Address: 35 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: First Church in Marlborough (Congregational)
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Congregational Church
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Meeting House, Church
Architectural style: Colonial
Date constructed: 1750-1803
Description: The original meeting house sat close to the existing Congregational Church that it replaced. The original building’s frame was 48 feet by 36 feet, and was “covered” and had windows. However, these initial expenses were such that more improvements were not started until 1754 when a pulpit, seats and pews were installed, as well as to “seal” the building up to the windows, and to make two pairs of stairs. In 1755, it was voted by the committee to provide “joice and boards” for the gallery floor. In 1756, a lock and “suitable fastenings” for the meeting house were installed. By 1770, the work on the galleries was completed. Parishioners voted to erect pews for the “body part” of the meeting house, and in 1782 the voted to shingle the front side of the roof. In 1787, the voted to procure pine clapboards to cover the front and two ends of the meeting house, and the following year, the north side was covered with pine clapboards too. In 1789, the inside of the house and the outside doors were painted. In 1792, they plastered the interior walls, and later they painted the exterior and installed a new roof replacing the chestnut shingles with pine shingles, and painted the roof. In 1803, the house was finished, when the congregation voted to pay Eleazer Strong $30 to underpin and lay the steps.
Significance: After 54 years, and several ministers, the Meeting house was completed, just as the town of Marlborough was incorporated (1803). Fortunately, a vivid description was given of the meeting house and its construction that we can gather a description. In 1841 it was decided that a new church was needed, as the current house had become, “cold, uncomfortable and unpleasant as a place of worship.” The house was torn down, and the new church was built within a year, with the opening sermon in 1842. This new church remains standing, just slightly back from where the original house stood.
Sources: Ives, Rev. Joel. “Historical Sermon” in Hall, Mary. Report of the celebration of the Centennial of the incorporation of the Town of Marlborough: August 23rd and 25th, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: This image is an artist’s concept of the first meeting house, based upon the description in the above history, and other historical documents. Today, a rock monument stands at the site of the original meeting house.

Address: 35 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: First Church in Marlborough (Congregational)
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Congregational Church
Present Use: Church
Historic Use: Church
Architectural style: Greek Revival
Date constructed: 1842
Description: The Marlborough Congregational Church is a frame Greek Revival-style meetinghouse situated on a hill overlooking South Main Street. The setting is a rural, wooded area with a scattering of both historic and modern buildings nearby. Completed in 1842, the church is a single tall story high and measures 44 by 55 feet in plan, with its narrower end facing the road. The front gable is treated as a pediment, and the main entrance is recessed, centered behind two freestanding fluted Doric columns. The corners of the building are finished with wide, plain pilasters, and a simple entablature runs below the eaves and across the front gable. The entrance has double doors of recessed panels, above which is a row of dentils and a pair of panels where a transom might be; a fluted-board frame with acanthus-leaf carving in the corner blocks surrounds the entrance. Clapboards cover the side and rear elevations of the church, while the facade is finished with matched boards. Side elevations have a single tier of tall triple-hung windows fitted with fifteen-pane sash; the windows have shutters in two parts, with the top parts closed so as to block off the upper third of the windows. A small, square-plan tower located on the front end of the gable roof is made up of four parts: a base with a molded cornice; a belfry stage in which a plain paired pilasters flank a large rectangular louvered opening, about which is a reduced-scale version of the building's main cornice; another stage identical to the belfry but smaller in size; and a shallow dome surmounted by a wrought-iron weather vane in the form of a large arrow. The original bell dating from 1841 became cracked and was replaced by the present bell in 1889. The steeple was toppled during the Hurricane of 1938, which also caused minor damage to the church itself; both were repaired and returned to the original appearance. The church's granite basement story is partly exposed on the side elevations; it was built from stone quarried from the northern part of Marlborough, as were the entry steps that extend across the front of the church. The interior of the building, which is still used fro religious services, is simple, unadorned, and almost entirely original. A small vestibule runs across the rear of the church, where two doors give access to the auditorium; there are two stairways, one leading to the basement and the other to a balcony, which was closed off in 1888. The large open auditorium has plaster walls, a simple wainscot of vertical boards, and a coved ceiling. The pulpit, which is said to incorporate elements from an earlier church's pulpit commissioned in 1754, consists of a slanted desk atop a large base; its front has four fluted engaged columns that carry an entablature decorated with a Greek fret or meander design. The church's painted pews have paneled sides, a dark-stained wooden top rail, and stained curved arm rests terminating in a circular turning. Other original interior woodwork includes paneled doors and simple molded window frames. The seating is arranged as seven rows, with a large center section, two aisles, and smaller side sections. Wainscot railings define two spaces at the front corners of the church for a modern organ (a replacement for an 1860 organ that was originally located in the balcony) and, opposite the organ, seating for the choir. The mid-19th century circular was clock on the rear wall of the auditorium was a gift of Elias Ingraham, a former Marlborough resident and founder of E. Ingraham & Company of Bristol, Connecticut, one of the country’s largest clock and watch manufacturers. Two large wings have been added at the rear of the church. The Crawford Wing, a 2 1/2 story addition dedicated in 1955, extends from the northeast corner; it contains the Christian Education office, a kindergarten, and several other rooms. Extending from the southeast rear corner is a 1-story brick wing housing the Community Fellowship hall; it was built in 1974. Though they are sizable additions, the visual impact of the wings is reduced because they are relatively low in height, with their entrances at the same level as the church's basement.
