Blog

First Church of Christ, Suffield // 1869

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Located adjacent to the Town Common, the First Church of Christ in Suffield showcases the grandiose architecture seen in many churches after the Civil War in New England. This brick edifice is the fifth in the history of the church which dates back to around 1680. The church was designed by local architect John C. Mead, who designed many churches in the region. The church is a blending of Italianate and Romanesque Revival styles and originally featured a tall spire and secondary tower. In 1938, the New England Hurricane destroyed the tall spire (a similar event occurred to many New England Churches, including Old North in Boston). Even without the steeple, the church remains as a great architectural treasure in town.

Moses Rowe House // 1767

Buildings of New England1 Comment

One of the older homes on Main Street in Suffield CT, the Moses Rowe House was built in 1767 and exemplifies the architectural history of town. 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.

Dr. Aretus Rising House // 1854

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Dr. Aretus Rising was born in Suffield, CT in 1801, part of one of the oldest families in town who settled here. His father was a farmer of modest means who could not afford the ability to let his eight children attend school routinely as he needed help on the family farm. He eventually moved to Western MA where he graduated the Berkshire Medical School in 1826, soon after opening a practice in Florida, NY before moving back to Massachusetts. He operated a doctors office in Suffield starting in 1845, running it until 1871, stopping due to poor health and failing sight. He lived most of his later years in this modest Italianate home. The house features broad overhanging eaves and a porch supported by stunning lattice columns.

Lewis-Zukowski Farm // 1781

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

On the rural back roads of Suffield, CT, it is amazing how many historic farmhouses you can stumble upon. This is the Lewis-Zukowski Farmhouse, built in 1781, as one of the earliest brick homes built in this part of the state. When Hezekiah Lewis (?-1805) built his house in 1781, he was a farmer of modest prosperity. By the time of his death in 1805, he was somewhat wealthier, perhaps because of his second marriage in 1794 to widow Ruth Phelps, as his 91-acre farm. His estate indicates he was a traditional farmer of the period: he had a yoke of oxen, 2 horses, 2 cows, and 2 pigs, suggesting that he was primarily raising sustenance for his family, not products for market. Michael Zukowski arrived in Suffield in 1888 with his family as an immigrant from Poland. Zukowski worked on a farm in town for $8.00 a month plus board for local tobacco farmer Calvin Spencer. He had saved enough by 1905 to pay Hiram Knox (then the owner of the former Lewis Farm) $2,800 in cash, purchasing the property. Zukowski worked the farm until the 1920s, when his son took it over and he moved to another farm nearby. The house remained in the family one more generation until it was sold out of the family. It remains as an architecturally and culturally significant farm in Suffield.

Suffield Academy-Fuller Hall // 1873

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Connecticut Literary Institute opened in Suffield, CT, with Baptist roots with the goal to educate young men for the ministry. Later rebranding as Suffield Academy, the school was the only high school in town, so it received tax revenue from the town to allow boys outside the Baptist faith to study there. Later, with changing views of women’s right to education, the school allowed women into the school in 1843. Forty years later, the school constructed this building, then known as the ‘Women’s Building’ just next door to the 1854 Memorial Hall. The Second Empire style academic building was heavily modified in 1953, just like its counterpart next door in the Colonial Revival style, adding a cupola and removing the stunning mansard roof.

Milo M. Owen House // c.1840

Buildings of New England1 Comment

Located on Main Street in Suffield, this Greek Revival home stands out for its perfect proportions, entry detailing, and the large 20th century porch. The home was likely built around 1840 for Milo Milton Owen (1811-1886), within a year of his marriage to Martha Alderman in 1839.

Elihu Kent Jr. House // 1787

Buildings of New England2 Comments

In 1775, when news of the Battle of Lexington reached Suffield, Elihu Kent Sr. (1733-1814) at the age of 42 took command of a local militia of 59 men the next day, along with his son Elihu Kent Jr., 18, and his slave Titus Kent, and marched to Springfield, before heading toward Boston. Initially, slaves were discouraged from enlisting in the Continental Army as the Continental Congress was trying to appease the southern states into fighting in the Revolution. England offered freedom to slaves who fought for their side. forcing the Continental Congress to do the same in order to keep a balance. The militia later ended up on Long Island and Kent Jr. was captured by British forces and confined for a long time as a prisoner of war in the old Rhinelander Sugar House in New York. After his return to Suffield, Elihu Kent Jr. had this Georgian home built for his family.

Henry P. Kent House // 1871

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

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. In 1810, a Cuban man who seemingly drifted into town, 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 sold. One of the first to box the cigars as a pack for shipping and sale was Henry Phelps Kent (1803-1887). Kent’s business did very well and he eventually 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, 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”.

Mapleton Hall // 1883

Buildings of New England2 Comments

This meeting hall in Suffield, CT was built in 1883 on Crooked Lane, named Central Hall. When Crooked Lane was renamed Mapleton Ave, the hall was so renamed to reflect this name change, to Mapleton Hall. Starting in 1885, the hall was home to the local grange, a fraternal organization that encouraged families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture. With Suffield’s active agricultural uses (primarily in tobacco crops), this grange was quickly funded and built. For nearly 100 years the building saw use as a fraternal center, with dwindling membership after WWII, when the agricultural character of town began to make way for suburban growth. The building was sold to the Mapleton Hall Asssociation, in 1978, who began restoration of the structure which began to decay from deferred maintenance. The building is now owned by The Suffield Players, a non-profit community theater company.

Agawam High School // 1921

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This stunning High School building in Agawam was built in 1921 as the town’s first high school. William Pynchon purchased land on both sides of the Connecticut River from the local Pocomtuc Indians known as Agawam, which included present-day Springfield, Chicopee, Longmeadow, and West Springfield, Massachusetts. The purchase price for the Agawam portion was 10 coats, 10 hoes, 10 hatchets, 10 knives, and 10 fathoms of wampum. Agawam and West Springfield split in 1800, with Agawam incorporating as a town on in 1855. The town stayed fairly rural until the 20th century with the proliferation of the personal automobile and suburbanization from the industrial and urban center of Springfield. This increase required a new, modern high school to be constructed in town. The building was converted to a middle school in 1972.