Orange Street Between Elm Street and Wall Street-East Side

Sanborn 1886  Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

On the corner of Orange St. and Elm St. is a commercial structure discussed on Elm Street. The row of Queen Anne houses that currently exist were built after 1879.

167 Orange Street

Status: Demolished, 1960s
Built For: Waldo Minor, 1862
Though this brick house had a small three bay façade, it nonetheless made up for it with some lavish Eastlake incised ornament on the window hoods and a rich entablature and cornice finishing off the building. A certain Waldo Minor is associated with the house, though it is unclear if he was the patron. The house had a storefront added later that destroyed the first floor. It was demolished in the 1960s and is currently a parking lot. The house can be partially seen here.

169 Orange Street

Status: Extant!
Built For: William Pinto, 1810
An example of the typical three bay, gable front Federal house so common in New Haven with a palladian window in the gable. It was built around 1810 for William Pinto, one of the first Jews to settle in New Haven; it was later inhabited by the inventor Eli Whitney, to which it probably owes its preservation. One unique feature is the open pediment resting on brackets over the door. A bay window was added to the first floor when it was converted for commercial use, but that has been removed and the original design restored; it also has a modern "Italianate" addition on the back in brick. The house is now a law firm. The house may have had architect David Hoadley's involvement.

Photo: Wikimedia

173 Orange Street

Status: Demolished, 1931
Built For: Samuel Marshall, before 1800
This house may well have been older than 1800, though the article in 1931 describing its demolition for a parking lot had little information on its age. The thick central chimney would suggest an earlier date, as well as its small windows. At the time of demolition, the house had had a later 19th century bracketed pediment added over the door and Gothic bargeboards added to the gable ends. It is currently a parking lot.

179 Orange Street

Status: Extant, altered
Built For: Edwin Bowditch, 1850
This is a grand Italianate house that survived through its conversion to institutional use. Built for Edwin Bowditch around 1850, the house, unlike most New Haven Italianates is five bays instead of three as a typical cube. The detailing on the house is particularly impressive, with a high style entablature with a row of closely spaced brackets, a line of dentils, and an architrave molding. The brick walls, which project slightly in the center bay around the box window over the Corinthian porch, feature segmental arched windows with brownstone lintels. Unfortunately, the cupola has been removed. In 1916 it became the juvenile court and is currently a childcare facility, a use which has probably saved the house from demolition.

Block Survival Rate: 3/5: 60%

Orange Street Between Wall Street and Grove Street-East Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This street only contained two buildings, Hillhouse High School and a small house that faced Grove Street. The Farmington Canal which ran through the block prevented any further construction.

Hillhouse High School

Status: Demolished, 1939

Built for: Hillhouse High School, 1871, by Rufus Russell

Hillhouse High School for decades was New Haven's primary high school building. Constructed in 1871 and designed by Rufus Russell, it replaced the former Lancastrian School building (only just barely seen in one image). Russell, one of New Haven's chief institutional architects of the later 19th century who apprenticed under Henry Austin, designed the school in a free Victorian Gothic mode with a Second Empire mansard and clock. The brick façade with stone banding and carved details was characteristic of grand Gothic buildings being built in England. The design featured a dizzying array of window arrangements and a strong articulation of floors, with rustication on the first, creating a powerful base, intermediate floors that closely resembled each other with paired windows joined by segmental arches, and a taller upper story with elaborate window treatments capping the whole. Slightly jutting pavilions marked the entrances, decorated with more carving and ornament to indicate their status and reflected by small pediments above the cornice. The school was put to other uses when a new high school was constructed in York Square and was finally demolished in 1939. Images of the school can be seen here and here. 

Photo: Wikimedia

Block Survival Rate: 0/2: 0%

Orange Street Between Wall Street and Grove Street-West Side

Sanborn 1886  Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

This street is complicated because Hillhouse High School obscures the 1879 Bird's Eye View. Similarly, only one photograph (a grainy one at that) shows the buildings on this side of the street. I have reproduced the buildings seen in that photograph here. I am unsure about the small three-bay Federal house seen on the Bird's Eye. The house on the left side corner faces Wall Street and will be discussed there. Unfortunately, there is little information about these buildings, which all seem to have been demolished in the 1940s, so I can't provide much context here.

189 Orange Street

Status: Demolished, 1940s
Built For: ?, probably 1860s-70s
A three-bay Second Empire row house in brick, this is the least well-documented of the buildings in this area. I'm not sure about the angled bay to the side and how it worked. Clearly there was a porch as well, but I couldn't find it represented so I have not ventured a guess. In appearance, it resembles the surviving Second Empire row houses a block to the north on Orange Street between Grove and Audubon, which have been heavily altered. 