Significance: The Marlborough Congregational Church is significant primarily as a well-preserved example of early 19th century New England church architecture, epitomizing the Greek Revival style with its fluted columns, pedimented gable, and other elements derived from Classical precedents. In addition, the property is significant for its role in the historical development of Marlborough. The church was the place of religious worship for the town's Congregationalist majority, as well as accommodating town meetings and other community gatherings. The Greek Revival style was a popular choice for New England meetinghouses built in the 1830s and 1840s. Features such as Classical columns, pilasters, cornices, dentils, and acanthus-leaf ornament--all present in the Marlborough Congregational Church--reflected an interest in the architecture and institutions of ancient Greece, which had important democratic connotations for Americans of the early National period. The ideal form for Greek Revival builders was that of the Classical temple. The temple form is closely approximated in the Marlborough Congregational Church through its orientation, with the gable end facing the road; the treatment of the front gable as a pediment; the creation of a recessed entry or "anta" with plainly finished side walls, a common arrangement in Greek temples; and the use of flush boarding on the facade to imitate masonry. The use of Greek Revival elements in this building also indicated that, like contemporary courthouses and academies, the meetinghouse was an important community building deserving of extra stylistic attention. Through its plain rectilinear form, numerous typical Greek Revival details, and simply finished interior, the Marlborough Congregation Church represents a pristine example of the antebellum New England meetinghouse. The pulpit is an especially notable component. Such Greek Revival-style pulpits appear in photographs from the mid-19th century, and the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives presided from a similar desk in the State House at Hartford, which was remodeled in 1837. Because of Victorian-period refurbishings, relatively few of these Greek Revival pulpits and lecterns have survived. The builder of the Marlborough Congregational Church, who along with the congregation's building committee presumably came up with the design, was Augustus Truesdale (c.1807-1870). Truesdale, born in Thompson, Connecticut, was himself the son of a carpenter. He lived for a while in Coventry and Somers before settling in the Rockville section of Vernon, where he is known to have built the first St. Bernard's Church (no longer extant), as well as several large houses for Rockville's millowner families. He passed on the country-builder tradition to his nephew Albert Truesdale, who worked with him for several years in Rockville and became a prominent builder in Killingly, Connecticut, in the lat 19th century. Truesdale received $2600 for building the church, with another $600 paid to A. and S. Brainard for laying the stone for the basement. The present church in Marlborough is the congregation's second meetinghouse. In 1736 fourteen people from the area, then part of the towns of Colchester, Glastonbury, and Hebron, requested permission from the Connecticut General Assembly to establish their own separate place of worship, claiming that travelling a distance of seven or eight miles to attend Sabbath services put a strain on their "weakly wives" and small children. In 1747 the Assembly finally granted the residents permission to form the Ecclesiastical Society of Marlborough, and work began to construct a suitable meetinghouse. In 1803 Marlborough was incorporated as a separate town. As the population increased, Marlborough's first meetinghouse became cramped; it also was thought to be cold and uncomfortable. In January 1841 a subscription was drawn up to raise funds for a new church, and at a March 1841 meeting the congregation voted to establish a building committee. The first services in the new structure were held in August 1841 upon completion of the basement. After several more months of construction, the church was finished and was dedicated on March 16, 1842, with a large number of people participating in the celebration. Although Congregationalism ceased to be Connecticut's state-supported religion after the ratification of the state constitution in 1818, it remained the faith of a large majority of people in most rural Connecticut towns throughout the 19th century. Consequently, Congregational meetinghouses served as symbols of community identity beyond their specifically religious meaning. With Sunday Schools, missionary societies, women's organizations, and other church-related groups, the meetinghouses functioned as social centers for their towns. Moreover, most small rural towns (including Marlborough) held their town meetings and elections in the Congregational meetinghouse well into the 20th century. Not only was this a tradition inherited from colonial times; but also in most towns the Congregational meetinghouse, because of its size and central location, was the only structure that could reasonably accommodate large public meetings.
Sources: National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. May 1993.
Ransom, David. Historical and Architectural Resources Survey, Town of Marlborough, Connecticut. April 1998.
Notes: This historic image was taken in 1903 at the Centennial Celebration of Marlborough.

