New Haven County

Former Middlebury Methodist Church // 1832

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The oldest extant church building in Middlebury, Connecticut is a church that no longer is, the former Middlebury Methodist Church. Built in 1832, this building sits across from the Town Hall and Congregational Church and together, they form the eastern edge of the town green. The building is a more refined example of the Greek Revival style with paired entrances, corner pilasters, and a pediment facing the street with blind fan within. By the early 20th century, the church had a dwindling membership and sold the building in 1923 to the Westover School which opened just over a decade earlier. The building was used as a library for the school for some time and still is under the ownership of the esteemed private institution to this day, who maintain the former church very well.

Middlebury Congregational Church // 1935

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Located next door to the Middlebury Town Hall, the Middlebury Congregational Church has a very similar history to its Classically inspired counterpart. The congregational church here was established in 1791, less than a year after a separate Middlebury ecclesiastical society was granted and the first church here was erected in 1794. Decades later, a more traditional and larger church was desired by the congregation, so they had a Greek Revival style church built in 1839. Nearly 100 years later, the church (and adjacent original town hall building) burned in a large fire in April 1935. Undeterred, the congregation hired architect Elbert G. Richmond, AIA (1886-1965), who as a young man worked in the New Haven office of J. Frederick Kelly, Connecticut’s first and most famous restoration architect. The present building is a near-replica of the mid-19th century church building, and even has a bell that was recast from pieces of the old bell that crashed through the building during the earlier fire. Talk about rebirth!

Middlebury Town Hall // 1936

Buildings of New England2 Comments

The first white settlers arrived in what is now the Town of Middlebury, Connecticut in the early 1700s, displacing Algonquin people who lived there long before. By the late 1700s, there was sufficient population to justify a petition to the General Assembly for establishment of a separate Middlebury ecclesiastical society, and such action was taken by the legislature December 29, 1790. They named the new town Middlebury due to its location between the existing towns of Waterbury, Woodbury and Southbury. The first church edifice was completed four years later, on the town green in the center of the new town. Other buildings normally found in a village center followed, including store, tavern, school, blacksmith shop and other churches. The town grew organically as a more agricultural center and saw some suburban development due to the proximity to larger population centers. In 1935, a fire destroyed the existing 1840s church and 1890s town hall, forcing the town to rebuilt. They hired J. Frederick Kelly, who was not only an architect but a historian who restored many significant buildings all over the state, to furnish plans for a new town hall. The present Classical/Colonial Revival building features two columns in antis and recessed pediment that echoes the adjoining Greek Revival church, but the Town Hall is executed in brick instead of wood (to give it more fireproofing than the last building). On the sides, the building has elliptical and round-headed windows and other elaborate details that suggest the Federal style.