190 Orange Street

Status: Demolished, 1940s
Built For: ?, probably 1860s-70s
This house is a bit clearer in the image, a tall, wooden, three bay row house. This rested on a high basement and had, uniquely, a porch running across the front of the façade with vaguely Gothic gingerbread. The porch was supported on matching posts below, giving the basement a full porch as well. A rather capacious bay window hung from the right hand side wall.

194 Orange Street

Status: Demolished, 1940s
Built For: ?, either 1800-1820 or 1860s-70s
This wooden house, seemingly Second Empire, I believe to be somewhat older. New Haven had a large amount of three bay Federal style houses that were gussied up in the Second Empire taste with mansard roofs and new porches. A surviving example is on Temple Street between Wall and Elm. The scale of the windows and structure suggests Federal much more than Second Empire. Additionally, the Juliette balcony to the right of the house, which resembles examples of the 1850s on Orange Street and on Chapel Street in Wooster Square, suggests that it was added before the mansard roof and supports an earlier date for the house.

Plans show a large empty lot on Grove Street.

Block Survival Rate: 0/3: 0%

Elm Street Between Church Street and Orange Street-South Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

26 and 28 Elm Street
Status: Demolished, 1930s?
Built For: Russel Wheeler (26) and Obadiah Pease (28), 1850s
There's not a whole lot of information on these two small Italianates, which were nearly identical. both were stuccoed and had a full porch running across the front with Temple of the Winds columns. The two owners were not necessarily the builders, but they were early occupants. The corner of 28 can be seen here.

30 Elm Street

Status: Heavily Altered
Built For: St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1855
This address actually contained two buildings, St. Thomas Episcopal Church and the rectory next door. The church itself was built of brownstone in a rather plain style of English Gothic. Even the tracery is as simple as it can get. Nonetheless, the building had a strong presence. This church has a lot of wall, especially because the architect chose to use thin lancet windows on the sides rather than wider windows that might have broken up the façade more. Additionally, the lack of horizontality on the tower very much increases the verticality of the design. An interesting feature is the slope of the roof, which changes angles visibly from the front, creating a slightly barn-like profile. With all its sparseness, the crenellations and spires on the top of the tower are surprisingly thin and delicate, giving some relief from the weight of the rest of the design.

The parish house, which can be seen here, was a typical three bay Greek Revival design with a roof balustrade, Ionic portico (with a rather heavy entablature), and brownstone lintels. posHowever, a delightful tent roof porch faces the church, held up by delicate lattice posts. As can be seen in the postcard image, the house was engulfed in foliage. I'm somewhat of the mind that the house is earlier than the church, probably the 1840s. The house was demolished in the 1940s.

The church moved to their current sanctuary on Whitney Avenue in the 1930s and the church was sold. The tower was demolished and a late Art Deco/International Style façade added. It is currently (though not for long) a bank. One wonders why they didn't tear the whole building down but left the gabled roofline poking out!

36-46 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1940s
Built For: Joseph Sheppard, 1869
This was one of several series of speculative rows built in a heavy Italianate manner in New Haven. Unlike other cities where row houses could fill entire blocks, New Haven never got into the habit of densely filling up their streets with row houses. They were brownstone with pediments resting on brackets and had a particularly rich cornice line. The houses were extremely tall for a New Haven row, being almost a full five stories. it is clear from images that their roofline somewhat dwarfed the church. These were demolished like the rest of the block in the 1930s-40s. The site is currently a highrise. The row can be seen  here.

Block Survival Rate: .5/5: 10%

Elm Street Between Church Street and Orange Street-North Side

One of New Haven's most impressive downtown blocks, this section of Elm street has been completely demolished.

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

29 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1938
Built For: Eli Whitney Jr., 1825
This is an impressive Greek Revival cube house, of which the best surviving example is the Ingersoll House further up Elm Street. In general, the five bay type tends to have a triple window in the center and a Doric porch, sitting on a high basement. Additionally, the house is usually dressed up with an attic balustrade of simple boards. This example differed from the norm in having a three bay porch. Second, the attic balustrade is dressed up with a rather unprecedented set of dentils while another balustrade encloses the peak of the roof. Another exciting element is the carriage house to the right, also done in a Greek Revival idiom and especially charming, like a stoa running alongside the house. Note the popularity in New Haven with having guttae as semi-brackets to give texture to the eave, a feature also seen on the Ingersoll House. An image of the house can be seen on the NHFPL site. This was the house in which the famed Eli Whitney died and was just a short ways from his birthplace. The site is currently a rather unattractive office building.

37 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1959

Built For: Isaac Jones, 1765

One of the most grandiose Colonial houses of New Haven in brick, this is a real loss to the city's historical and architectural heritage. It was an exceptionally tall house for 18th century New Haven and was tricked out with all the bells and whistles to signal Jones' wealth. Major features include a stone string course, stone lintels, a two story porch (probably post-18th century), modillions under the cornice, and a very robust roof balustrade. Images can be seen here and here. The house was rather rambling, as you can see in the plan and images.

