Houses, Ruins, Communities, Urban Legends, Lighthouses, Libraries, Post Offices, Schools, Companies, Businesses, Hotels, B&B’s, Theaters, and Hauntings
Hoo boy, this is a tough category to nail down. There’s just so much crossover with museums and superlatives and National Historic Landmarks and restaurants and other things. The way to look at everything listed below is that they are the entities that (generally) just don’t fit in elsewhere but for some reason are interesting enough for me to want to visit and write about.
Houses, Ruins, Communities, & Urban Legends
Lighthouses
Cool Libraries. Post Offices, & Schools
Companies & Businesses
Hotels & B&Bs
Theaters & Performance Venues
Giant Goofy Things
Haunted Places & Things
Houses, Ruins, Communities & Urban Legends
There are, of course, hundreds of other historic houses around Connecticut that I’ve written about (museums, national historic landmarks, on and on. Again, these are those that just don’t slot in anywhere else. For the most part.)
Connecticut’s 16 Octagon Houses
Barkhamsted Center & Hollow
Barkhamsted Lighthouse, Barkhamsted
The Frog People, Bethel
Auer Farm Mushroom Barn, Bloomfield
Balbrae, Bloomfield
Spite Barn, Bloomfield (Gone)
Father Panik Village, Bridgeport
Pleasure Beach, Bridgeport
Remington Shot Tower, Bridgeport
Recycle House, Chester
Bobriwka, Colebrook
Dudleytown, Cornwall
Hearthstone Castle, Danbury
Gilder Boathouse, Derby
Pork Hollow, Derby (Gone)
Sterling Opera House, Derby (Closed)
Elias/Moses Austin House, Durham
Pest House, Durham
Lake Basile, East Granby, Granby, Simsbury
Farewell to Arms House, Easton
Helen Keller’s house, Easton
Aborn Castle, Ellington
The Enfield Shaker Community, Enfield
Pratt Smithy, Smith-Dickinson & David Williams Houses, Essex
Powder House, Fairfield
The Sisti-Tyson-50 Cent Mansion, Farmington
A Cardinal House, Glastonbury
Abandoned Toll Booth/Gas Station, Glastonbury
Cotton Hollow Mill Ruins, Glastonbury
Cedar Bridge House, Glastonbury
Everett Hurlburt House, Glastonbury
Hobbit House at Pomerance Park, Greenwich
Charles Merritt House, Groton
Gungywamp, Groton
Mystic Spite House, Groton
Hobs Island House, Groton
Andrew Leete HouseGuilford
Benton-Beecher House, Guilford
Insulting Manor, Guilford
Regicide Cellar, Guilford
Sachem Head Stonehenge, Guilford
Whitfield Shore/The Spaceship, Guilford
Beatrice Auerbach Fox House, Hartford
Flatiron Building, Hartford
Potsdam Cottages, Hartford
Mystery Chimney, Kent
Schaghticoke Tribal Reservation, Kent
Granny Austin Tavern ruins, Lebanon
Samuel Seabury Birthplace, Ledyard
Old Litchfield Jailhouse, Litchfield
Ethan Allen birthplace, Litchfield
Harriet Beecher Stowe birthplace, Litchfield
Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy, Litchfield
Mid-Century Modern Tour, Litchfield
The Former Pitkin Glassworks, Manchester
Little Stone House, Mansfield
Halfway House, Meriden
Little People’s Kingdom, Middlebury
The Eclectic Society, Middletown
The Oatmeal Lots, Milford
Washington Lodge No. 19, Monroe
Little Poland, New Britain
Pygmy Village, New Britain/Plainville
Mid-Century Modern House Tour, New Canaan
Jones Mountain Hobbit/Foam Houses, New Hartford
Deshon-Allyn House, New London
The Little Pink House, New London
Whale Oil Row, New London
Gaylordsville Spite House, New Milford
Fairfield Hills, Newtown
22 Lyme Street, Old Lyme
David Brown’s Hay House, Old Saybrook
Original Black Horse Tavern, Old Saybrook
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death House, Old Saybrook
Katherine Hepburn’s House, Old Saybrook
Henry F. Miller House, Orange
Plainville Campgrounds, Plainville
Bara Hack, Pomfret
Glen Elsinore, Pomfret
Elmcrest Hospital, Portland (Closed)
Saint Clements Castle, Portland
Miller, Monroe & Calder Corner, Roxbury
Thomas LeCount House, Salem
“White Cloud” (aka Star Wars House), Salisbury
The Raggies, Salisbury
Wholand, Shelton
Firetown, Simsbury
First House, Ferry, School, etc., Simsbury
Meadowood, Simsbury
Replica Monticello, Somers
Chuaevka (Russian Village), Southbury
Heritage Village, Southbury
Peter Parley House, Southbury
Nuttinghame, Southbury
Southbury Training School Village, Southbury
Roderick Block, Sprague
Sterling House Community Center, Stratford
Gay Manse, Suffield
CT’s fanciest root cellar, Thompson
Swamp Yankees, Thompson
Charles and Frank Underwood Houses, Tolland
Merriman’s Christmas house (Gone)
Golden Hill Paugussett Tribal Nation, Trumbull
The “Melonheads”, Trumbull, Shelton, & Seymour
John Barker House, Wallingford
Old Gungywamp, Wallingford
Chase Mansion, West Hartford
Fake House, West Hartford
Jack Kerouac House, West Haven (Gone)
Morris Greenwald House, Weston
Passivhaus, Westport
The Round/Circambulant House, Wilton
Dave Brubeck’s House, Wilton
Battle of the Frogs, Windham
Dr. Chester Hunt Office, Windham
Willimantic Camp Meeting Association, Windham
Archer-Gilligan House, Windsor
Loomis Homestead, Windsor
WWII POW Camp, Windsor Locks (Gone)
Cadillac Joe’s Stone House, Woodbury
King Solomon’s Lodge No. 7, Woodbury
Rob Zombie’s House, Woodbury
Lighthouses
I’d like to visit ALL of Connecticut’s lighthouses. Yes, even the ones I can’t enter. Gotta be complete, y’know? Those that I can ascend may/should appear on the CTMQ Observation Towers list as well.