Address: 35 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: First Church in Marlborough (Congregational)
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Congregational Church
Present Use: Church
Historic Use: Church
Architectural style: Greek Revival
Date constructed: 1842
Description: The Marlborough Congregational Church is a frame Greek Revival-style meetinghouse situated on a hill overlooking South Main Street. The setting is a rural, wooded area with a scattering of both historic and modern buildings nearby. Completed in 1842, the church is a single tall story high and measures 44 by 55 feet in plan, with its narrower end facing the road. The front gable is treated as a pediment, and the main entrance is recessed, centered behind two freestanding fluted Doric columns. The corners of the building are finished with wide, plain pilasters, and a simple entablature runs below the eaves and across the front gable. The entrance has double doors of recessed panels, above which is a row of dentils and a pair of panels where a transom might be; a fluted-board frame with acanthus-leaf carving in the corner blocks surrounds the entrance. Clapboards cover the side and rear elevations of the church, while the facade is finished with matched boards. Side elevations have a single tier of tall triple-hung windows fitted with fifteen-pane sash; the windows have shutters in two parts, with the top parts closed so as to block off the upper third of the windows. A small, square-plan tower located on the front end of the gable roof is made up of four parts: a base with a molded cornice; a belfry stage in which a plain paired pilasters flank a large rectangular louvered opening, about which is a reduced-scale version of the building's main cornice; another stage identical to the belfry but smaller in size; and a shallow dome surmounted by a wrought-iron weather vane in the form of a large arrow. The original bell dating from 1841 became cracked and was replaced by the present bell in 1889. The steeple was toppled during the Hurricane of 1938, which also caused minor damage to the church itself; both were repaired and returned to the original appearance. The church's granite basement story is partly exposed on the side elevations; it was built from stone quarried from the northern part of Marlborough, as were the entry steps that extend across the front of the church. The interior of the building, which is still used fro religious services, is simple, unadorned, and almost entirely original. A small vestibule runs across the rear of the church, where two doors give access to the auditorium; there are two stairways, one leading to the basement and the other to a balcony, which was closed off in 1888. The large open auditorium has plaster walls, a simple wainscot of vertical boards, and a coved ceiling. The pulpit, which is said to incorporate elements from an earlier church's pulpit commissioned in 1754, consists of a slanted desk atop a large base; its front has four fluted engaged columns that carry an entablature decorated with a Greek fret or meander design. The church's painted pews have paneled sides, a dark-stained wooden top rail, and stained curved arm rests terminating in a circular turning. Other original interior woodwork includes paneled doors and simple molded window frames. The seating is arranged as seven rows, with a large center section, two aisles, and smaller side sections. Wainscot railings define two spaces at the front corners of the church for a modern organ (a replacement for an 1860 organ that was originally located in the balcony) and, opposite the organ, seating for the choir. The mid-19th century circular was clock on the rear wall of the auditorium was a gift of Elias Ingraham, a former Marlborough resident and founder of E. Ingraham & Company of Bristol, Connecticut, one of the country’s largest clock and watch manufacturers. Two large wings have been added at the rear of the church. The Crawford Wing, a 2 1/2 story addition dedicated in 1955, extends from the northeast corner; it contains the Christian Education office, a kindergarten, and several other rooms. Extending from the southeast rear corner is a 1-story brick wing housing the Community Fellowship hall; it was built in 1974. Though they are sizable additions, the visual impact of the wings is reduced because they are relatively low in height, with their entrances at the same level as the church's basement.
Significance: The Marlborough Congregational Church is significant primarily as a well-preserved example of early 19th century New England church architecture, epitomizing the Greek Revival style with its fluted columns, pedimented gable, and other elements derived from Classical precedents. In addition, the property is significant for its role in the historical development of Marlborough. The church was the place of religious worship for the town's Congregationalist majority, as well as accommodating town meetings and other community gatherings. The Greek Revival style was a popular choice for New England meetinghouses built in the 1830s and 1840s. Features such as Classical columns, pilasters, cornices, dentils, and acanthus-leaf ornament--all present in the Marlborough Congregational Church--reflected an interest in the architecture and institutions of ancient Greece, which had important democratic connotations for Americans of the early National period. The ideal form for Greek Revival builders was that of the Classical temple. The temple form is closely approximated in the Marlborough Congregational Church through its orientation, with the gable end facing the road; the treatment of the front gable as a pediment; the creation of a recessed entry or "anta" with plainly finished side walls, a common arrangement in Greek temples; and the use of flush boarding on the facade to imitate masonry. The use of Greek Revival elements in this building also indicated that, like contemporary courthouses and academies, the meetinghouse was an important community building deserving of extra stylistic attention. Through its plain rectilinear form, numerous typical Greek Revival details, and simply finished interior, the Marlborough Congregation Church represents a pristine example of the antebellum New England meetinghouse. The pulpit is an especially notable component. Such Greek Revival-style pulpits appear in photographs from the mid-19th century, and the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives presided from a similar desk in the State House at Hartford, which was remodeled in 1837. Because of Victorian-period refurbishings, relatively few of these Greek Revival pulpits and lecterns have survived. The builder of the Marlborough Congregational Church, who along with the congregation's building committee presumably came up with the design, was Augustus Truesdale (c.1807-1870). Truesdale, born in Thompson, Connecticut, was himself the son of a carpenter. He lived for a while in Coventry and Somers before settling in the Rockville section of Vernon, where he is known to have built the first St. Bernard's Church (no longer extant), as well as several large houses for Rockville's millowner families. He passed on the country-builder tradition to his nephew Albert Truesdale, who worked with him for several years in Rockville and became a prominent builder in Killingly, Connecticut, in the lat 19th century. Truesdale received $2600 for building the church, with another $600 paid to A. and S. Brainard for laying the stone for the basement. The present church in Marlborough is the congregation's second meetinghouse. In 1736 fourteen people from the area, then part of the towns of Colchester, Glastonbury, and Hebron, requested permission from the Connecticut General Assembly to establish their own separate place of worship, claiming that travelling a distance of seven or eight miles to attend Sabbath services put a strain on their "weakly wives" and small children. In 1747 the Assembly finally granted the residents permission to form the Ecclesiastical Society of Marlborough, and work began to construct a suitable meetinghouse. In 1803 Marlborough was incorporated as a separate town. As the population increased, Marlborough's first meetinghouse became cramped; it also was thought to be cold and uncomfortable. In January 1841 a subscription was drawn up to raise funds for a new church, and at a March 1841 meeting the congregation voted to establish a building committee. The first services in the new structure were held in August 1841 upon completion of the basement. After several more months of construction, the church was finished and was dedicated on March 16, 1842, with a large number of people participating in the celebration. Although Congregationalism ceased to be Connecticut's state-supported religion after the ratification of the state constitution in 1818, it remained the faith of a large majority of people in most rural Connecticut towns throughout the 19th century. Consequently, Congregational meetinghouses served as symbols of community identity beyond their specifically religious meaning. With Sunday Schools, missionary societies, women's organizations, and other church-related groups, the meetinghouses functioned as social centers for their towns. Moreover, most small rural towns (including Marlborough) held their town meetings and elections in the Congregational meetinghouse well into the 20th century. Not only was this a tradition inherited from colonial times; but also in most towns the Congregational meetinghouse, because of its size and central location, was the only structure that could reasonably accommodate large public meetings.
