HISTORIC PROPERTIES IN THE NORTH END OF CHESHIRE

NO. STREET    YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION

Text, where listed, is from Landmarks of Old Cheshire, Cheshire Tercentennial Celebration, 1694 to 1994. The Cheshire Bicentennial Committee. The Town of Cheshire, Connecticut 1976.

Photos by Diane Calabro, 2003

1738 HUCKINS RD 1819

499 JARVIS ST 1880

664 JARVIS ST 1732 - The Joshua Hotchkiss House

In 1732 Joshua Hotchkiss built "High Knoll" on land purchased from Samuel Cook, one of Cheshire's earliest settlers. Although a simple story-and-a-half structure, the house is well situated with commanding views on three sides and has a prominent overhang on the front, somewhat reminiscent of Hudson River architecture. It has four fireplaces, three on the first floor and one in the master bedroom. The hearthstone in the largest fireplace is estimated to weigh1500 pounds. Early features of the house include a number of original panes of glass, several "Holy-Cross" doors, and a secret hiding place in the base of the chimney large enough to hold two people. According to local tradition, the house was a stopping-place on the Underground Railroad when slaves were being spirited northward.

955 JARVIS ST 1800

This house faces the old road down from Moss Hill and was built about 1800. Undoubtedly it was to this house that Joseph Moss brought his bride, Ruth Hitchcock, in that very year. Here they raised their family and lived out their lives. The original kitchen fireplace [is] complete with baking oven. Many features of the present house apparently were added during the Greek Revival period, but old latches and panelling would suggest an earlier era. The bedroom floors still have orginal chestnut boards held in place with hand-made nails. Particularly attractive is a large iron lock on the front door operated by a decorative 4" key.

1127 MARION RD 1900

1197 MARION RD 1850

1253 MARION RD 1875

1297 MARION RD1795

1307 MARION RD 1805

1415 MARION RD 1765

1505 MARION RD 1800

1583 MARION RD 1823

1675 MARION RD 1850

1896 MARION RD 1770

1897 MARION RD 1700

573 MOSS FARMS RD 1840

661 MOSS FARMS RD 1846 The Moss-Lentini House

Moss Farms, a 90 acre tract, was granted to John Moss, a founder of New Haven and Wallingford, about 1694, for his services to the Crown in settling disputes between the Indians and the farmers of Wallingford who were moving westward into what is now Cheshire. The Moss deed is said to be the first recorded in Wallingford relative to land in Cheshire. Originally the house was of Greek Revival design. The discovery of a marble slab, inscribed "Erected 1847" suggests that the Mosses built the house at that time to accommodate workers on their farms and mills.

680 MOSS FARMS RD 1887

1100 MOSS FARMS RD 1700 THE HANFORD SMITH HOUSE

Nearly 250 years ago Hanaford Smith settled where today Moss Farms Road and Jarvis Street meet. He was one of very few farmers in the area who was not a member of the Moss family. Moss Rock, where the original settlers first encamped, was located on the property boundary several hundred yards to the north of the house. The house retains many early 18th century structural features and appointments, including gunstock posts and H and L hinges. The vertical siding dates from the mid-19th century, but much of the original sash of narrow panes (6 x 8 inches) set 12 over 12, still exists. Although the original, massive chimney stack was dismantled long ago, one may still locate the walk-in, cooking fireplace. One of the most remarkable features of the house is the great number of doorways leading out of the kitchen. All the rooms are very low-studded: an 18th century technique for conserving heat.

1272 NOTCH RD 1895

1285 NOTCH RD 1880

1766 OLD WATERBURY RD 1780

1840 OLD WATERBURY RD 1700

10 PECK LA 1789 The ASA Peck Place

This house was probably built for Asa Peck and his bride, Elizabeth Hall, in 1789. Their son, Chauncey, brought his wife, Martha Ives, here in 1815.

505 PECK LA 1742 The Deacon John Peck Huose

Deacon John Peck built this one-and-a-half story house with shed-roof extension about 200 years ago. Deacon Peck, who married Mirah Moss in 1786, lived here until his death, from typhoid fever, in 1813. His son, Captain William Peck, married Mary Ann Atwater in 1814 and lived in the homestead his entire life. A man of considerable prominence in town, he was deputy-sheriff for 14 years and selectman for a number of terms. At one time the town poor were kept in part of his home under his direction. He died in the house in 1884 at the age of 96. Peck Lane was laid out by Deacon John Peck's father, also named John, at his own expense, when Cheshire was still part of Wallingford. Until the 20th century residents on the road were almost exclusively members of the Peck family. They were well known locally for their wit and droll observations. As Deacon Brown shrewdly observed, they were "always ready to answer, with added sharpness, any sarcastic reflections given by another." This kind of retort, which our Connecticut Yankee ancestors delighted in, was often referred to as "being Peckey."

1559 PECK LA 1870

1631 PECK LA 1778

1676 PECK LA 1900

1778 PECK LA 1800

1667 REINHARD RD 1850

1685 REINHARD RD 1890

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