Elm Street Between High Street and York Street- South Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This block has been poorly documented. For the most part, the older buildings were rarely recorded with little information, although by their design and eccentricities, they appeared early. They can all be seen, covered with storefronts, here. The older wooden houses on the High Street side of the block were demolished for the Peabody Museum. The earlier houses can be seen here and here, all typical Federal and Colonial designs. The museum will be discussed on High Street. The entire block was demolished in 1916 for the construction of Branford and Saybrook colleges.

148 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1916

Built for: ?, 1790-1830s?
An interesting three bay, gable front house. Uniquely, it had a central bay entrance with a Tuscan porch rather than a side entrance. The gable was steep enough that two windows were wedged in, also unexpected. It can be seen here and here.

154 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1916

Built for: ?, 1790-1830s?
Two story houses were a real rarity in New Haven, and this seems to have been a good example. It is likely, given its small proportions, something only shared with the oldest houses in the city, that it may actually have been an 18th century house.

156 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1916

Built for: ?, 1810-1830s?
Though a rather typical gable front, three bay Federal house, the odd, elongated diamond window in the gable was indeed unique in the city, and such a diamond gable window was only seen on a couple houses in the city, one of which survives on Trumbull Street.

160 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1916

Built for: ?, 1790-1810s?
Definitely a Federal Style five bay house, it seems to have been converted to commercial use rather early on, erasing the first floor. 

Block Survival Rate: 0/4: 0%

Elm Street Between High Street and College Street- North Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

The demolition of this block occurred in two phases. The left side was torn down in the 1890s for the buildings of the Berkeley Oval. The right side was demolished in 1929 for Calhoun College.

Yale Theological School
Status: Demolished, 1929
Built for: Yale Univeristy, 1869-71, by Rufus Russell
The Divinity School was one of Rufus Russell's masterpieces, bearing much of the same mass and Gothic styling as the high school on Orange Street. It was built in four stages, with the right most block being constructed first, the second right most block, the Marquand Chapel being constructed next, the left most block third, replacing a five bay federal house, seen here, and finally the second to the left block which enclosed the courtyard. The general design was divided into a first floor with large pointed windows, two floors of simple brick, and the fourth floor with stone banding and carved panels corresponding to the bays of windows. The tall mansard featured large dormers and decorative chimneys with iron anchors. The corner on College Street had a tower emerging diagonally from the facade, like the Orange Street school, overhanging an interesting triangular balcony. The Marquand chapel was a gem, if over decorated for its size. Every element of the facade had a pointed gable and tall windows, with a rose window over the main entrance and heavily carved stone Gothic features and engaged columns. The final addition had a large five light window with slightly more elaborate detailing than the rest of the building. The whole was a fine essay in Victorian Gothic until its demolition for Calhoun College in 1929.

109 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1892

Built for: Atwater Treat, 1841
This was one of New Haven's high style Greek Revival row house designs, built by a builder. It featured a strong piano nobile, accentuating the second floor with no porch on the first. The house was brick with slightly pedimented and molded lintels in marble rather than brownstone. The top featured a heavy Doric entablature with a balustrade above alternating between solid wood panels and panels of Greek iron work. It can be seen here.

115 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1892

Built for: ?, 1790-1820?
115 and 121 were essentially identical Federal Style, five bay, ridge front houses with Tuscan columned porches around the entrances. The street would have more of them if the Divinity School had not been built.

117 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1892

Built for: Lyman Ives, 1841

A nice Italianate three bay house with a full porch running across the front with Temple of the Winds columns. This house can only be seen in one photograph. It's very close in form to two houses on Elm Street at the corner of Orange Street, seen here.

121 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1892

Built for: Nathan Beers, 1790-1820?
Almost the same as 115. The large empty space that runs to High Street was a carriage factory.

Block Survival Rate: 0/5: 0%

Elm Street Between York Street and High Street- North Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This block remained substantially intact until the construction of the Yale Gym in 1890 and then the demolition of the entire block in 1928 for the construction of Trumbull College which currently occupies the site.

Yale Gym-Wikimedia

155 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1928

Built for: Eneas Monson, 1799
This five bay, ridge front house, built for a surgeon in 1799, follows the New Haven pattern of having a palladian window in the center bay under an open pediment, although the entablature over the window was more robust than other examples such as the one surviving example at 77 Elm. It also had the typical open pediment porch with Tuscan columns. The house can be seen here and here.