Sources: National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. May 1993.
Ransom, David. Historical and Architectural Resources Survey, Town of Marlborough, Connecticut. April 1998.
Notes: This historic image was taken in 1907.

Address: 35 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: First Church in Marlborough (Congregational)
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Congregational Church
Present Use: Church
Historic Use: Church
Architectural style: Greek Revival
Date constructed: 1842
Description: The Marlborough Congregational Church is a frame Greek Revival-style meetinghouse situated on a hill overlooking South Main Street. The setting is a rural, wooded area with a scattering of both historic and modern buildings nearby. Completed in 1842, the church is a single tall story high and measures 44 by 55 feet in plan, with its narrower end facing the road. The front gable is treated as a pediment, and the main entrance is recessed, centered behind two freestanding fluted Doric columns. The corners of the building are finished with wide, plain pilasters, and a simple entablature runs below the eaves and across the front gable. The entrance has double doors of recessed panels, above which is a row of dentils and a pair of panels where a transom might be; a fluted-board frame with acanthus-leaf carving in the corner blocks surrounds the entrance. Clapboards cover the side and rear elevations of the church, while the facade is finished with matched boards. Side elevations have a single tier of tall triple-hung windows fitted with fifteen-pane sash; the windows have shutters in two parts, with the top parts closed so as to block off the upper third of the windows. A small, square-plan tower located on the front end of the gable roof is made up of four parts: a base with a molded cornice; a belfry stage in which a plain paired pilasters flank a large rectangular louvered opening, about which is a reduced-scale version of the building's main cornice; another stage identical to the belfry but smaller in size; and a shallow dome surmounted by a wrought-iron weather vane in the form of a large arrow. The original bell dating from 1841 became cracked and was replaced by the present bell in 1889. The steeple was toppled during the Hurricane of 1938, which also caused minor damage to the church itself; both were repaired and returned to the original appearance. The church's granite basement story is partly exposed on the side elevations; it was built from stone quarried from the northern part of Marlborough, as were the entry steps that extend across the front of the church. The interior of the building, which is still used fro religious services, is simple, unadorned, and almost entirely original. A small vestibule runs across the rear of the church, where two doors give access to the auditorium; there are two stairways, one leading to the basement and the other to a balcony, which was closed off in 1888. The large open auditorium has plaster walls, a simple wainscot of vertical boards, and a coved ceiling. The pulpit, which is said to incorporate elements from an earlier church's pulpit commissioned in 1754, consists of a slanted desk atop a large base; its front has four fluted engaged columns that carry an entablature decorated with a Greek fret or meander design. The church's painted pews have paneled sides, a dark-stained wooden top rail, and stained curved arm rests terminating in a circular turning. Other original interior woodwork includes paneled doors and simple molded window frames. The seating is arranged as seven rows, with a large center section, two aisles, and smaller side sections. Wainscot railings define two spaces at the front corners of the church for a modern organ (a replacement for an 1860 organ that was originally located in the balcony) and, opposite the organ, seating for the choir. The mid-19th century circular was clock on the rear wall of the auditorium was a gift of Elias Ingraham, a former Marlborough resident and founder of E. Ingraham & Company of Bristol, Connecticut, one of the country’s largest clock and watch manufacturers. Two large wings have been added at the rear of the church. The Crawford Wing, a 2 1/2 story addition dedicated in 1955, extends from the northeast corner; it contains the Christian Education office, a kindergarten, and several other rooms. Extending from the southeast rear corner is a 1-story brick wing housing the Community Fellowship hall; it was built in 1974. Though they are sizable additions, the visual impact of the wings is reduced because they are relatively low in height, with their entrances at the same level as the church's basement.