Fayerweather Island (Black Rock Harbor), Bridgeport
Tongue Point (Bridgeport Breakwater), Bridgeport
Penfield Reef light, Fairfield
Faulkner’s (Falkner’s) Island Light, Guilford
Great Captain Island Light, Greenwich
Avery Point Lighthouse, Groton
Morgan Point Light, Groton
New London Ledge Light, Groton
Five Mile Point (Old New Haven), New Haven
Southwest Ledge, New Haven
New London Harbor Light, New London
Peck’s Ledge Light, Norwalk
Sheffield Island Light, Norwalk
Greens Ledge Light, Norwalk
Lynde Point Light (Saybrook Inner), Old Saybrook
Saybrook Breakwater (Saybrook Outer), Old Saybrook
Lake Hopewell Lighthouse, Redding
Stamford Harbor Ledge (Chatham Rocks), Stamford
Stratford Point, Stratford
Stratford Shoal Light, Stratford
Mystic Seaport Lighthouse, Stonington
Stonington Harbor/Old Lighthouse Museum, Stonington
Cool and Unique Libraries, Post Offices, & Schools
Here’s a perfect example of… where does this go? There are lots of museums in libraries and a few in schools. There are lots of libraries that fall into other categories here on CTMQ. And then there are… those other libraries that I find cool for one reason or another – and here they are on my “Cool Library Trail.” As for the post offices and schools? Same deal… an no where else to list them.
Carnegie Libraries: Intro
- Derby Neck Library, Derby
Pearl Street Branch Library. Enfield
New Haven
Norwalk
South Norwalk
West Haven
Other Cool Libraries:
Transfer Station Library, Ashford
James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford
Money Island Library, Branford
Burnham Library, Bridgewater
David M. Hunt Library, Canaan
Darien Library, Darien
Scherer Library of Musical Theater, East Haddam
Warehouse Point Library, East Windsor
Eastford Public Library, Eastford
Pequot Library, Fairfield
The Lewis Walpole Library, Farmington
Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich
Bill Memorial Library, Groton
The Mystic & Noank Library, Groton
The Oliver Wolcott Library, Litchfield
Homer Babbidge Library, Mansfield
Russell Library, Middletown
Young Men’s Institute Library, New Haven
Cyrenius H. Booth Library, Newtown
The Norfolk Library, Norfolk
William A. Buckingham Library, Norwich
Abington Social Library, Pomfret
Mark Twain Library, Redding
Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination, Ridgefield
Scoville Memorial Library, Salisbury
Hotchkiss Library, Sharon
Simsbury Free Library, Simsbury
South Britain Library, Southbury
R.W. Woolworth Library and Research Center, Stonington
Kent Memorial Library, Suffield
Torrington Library, Torrington
Weston Library, Weston
Wilton Library, Wilton
Windham Free Library, Windham
West Woodstock Library, Woodstock
Cool & Unique Post Offices
Pleasant Valley (and Riverton) Post Offices, Barkhamsted
Cobalt Post Office, East Hampton
Litchfield Post Office, Litchfield
Polish Post Office, New Britain
New London Post Office, New London
East Canaan Post Office, North Canaan
East Windsor Hill Post Office, South Windsor
Staffordville Post Office, Stafford
Old Mystic Post Office, Stonington
West Suffield Post Office, Suffield
Lakewood Road Post Office, Waterbury
Winsted Post Office, Winchester
Schools Worth Checking Out
The Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford, Bloomfield & West Hartford
Pumpkin Delight School, Milford
Hillside Intermediate School, Naugatuck
Hillsdale College/Blake Center for Faith and Freedom, Somers
The Glenholme School, Washington
Companies & Businesses
Here, you’ll find interesting businesses (so I say) around the state that by and large don’t fall into the plethora of other similar categories on CTMQ. (Like restaurants and breweries and homemade ice cream, cheese, and chocolate shops, etc.)