Unfortunately, before its demolition in the early 60s, the house  had a commercial façade (1930s, 40s?) grafted on.

41 Elm Street

Status: Demolished

Built For: --, (1800?)

Not much is known about this rather simple building, given its much more impressive neighbors. On the Sanborn map, an upholsterer has set up shop here, and the asymmetrical design of the windows seems to be typical New Haven design idiom for commercial/residential architecture. An image can be seen here. With buildings this simple, it's hard to come up with a date. I'd say it's Federal, so likely 1790s-1820s.

45-3 Elms Street

Status: Demolished

Built For: Sidney Mason Stone, 1819

43 Elm was the home of architect Sidney Mason Stone, who may have had a hand in constructing these row houses. Simple and reflective of their Federal style, the brick houses have a four-columned porch with French Ionic capitals, balustrades, and modillions under the cornice. An image can be seen here.

49 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1908

Built For: Richard Perry, 1668

This was one of New Haven's older houses, built for Richard Perry, a court secretary for New Haven colony. He was granted the land in the 1640s. No images appear to exist of this house before it was converted for commercial use for a grocer, probably in the mid 19th century. As part of that conversion, it seems the first floor was completely filled with windows and a side staircase was built to the right of the house leading to the second floor. Additionally, there was a brick addition on the back and long storage sheds. A small image can be seen here. The house was torn down in 1908 for the construction of the Security Insurance building, seen here. This in turn was demolished for the current building on the site in 1927. The nostalgic colonial craze was in full swing when the current building was constructed. A plaque was erected commemorating the house next to the entrance of the new building and an image of the "restored" building placed inside on the wall.

Block Survival Rate: 0/6: 0%

Elm Street Between State Street and Orange Street-South Side

For today, we will be looking at one of New Haven's most historic blocks. The section of Elm Street

between Orange and State was one of the premier residential districts in the city where many of the founding citizens had large lots and built their family homes.

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

6-8 Elm Street

Status: Demolished

This address is listed merely for the back section of the building facing State Street, and it will be dealt with when we get to this block of State.

10-14 Elm Street

Status: Demolished by 1930s
Built For: 1874

These two Second Empire rowhouses were built as speculative developments in 1874. The only image (a grainy one at that) I can find is during the demolition of some buildings across the street. Part of one can be seen here:

16 Elm Street

Status: Extant!
Built For: Timothy Bishop, 1816
The Timothy Bishop house, built in 1816 is amazingly still extant. It is one of New Haven's mot impressive Federal Style houses, with five bays, three central bays separated by pilasters, a pediment with a fanlight, and modillions. The house was fortunately well documented by HABS, but much of the interior and design remains intact. The original entrance staircase has been destroyed and the house has been raised on its foundation with shops built into the basement. The house had a close twin on the same block on State Street (demolished), except the State Street house had a full portico rather than just pilasters as well as greater variety and inventiveness.

20 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, 1905

Built For: Judge Pierpont Edwards, 1772

This house was built on the foundations of the home of New Haven's founder, Jonathan Davenport, and this was the lot he selected for himself in the original city platting. It was built in 1772 for Judge Pierpont Edwards. The type is a type we will meet frequently in New Haven, a five bay, ridge-front house with a central engaged pediment and a broken pedimented door on Tuscan columns. What actually makes this a unique example of this type is that it had a gambrel roof, somewhat of a rarity in New Haven which seems to have preferred simpler designs, dormer windows, another rarity, and a charming roof balustrade with urns. The house was significant because it is here that the regicides were hidden in their flight to New Haven. The rear of the house can be seen in this stereoscopic view. An engraving can be found here.

Unfortunately, the house was demolished in 1909 for the building of the massive Benedict Memorial Presbyterian Church in a very over-scaled Renaissance manner, with a double towered front. The church in turn was demolished in the 1950s, and the site is now a parking lot. The church is pictured below.

24 Elm Street

Status: Demolished, by the 1930s

Built For: Judge Charles Anthony Ingersoll, 1843

A very spare stuccoed Greek Revival design, lacking most ornamental features. It had a porch with Temple of the Winds columns, a small projection to suggest and entablature and a row of very tall dentils beneath the eave. The house is a typical three bay cube so popular in New Haven in the early 19th century. Originally, the house had an attic balustrade with a shallow pedimented central section, seen on most of the finer Greek Revivals in the city. At some point in the 1870s, the house had some French-style dormers added, which makes for a pretty awkward situation with the shallow slope of the roof. The house was torn down in the early 20th century. A similar house can be seen on Church Street nearby. The roof of this house can be seen in the corner of this stereoscopic view. In this view, the house can be seen before its roof alterations with its attic boards and original monitor.

Block Survival Rate: 1/5: 20%