Significance: The Marlborough Congregational Church is significant primarily as a well-preserved example of early 19th century New England church architecture, epitomizing the Greek Revival style with its fluted columns, pedimented gable, and other elements derived from Classical precedents. In addition, the property is significant for its role in the historical development of Marlborough. The church was the place of religious worship for the town's Congregationalist majority, as well as accommodating town meetings and other community gatherings. The Greek Revival style was a popular choice for New England meetinghouses built in the 1830s and 1840s. Features such as Classical columns, pilasters, cornices, dentils, and acanthus-leaf ornament--all present in the Marlborough Congregational Church--reflected an interest in the architecture and institutions of ancient Greece, which had important democratic connotations for Americans of the early National period. The ideal form for Greek Revival builders was that of the Classical temple. The temple form is closely approximated in the Marlborough Congregational Church through its orientation, with the gable end facing the road; the treatment of the front gable as a pediment; the creation of a recessed entry or "anta" with plainly finished side walls, a common arrangement in Greek temples; and the use of flush boarding on the facade to imitate masonry. The use of Greek Revival elements in this building also indicated that, like contemporary courthouses and academies, the meetinghouse was an important community building deserving of extra stylistic attention. Through its plain rectilinear form, numerous typical Greek Revival details, and simply finished interior, the Marlborough Congregation Church represents a pristine example of the antebellum New England meetinghouse. The pulpit is an especially notable component. Such Greek Revival-style pulpits appear in photographs from the mid-19th century, and the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives presided from a similar desk in the State House at Hartford, which was remodeled in 1837. Because of Victorian-period refurbishings, relatively few of these Greek Revival pulpits and lecterns have survived. The builder of the Marlborough Congregational Church, who along with the congregation's building committee presumably came up with the design, was Augustus Truesdale (c.1807-1870). Truesdale, born in Thompson, Connecticut, was himself the son of a carpenter. He lived for a while in Coventry and Somers before settling in the Rockville section of Vernon, where he is known to have built the first St. Bernard's Church (no longer extant), as well as several large houses for Rockville's millowner families. He passed on the country-builder tradition to his nephew Albert Truesdale, who worked with him for several years in Rockville and became a prominent builder in Killingly, Connecticut, in the lat 19th century. Truesdale received $2600 for building the church, with another $600 paid to A. and S. Brainard for laying the stone for the basement. The present church in Marlborough is the congregation's second meetinghouse. In 1736 fourteen people from the area, then part of the towns of Colchester, Glastonbury, and Hebron, requested permission from the Connecticut General Assembly to establish their own separate place of worship, claiming that travelling a distance of seven or eight miles to attend Sabbath services put a strain on their "weakly wives" and small children. In 1747 the Assembly finally granted the residents permission to form the Ecclesiastical Society of Marlborough, and work began to construct a suitable meetinghouse. In 1803 Marlborough was incorporated as a separate town. As the population increased, Marlborough's first meetinghouse became cramped; it also was thought to be cold and uncomfortable. In January 1841 a subscription was drawn up to raise funds for a new church, and at a March 1841 meeting the congregation voted to establish a building committee. The first services in the new structure were held in August 1841 upon completion of the basement. After several more months of construction, the church was finished and was dedicated on March 16, 1842, with a large number of people participating in the celebration. Although Congregationalism ceased to be Connecticut's state-supported religion after the ratification of the state constitution in 1818, it remained the faith of a large majority of people in most rural Connecticut towns throughout the 19th century. Consequently, Congregational meetinghouses served as symbols of community identity beyond their specifically religious meaning. With Sunday Schools, missionary societies, women's organizations, and other church-related groups, the meetinghouses functioned as social centers for their towns. Moreover, most small rural towns (including Marlborough) held their town meetings and elections in the Congregational meetinghouse well into the 20th century. Not only was this a tradition inherited from colonial times; but also in most towns the Congregational meetinghouse, because of its size and central location, was the only structure that could reasonably accommodate large public meetings.
Sources: National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. May 1993.
Ransom, David. Historical and Architectural Resources Survey, Town of Marlborough, Connecticut. April 1998.
Notes: This historic image was taken in 1938, shortly after a hurricane swept through the state. Notice the missing dome on the steeple, which was lost in the high winds.