Wikimedia

145 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1889

Built for: Shepard Monson, 1825
This generous three bay Greek Revival house with an impressive ell with a full porch and roof balustrade was built for Shepard Monson, next door to his father, Eneas' older house. It had an extensive garden and was demolished in 1899 for the Yale Gymnasium.

137-9 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1928

Built for: ?, 1820s-30s?
These two houses were fine examples of New Haven's ubiquitous three bay Greek Revival houses, complete with Ionic porches and dentils in the entablature. These were demolished for Trumbull College in 1928.

Wikimedia

135 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1928

Built for: Elam Hull, 1830
A late Federal Style house, it was built around 1830 for Elam Hull with a typical, and rather broad, Federal Tuscan porch, a brick facade with brownstone lintels, and guttae under the cornice. The windows in the picture below were added in the late 19th century. The house was the Yale Publishing House until its demolition for Trumbull College.

Yale Alumni

Block Survival Rate: 0/4: 0%

High Street Between Wall Street and Grove Street- West Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This block was entirely taken up with buildings associated with the Hopkins School. It was totally demolished for the Yale Law School in 1929.

Hopkins Grammar School

Status: Demolished, 1929

Built for: Hopkins Grammar School, 1839, addition 1860
The Hopkins School, which still exists, was founded in the 17th century on the Green. Later it moved to various places before constructing its original Greek Revival building in 1839. This building recieved a new Italianate front in 1860. It was extremely tall given its surrounding buildings and their scale and featured a brick facade with taller windows on the second floor and paired brackets. The central bay projected with an Ionic framed entrance, double arched windows above, and a shallow pediment. When the school was demolished in 1929, it moved to the suburbs. An image can be seen here.

150 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1929

Built for: Hopkins Grammar School?, 1800-1820?, altered 1870s
This house was originally a Federal Style three bay house with a gable front, located at Crown and Temple Streets. Occupied by the neighboring Hopkins Gammar School, it was moved here sometime in the 1840s when the school was constructed. Then again in the 1870s, it was altered with the removal of the gable and the addition of a mansard roof. This mansard is rather strange, since it rises not to a flat peak but a gable and has three dormers in it, none of which had surrounds but were set directly into the slate. 

Block Survival Rate: 0/2: 0%

High Street Between Elm Street and Wall Street- West Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This section of High Street no longer exists and is now a private walk on Yale's campus. It was completely demolished for the Sterling Library building and Trumbull College in the late 1920s. Photographic evidence is somewhat slim for this block, comprising only a couple of images, but at least the images show all the houses. The empty space to the left of the rendering would soon be filled with a series of gaudy Queen Anne apartments, already visible on the Sanborn map.

ΨΥ

Status: Demolished, 1926

Built for: ΨΥ Society, late 1860s
This was a "tomb" built for one of the Yale Secret societies in the 1860s. The tombs were fanciful but diminutive structures. For this one, the architect selected the Second Empire mode in patterned brick, with a rather heavy stone door surround with flared ends, a central open pediment, and an arched window, all topped with a rather tall mansard and lacy ironwork. Like all the buildings north of it, it was demolished in 1926 for the construction of the present Sterling Library. An image can be seen here and here.

114 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1926

Built for: Henry M. Sylas, 1860s-70s
Although not a huge Second Empire house, it gave off a grand impression. The simple three bay brick and brownstone facade was enlivened primarily by woodwork, with an elaborate porch, alternating long and short brackets defining the bays, and fancy dormers, which look very similar to a Second Empire on York Street nearby. The corner of the house can be seen here.

116 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1926

Built for: Frederick Peck, 1842
Given the date, this apparent Italianate house probably started as a symmetrical, three bay Greek Revival, which was later made over in an Italianate mode. The cupola was rather over-sized for the house's dimensions and featured large flat top windows. The house had a fine Ionic porch.

120 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1926 

Built for: ?, 1830s-1850s?
Little information survives for this five bay, Greek Revival, ridge front house, it was typically well proportioned with an Ionic porch.

124 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1900s

Built for: ?, 1850s-1860s?
This Italianate rowhouse was generously proportioned with much more wall space than the typical example. Its third story had a tall bracketed entablature that was interrupted by the third story windows as well as two typical Italianate porches, one on the front, and one on the side wing, topped by a pediment. It was demolished in the 1900s to build an Eating Society in a Colonial Revival style, which was then demolished in 1926.

126-8 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1926

Built for: ?, 1840s-60s?
Little information exists on the construction of these two large, apparently Greek Revival, row houses, which featured a simple unbracketed cornice, a stringcourse separating the third floor, and a rather odd angular Italianate porch, which I suspect was added later. 