Over AndOver, Andover
Whitlock’s Book Barn, Bethany
Pepperidge Farm Outlet Store, Bloomfield
Saba Halal Live Poultry, Bloomfield
The Wilde Building (Cigna), Bloomfield
ESPN, Bristol
Farmington Bank, Burlington
Lamothe’s Sugar House, Burlington
Angie’s at Aqua Seafood Market, Bridgeport
Hilltop Marine, Colchester
The Colebrook Store, Colebrook (Closed)
Meekers Hardware, Danbury
Books by the Falls, Derby (Closed)
MGC’s Custom Made Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles, East Haddam
Bevin Bells, East Hampton
Calling All Dolls, East Hampton
Dexter’s Tunes, Tales, & Ales, East Hampton
The Book Barn (and all it’s annexes), East Lyme
The Scandinavian Gift Shop, East Windsor
Calamari Recycling, Essex
Patrick Baker and Sons, Fairfield (Closed)
O’Reilly’s Irish Gifts, Farmington (Closed)
Arbor Acres, Glastonbury (Gone)
Hale Farm, Glastonbury (Gone)
Rucki’s Abington General Store, Hampton
Austin Organs, Hartford
The Jumping Frog, Hartford
Smith-Worthington Saddlery Company, Hartford
Willy Pete’s Chocolates, Harwinton
The Dutch Epicure Shop, Litchfield
R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison
Time Machine Toy and Hobby, Manchester
The Farm at Carter Hill, Marlborough
CT Forest & Parks Association Headquarters, Middlefield
Amato’s Toy and Hobby, Middletown
Northeast Taxidermy Studios, Middletown
Wild Bill’s Nostalgia Center, Middletown (Closed)
Subway World Headquarters, Milford
Winvian, Morris
Peter Paul Candy & Goodyear/United Rubber, Naugatuck
New Canaan Toy Store, New Canaan
Chairigami, New Haven
Stew Leonard’s, Newington
GMT Racing, Newtown
Lippincott Sculpture, North Haven
The Village Antiques & Collectibles, North Stonington
A Taste of Holland, Norwalk (Closed)
James Gallery & Soda Fountain, Old Saybrook (Closed)
Full Service Gas Station, Plainfield
Pondering Creations, Plymouth
Connecticut DMV, Putnam
Johnnycake Books, Salisbury
WHDD-FM, Sharon
The Wiffle Ball, Inc., Shelton
Storyteller’s Cottage, Simsbury
WWE, Stamford
American Woolen Company, Stafford
Horse Ridge Cellars, Stafford
United House Wrecking, Stamford
Alice’s Haunted Little Bookshop, Stonington
Sea Coast Mushrooms, Stonington
Zuckermann Harpsichords, Stonington
Babb’s Beach, Suffield (Closed… for now)
Tolland Red & White, Tolland
Howard’s Bookstore and Noelke Gallery, Torrington
The Yankee Pedlar Inn, Torrington (Closed)
New England Jukebox & Collectibles, Vernon (Closed)
Redscroll Records, Wallingford
Pilobolus & MOMIX, Washington
Howland-Hughes Building, Waterbury (Closed)
The Connecticut Store, Waterbury (Brick and mortar closed)
NBC30, West Hartford
Comstock, Ferre, & Co., Wethersfield (RIP… sort of)
Getting Off, Winchester (Closed)
Knoll Labs Nuclear Reactor Site, Windsor (Gone)
The Dexter Company, Windsor Locks (Gone)
Dragon’s Breath Forge, Wolcott
Perfection Screw, Wolcott (Closed)
Canfield Corner Pharmacy, Woodbury
Mrs. Bridge’s Pantry, Woodstock (Closed)
Hotels, Air B&Bs, and B&Bs
I’ve always thought it ridiculous that I’d pay hundreds of dollars to stay at the unique and interesting properties in Connecticut for this website, but here we are. Okay, I won’t be actually staying in them all.
Fitch Claremont Vineyard and B&B, Bozrah (Closed)
The Recycle House, Chester
O gawa shou, Granby
Hotel Marcel, New Haven
A couple of these qualify as museums in my head, but these are the lasting drive-ins, play & opera houses, and just old-timey or unique theaters in Connecticut.
(Closed)“>Pleasant Valley Drive-In, Barkhamsted (Closed)
Bijou Theater, Bridgeport
Music Mountain, Canaan
Goodspeed Opera House Tour, East Haddam
Ivoryton Playhouse Tour, Essex
Art Cinema, Hartford
The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, Hartford
Bantam Cinema & Arts Center, Litchfield
Madison Art Cinemas, Madison
Cheney Hall Tour, Manchester
Alexander the Great Theater, Mansfield
Mansfield Drive-In, Mansfield
Shubert Theater Tour, New Haven
Garde Arts Center, New London
Old Saybrook Cinema, Old Saybrook
Prospector Theater, Ridgefield
The Strand Theater, Seymour
Avon Theater, Stamford
Thomaston Opera House, Thomaston
Warner Theatre Tour, Torrington
Palace Theater Tour, Waterbury
The Gilson Cafe and Cinema, Winchester
Giant Goofy Things
Giant Adirondack Chairs, shrimp, paper airplanes… it’s all here for some reason.
Hauntings, Ghosties, Oogity-Boogities
All carefully curated on this page, here.