Address: 35 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: First Church in Marlborough (Congregational)
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Congregational Church
Present Use: Church
Historic Use: Church
Architectural style: Greek Revival
Date constructed: 1842
Description: The Marlborough Congregational Church is a frame Greek Revival-style meetinghouse situated on a hill overlooking South Main Street. The setting is a rural, wooded area with a scattering of both historic and modern buildings nearby. Completed in 1842, the church is a single tall story high and measures 44 by 55 feet in plan, with its narrower end facing the road. The front gable is treated as a pediment, and the main entrance is recessed, centered behind two freestanding fluted Doric columns. The corners of the building are finished with wide, plain pilasters, and a simple entablature runs below the eaves and across the front gable. The entrance has double doors of recessed panels, above which is a row of dentils and a pair of panels where a transom might be; a fluted-board frame with acanthus-leaf carving in the corner blocks surrounds the entrance. Clapboards cover the side and rear elevations of the church, while the facade is finished with matched boards. Side elevations have a single tier of tall triple-hung windows fitted with fifteen-pane sash; the windows have shutters in two parts, with the top parts closed so as to block off the upper third of the windows. A small, square-plan tower located on the front end of the gable roof is made up of four parts: a base with a molded cornice; a belfry stage in which a plain paired pilasters flank a large rectangular louvered opening, about which is a reduced-scale version of the building's main cornice; another stage identical to the belfry but smaller in size; and a shallow dome surmounted by a wrought-iron weather vane in the form of a large arrow. The original bell dating from 1841 became cracked and was replaced by the present bell in 1889. The steeple was toppled during the Hurricane of 1938, which also caused minor damage to the church itself; both were repaired and returned to the original appearance. The church's granite basement story is partly exposed on the side elevations; it was built from stone quarried from the northern part of Marlborough, as were the entry steps that extend across the front of the church. The interior of the building, which is still used fro religious services, is simple, unadorned, and almost entirely original. A small vestibule runs across the rear of the church, where two doors give access to the auditorium; there are two stairways, one leading to the basement and the other to a balcony, which was closed off in 1888. The large open auditorium has plaster walls, a simple wainscot of vertical boards, and a coved ceiling. The pulpit, which is said to incorporate elements from an earlier church's pulpit commissioned in 1754, consists of a slanted desk atop a large base; its front has four fluted engaged columns that carry an entablature decorated with a Greek fret or meander design. The church's painted pews have paneled sides, a dark-stained wooden top rail, and stained curved arm rests terminating in a circular turning. Other original interior woodwork includes paneled doors and simple molded window frames. The seating is arranged as seven rows, with a large center section, two aisles, and smaller side sections. Wainscot railings define two spaces at the front corners of the church for a modern organ (a replacement for an 1860 organ that was originally located in the balcony) and, opposite the organ, seating for the choir. The mid-19th century circular was clock on the rear wall of the auditorium was a gift of Elias Ingraham, a former Marlborough resident and founder of E. Ingraham & Company of Bristol, Connecticut, one of the country’s largest clock and watch manufacturers. Two large wings have been added at the rear of the church. The Crawford Wing, a 2 1/2 story addition dedicated in 1955, extends from the northeast corner; it contains the Christian Education office, a kindergarten, and several other rooms. Extending from the southeast rear corner is a 1-story brick wing housing the Community Fellowship hall; it was built in 1974. Though they are sizable additions, the visual impact of the wings is reduced because they are relatively low in height, with their entrances at the same level as the church's basement.
Significance: The Marlborough Congregational Church is significant primarily as a well-preserved example of early 19th century New England church architecture, epitomizing the Greek Revival style with its fluted columns, pedimented gable, and other elements derived from Classical precedents. In addition, the property is significant for its role in the historical development of Marlborough. The church was the place of religious worship for the town's Congregationalist majority, as well as accommodating town meetings and other community gatherings. The Greek Revival style was a popular choice for New England meetinghouses built in the 1830s and 1840s. Features such as Classical columns, pilasters, cornices, dentils, and acanthus-leaf ornament--all present in the Marlborough Congregational Church--reflected an interest in the architecture and institutions of ancient Greece, which had important democratic connotations for Americans of the early National period. The ideal form for Greek Revival builders was that of the Classical temple. The temple form is closely approximated in the Marlborough Congregational Church through its orientation, with the gable end facing the road; the treatment of the front gable as a pediment; the creation of a recessed entry or "anta" with plainly finished side walls, a common arrangement in Greek temples; and the use of flush boarding on the facade to imitate masonry. The use of Greek Revival elements in this building also indicated that, like contemporary courthouses and academies, the meetinghouse was an important community building deserving of extra stylistic attention. Through its plain rectilinear form, numerous typical Greek Revival details, and simply finished interior, the Marlborough Congregation Church represents a pristine example of the antebellum New England meetinghouse. The pulpit is an especially notable component. Such Greek Revival-style pulpits appear in photographs from the mid-19th century, and the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives presided from a similar desk in the State House at Hartford, which was remodeled in 1837. Because of Victorian-period refurbishings, relatively few of these Greek Revival pulpits and lecterns have survived. The builder of the Marlborough Congregational Church, who along with the congregation's building committee presumably came up with the design, was Augustus Truesdale (c.1807-1870). Truesdale, born in Thompson, Connecticut, was himself the son of a carpenter. He lived for a while in Coventry and Somers before settling in the Rockville section of Vernon, where he is known to have built the first St. Bernard's Church (no longer extant), as well as several large houses for Rockville's millowner families. He passed on the country-builder tradition to his nephew Albert Truesdale, who worked with him for several years in Rockville and became a prominent builder in Killingly, Connecticut, in the lat 19th century. Truesdale received $2600 for building the church, with another $600 paid to A. and S. Brainard for laying the stone for the basement. The present church in Marlborough is the congregation's second meetinghouse. In 1736 fourteen people from the area, then part of the towns of Colchester, Glastonbury, and Hebron, requested permission from the Connecticut General Assembly to establish their own separate place of worship, claiming that travelling a distance of seven or eight miles to attend Sabbath services put a strain on their "weakly wives" and small children. In 1747 the Assembly finally granted the residents permission to form the Ecclesiastical Society of Marlborough, and work began to construct a suitable meetinghouse. In 1803 Marlborough was incorporated as a separate town. As the population increased, Marlborough's first meetinghouse became cramped; it also was thought to be cold and uncomfortable. In January 1841 a subscription was drawn up to raise funds for a new church, and at a March 1841 meeting the congregation voted to establish a building committee. The first services in the new structure were held in August 1841 upon completion of the basement. After several more months of construction, the church was finished and was dedicated on March 16, 1842, with a large number of people participating in the celebration. Although Congregationalism ceased to be Connecticut's state-supported religion after the ratification of the state constitution in 1818, it remained the faith of a large majority of people in most rural Connecticut towns throughout the 19th century. Consequently, Congregational meetinghouses served as symbols of community identity beyond their specifically religious meaning. With Sunday Schools, missionary societies, women's organizations, and other church-related groups, the meetinghouses functioned as social centers for their towns. Moreover, most small rural towns (including Marlborough) held their town meetings and elections in the Congregational meetinghouse well into the 20th century. Not only was this a tradition inherited from colonial times; but also in most towns the Congregational meetinghouse, because of its size and central location, was the only structure that could reasonably accommodate large public meetings.
