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%

Wall Street Between High Street and York Street- North Side

Sanborn 1886 Map:

1879 Bird's Eye View:

Only one building had a recorded address on this end of Wall Street. The building at the corner had been demolished by 1886 and was probably a rather early wooden house. Across the street, the entire block with the exception of the side of the rowhouses on High is empty, soon to be filled with an assortment of Richardsonian and brick rows.

125 Wall Street

Status: Demolished, 1928

Built for: Center Church House, 1870s
This five bay brick Second Empire house was built as the Center Church House for the congregation on the Green with a very elaborate segmental arched porch. An image can be seen here. Also noteworthy is the survival of the Greek Revival building of the Hopkins School, visible from this side behind the later Italianate school building.

Block Survival Rate: 0/1: 0%