style, increasing the height of the home, adding side porches and the entablature at the roofline.

Henry P. Kent House // 1871

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Located on South Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, this stunning Second Empire mansion showcases the tobacco wealth seen in the town in the mid-to-late 19th century. Local legend states that in the early 1800s, a Cuban man arrived into town and was hired by a local farmer to grow tobacco and roll cigars for sale. Decades later, dozens of farmers in Suffield erected tobacco barns and cultivated tobacco to be rolled in cigars and shipped to communities all over the east coast. One of the first men in Suffield to box the cigars as a pack for shipping and sale was Henry Phelps Kent (1803-1887). With his success, Henry Kent purchased a large lot on the town’s Main Street and hired local architect, John C. Mead, to design a mansion to display his success in business. The large Second Empire mansion features flush-board siding, a full length porch, and a projecting mansarded tower with convex roof. The home was later owned by Samuel R. Spencer, a politician who served as a Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, the first as a blind man. The home is now operated as a bed & breakfast “Spencer on Main”, named after its second owner.

West Suffield Academy Hall // 1855

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Built in 1855 as the West Suffield Village school, Academy Hall served as one of Suffield’s public school buildings until 1913, when consolidated schools were built in town. Like in many New England communities, the old, wood-frame school building was repurposed, and due to the large agricultural community in Suffield (it was a major grower and exporter of tobacco), the old Academy Hall was occupied by the local Grange club, a social organization that encouraged families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture. The handsome structure is owned by the non-profit West Suffield Village Improvement Association, and as of April 2026, the building is leased to the Suffield Historical Society, and is available for events. The structure features a Classical door surround, corner pilasters, entablature, and a large square cupola at the gable roof.

West Suffield Congregational Church // 1839

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Nestled in the heart of West Suffield, Connecticut, the West Suffield Congregational Church remains as a unique example of the typical village church form from the first half of the 19th century. The church was established in 1743, when after decades of having to travel to the center of Suffield to worship, families in the western part of town established the Second Ecclesiastical Society. Within a year, a meeting house in West Suffield was built as a rustic structure. As the congregation thrived, a second meeting house was built in 1775 on the site of the present building, which too was rebuilt, this structure, in 1839 using the earlier foundation. The present church was dedicated in 1840 and it stands as a stunning example of a Greek Revival house of worship, with projecting portico supported by fluted Doric columns, paneled parapet, and multi-stage tower.

Mapleton Hall // 1883

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Located on Mapleton Avenue in the historic farming community of Suffield, Connecticut, Mapleton Hall stands as a remarkable testament to the town’s agricultural heritage and success. Originally constructed in 1883 as Central Hall, the building served as a gathering place for farmers’ meetings, civic events, and later the local Grange, reflecting the importance of agriculture in Suffield’s development. As its popularity grew, rear wings were built in 1896, expanding the hall to accommodate larger crowds drawn by community events and meetings. Architecturally, Mapleton Hall is a distinctive example of late Victorian-era rural meeting hall, featuring elements of the Queen Anne Stick/Eastlake styles, along with decorative woodwork, a prominent bell tower, and trussed gable that have been carefully preserved through decades of restoration. The building was sold in 1999 to the Suffield Players, a local theater group, who have preserved the building, using it for their theatrical productions.