Sources: National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. May 1993.
Ransom, David. Historical and Architectural Resources Survey, Town of Marlborough, Connecticut. April 1998.
Notes: This historic image was taken in 1938, after a hurricane had taken down the down on top of the steeple. Here, workers are rebuilding the steeple and dome.

Address: 30 Jones Hollow Road
Contemporary Building Name: St. John Fisher Community Roman Catholic Church
Historic Building Name: St. John Fisher Community Roman Catholic Church
Present Use: Church
Historic Use: Church
Architectural style: Contemporary
Date constructed: 1975
Description: This is a contemporary structure with steeply pitched roofline, and elongated windows. The rear of the building has a shallower pitched gabled roof. The main entrance is to the right of the high pitched section of the building. There is no doubt that this is a church.
Significance: With the influx of people after World War II into Marlborough, many churches struggled with the increased visitation. In Marlborough, where there was not a Catholic Church, residents had to travel to neighboring towns for services, swelling those parishes. In 1972, the Archbishop of Hartford appointed Father Felix MacGuire as Marlborough’s first Catholic priest. Services were held in the American Legion Hall and the Grange Hall. The Congregational Church also offered their building for special celebrations, such as weddings, funerals, and Holy Days. In 1974, property was purchased on Jones Hollow Road, and they broke ground in 1975. The first mass was held in November 1975, and the official dedication was held in February 1976.
Sources: Historic files located in the Richmond Memorial Library.
Images and other information from Joe Giggey.
Notes:

Address: 24 South Road
Contemporary Building Name: Fellowship Community Evangelical Free Church
Historic Building Name: Fellowship Community Evangelical Free Church
Present Use: Church
Historic Use: Grange Hall
Architectural style: modern
Date constructed: 1950
Description: This gabled roof building is constructed primarily of masonry/concrete. It has a shingled roof, and several windows around the building.
Significance: This church started as a bible study in 1980, and in 1984 was organized and established as a member of the Evangelical Free Church. In 1986, the group purchased 5 acres and the old grange hall to use for their hall.
Sources: Historic files located in the Richmond Memorial Library.
Fellowship Community Evangelical Free Church website.
Notes:

Address: 39 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: 39 South Main Street
Historic Building Name: Center School, Centre District No. 1. School
Current Use: Residence
Historic Use: Schoolhouse
Architectural Style: Vernacular
Date of Construction: 1860
Description: The gable end of the school faced the Congregational Church. It was situated on a hill, so that a cellar was most likely included. The simple structure had a door and one six-over-six window facing the Church, and four six-over-six windows on the west side. No photos are available of the south and east facades. A brick chimney extends out of the gabled roof, near the northern end of the building, and a cupola/bell tower (with gabled roof) is at the southern end of the building.
Significance: The Center School was one of the last one-room schoolhouses in Marlborough, closing in 1949, when the new Mary Hall School opened. There are references to a “Center” school in the early 1840s when the town listed five school districts. This school had structural analysis done, and it was determined that its date of construction was 1860. Students from the South School District came to the Center school when that school was closed in 1902. More students from the North school came when that school closed in 1932. When the new Mary Hall School opened, the Center school was deserted, and was turned into a private residence (as of 1984).
Sources: Schwarzmann, Vi. “History of the Marlborough Schools,” in Know Your Schools, Marlborough, CT: September, 1970. A report published under the direction of the Principal of the Marlborough Schools.
Fowler, Janet. A History of Education in a Small New England Town—Marlborough, Connecticut. Storrs, CT: I.N. Thut Education Center, The University of Connecticut; c.1984.
Notes: Image taken c. 1870.

Address: 39 South Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: 39 South Main Street
Historic Building Name: Center School, Centre District No. 1. School
Current Use: Residence
Historic Use: Schoolhouse
Architectural Style: Vernacular
Date of Construction: 1860
Description: The gable end of the school faced the Congregational Church. It was situated on a hill, so that a cellar was most likely included. The simple structure had a door and one six-over-six window facing the Church, and four six-over-six windows on the west side. No photos are available of the south and east facades. A brick chimney extends out of the gabled roof, near the northern end of the building, and a cupola/bell tower (with gabled roof) is at the southern end of the building.
Significance: The Center School was one of the last one-room schoolhouses in Marlborough, closing in 1949, when the new Mary Hall School opened. There are references to a “Center” school in the early 1840s when the town listed five school districts. This school had structural analysis done, and it was determined that its date of construction was 1860. Students from the South School District came to the Center school when that school was closed in 1902. More students from the North school came when that school closed in 1932. When the new Mary Hall School opened, the Center school was deserted, and was turned into a private residence (as of 1984).