Block Survival Rate: 0/6: 0%

High Street Between Grove Street and Wall Street- East Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This was one of the more industrial streets in the residential area in High Street, not much of a surprise given the lack of zoning regulations in the 19th century. The business was spurred by the presence of the cemetery at the end of the street and was primarily focused on monument building. One of these factories was demolished in 1899 for a tomb. But the rest vanished to make room for the Beinecke Library in 1961.

131 High Street

Status: Demolished before 1960

Built for: John Little, 1864
This building, built for a factory owner, was a rather unique Italianate three bay, gable front house on an exceptionally tall basement with fine eared window moldings, a nice Ionic porch, a generous iron railing across two bays. The eave extended far from the body of the house and formed an open pediment enframing a large window, a surprising feature since most gable windows are smaller than the principal windows. The tall entablature also had very small windows in set in the front. Although the builder is unknown, the house bore a very strong resemblance to Henry Austin's style and one of his published plans, making it likely that it was a work by him or someone in his office. Compared to the plan below, the window moldings and even chimney and ell placements are identical. This along with the nearby buildings was demolished for the Beinecke Library.

137 High Street

Status: Demolished before 1960

Built for: Warren Robinson, 1820-1850s?

A small brick factory on the street with surprisingly nice proportions and some classy wooden trim for a factory. This was a carpenter and builder's shop, fitting in with the stone and construction factories on the street.

139-41 High Street

Status: Demolished before 1960

Built for: ?, 1800-1830?

This was a rather high style Federal double house sitting on a tall basement with a fine, and surprisingly delicate Doric porch complete with an entablature of triglyphs. At one point, Thomas Phillips who owned the next door factory lived here, but the exact build date and builder are elusive. It may have been Phillips himself. 

143 High Street

Status: Demolished before 1960

Built for: Thomas Phillips, 1820s-1850s?

This small factory was built as a marble works for Thomas Phillips, which produced tombstones, appropriately for the nearby cemetery at the end of the street. An image of his workers displaying their merchandise in front of the building here.

147 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1899

Built for: Gay and Spargo, 1810s-1840s?

This much more expansive factory in brick also produced tombstones for the cemetery. In the image of the Phillips factory above, it can be partially seen. As with most industrial buildings, which exhibit a distinct lack of stylistic features, the date is hard to establish on style. It was torn down for the 1900 Book and Snake temple currently on the site. No doubt both stone factories' products survive nearby in Grove Street Cemetery.

Block Survival Rate: 0/5: 0%

High Street Between Wall Street and Elm Street- East Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This section of High Street is no longer a street, but has been turned into a walkway in front of the Beinecke Library. All the buildings on this block were demolished for various Yale buildings.

Brewster Carriage Factory

Status: Demolished, 1892

Built for: Brewster Carriage Factory, 1820s-30s
This was originally constructed as the Brewster Carriage Factory, which later relocated to Wooster Square in the 1830s. Afterwards, the building was used as a photography studio and a bowling alley before it was demolished in 1892 for the Berkeley Oval. For an industrial building, its use of Greek Revival ornament is quite noteworthy.

105 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1892

Built for: Daniel Bradley, 1800-1830?
Only one image survives of this house, an aerial image from the 1860s, but it shows enough that this house was a Federal Style three bay, ridge front house with a side entrance, with iron supports and a tent roof. It was also demolished for the Berkeley Oval.

121 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1932

Built for: Josiah Gibbs, 1846
This was one of the city's more imposing three bay, stuccoed Greek Revival houses, built for a Hebrew professor at the college. It is similar to 339 Temple and 24 Elm Street. It had well formed Ionic columns on its porch and a low monitor on the roof. It was demolished in 1932 for Berkeley College.

125 High Street

Status: Demolished, 1932

Built for: Richard E. Rice, 1850-9
One of the more impressive Italianates on High Street, this house followed the general pattern of the heavily classicizing, Anglo-Italianate style of Henry Austin, seen in the villas on Church Street. The house was a three bay, symmetrical cube with heavy Renaissance moldings over the windows, crowned on the upper stories by piles of carved foliage. The central triple window was shaped into a shallow segmental arch, while the porch had four Ionic columns. A simple and bracketless entablature sat under the wide eave and a grand cupola with elaborate surrounds and brackets topped the whole. This house was later bought by Yale and used as classrooms until it was demolished in 1932 for Berkeley College.

Block Survival Rate: 0/4: 0%