Sources: Schwarzmann, Vi. “History of the Marlborough Schools,” in Know Your Schools, Marlborough, CT: September, 1970. A report published under the direction of the Principal of the Marlborough Schools.
Fowler, Janet. A History of Education in a Small New England Town—Marlborough, Connecticut. Storrs, CT: I.N. Thut Education Center, The University of Connecticut; c.1984.
Notes: Image taken in 1995.

Address: North of 265-267 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Northwest Schoolhouse, Factory District No. 2. School
Current Use: N/A
Historic Use: Schoolhouse
Style of Building: Greek Revival
Date of Construction: c. 1840
Description: The Northwest School was a small one-room school house, with a gable roof, and situated with a pediment front. The three-bay front included a paneled door in center, with flanking six-over-six double-hung windows with shutters. The door surrounds are stylistic Greek Revival, with pilasters, and entablature. The corners of the building also include pilasters. The pediment front is simple, and unadorned. The sides of the building include three six-over-six double-hung windows, with shutters. Atop the roof toward the front is a square cupola/bell tower with dental molding. At the back of the roof is a small brick chimney. The foundation appears to be made of stone.
Significance: The Northwest School was one of the last one-room schoolhouses in Marlborough, closing in 1949, when the new Mary Hall School opened. There are references to a “Northwest” school in the early 1800s when both Baptist and Methodist services were held within their structures. There is also a reference to an “obsolete schoolhouse” that sold for $6 in 1847. The “new” Northwest school was built on the Austin farm on North Main Street. The land remained in the possession of the Austin family, but the building belonged to the town. When the new Mary Hall School opened, the Northwest school was deserted, and left empty. Over the years, the building deteriorated, eventually falling in on itself. The cellar hole still exists (as of 1984).
Sources: Schwarzmann, Vi. “History of the Marlborough Schools,” in Know Your Schools, Marlborough, CT: September, 1970. A report published under the direction of the Principal of the Marlborough Schools.
Fowler, Janet. A History of Education in a Small New England Town—Marlborough, Connecticut. Storrs, CT: I.N. Thut Education Center, The University of Connecticut; c.1984.
Notes: Image taken c. 1908.

Address: North of 265-267 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Northwest Schoolhouse, Factory District No. 2. School
Current Use: N/A
Historic Use: Schoolhouse
Style of Building: Greek Revival
Date of Construction: c. 1840
Description: The Northwest School was a small one-room school house, with a gable roof, and situated with a pediment front. The three-bay front included a paneled door in center, with flanking six-over-six double-hung windows with shutters. The door surrounds are stylistic Greek Revival, with pilasters, and entablature. The corners of the building also include pilasters. The pediment front is simple, and unadorned. The sides of the building include three six-over-six double-hung windows, with shutters. Atop the roof toward the front is a square cupola/bell tower with dental molding. At the back of the roof is a small brick chimney. The foundation appears to be made of stone.
Significance: The Northwest School was one of the last one-room schoolhouses in Marlborough, closing in 1949, when the new Mary Hall School opened. There are references to a “Northwest” school in the early 1800s when both Baptist and Methodist services were held within their structures. There is also a reference to an “obsolete schoolhouse” that sold for $6 in 1847. The “new” Northwest school was built on the Austin farm on North Main Street. The land remained in the possession of the Austin family, but the building belonged to the town. When the new Mary Hall School opened, the Northwest school was deserted, and left empty. Over the years, the building deteriorated, eventually falling in on itself. The cellar hole still exists (as of 1984).
Sources: Schwarzmann, Vi. “History of the Marlborough Schools,” in Know Your Schools, Marlborough, CT: September, 1970. A report published under the direction of the Principal of the Marlborough Schools.
Fowler, Janet. A History of Education in a Small New England Town—Marlborough, Connecticut. Storrs, CT: I.N. Thut Education Center, The University of Connecticut; c.1984.
Notes: Image taken in 1946, of one of the last classes of students held in the school.

Address: North of 265 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Mills
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Textile Manufacturing
Architectural style: Industrial
Date constructed: c. 1870s
Significance: “The Marlborough Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1815, the north factory being built first, with some other smaller buildings, but later the company failed and these buildings were sold to the Union Manufacturing Company. The Union Manufacturing Company began operating this mill, and later built the lower mill and several dwellings. This property was greatly increased in value as the years went on, and the homes of the operatives furnished a market for much of the produce of the farms of the town. The fabric manufactured was a blue cotton stripe, the market for which was found in the south among the cotton planters, for the clothing of the slaves. During the Civil War there was no demand for the cloth, and no cotton, and the mills stood idle. The old mill was destroyed by fire in 1861, and the new one in 1864, together with many of the dwellings which had been occupied by the operatives of the mill. The mills when burned were owned by Isaac Allen. Since then a new mill and some dwellings have been built, and silk ribbon was manufactured for a short time, but now (1903) the mill is silent and the dwellings vacant.” Shortly after this description was written, in 1907, the mill burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Sources: Hall, Mary. Report of the Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Marlborough, August 23 and 25, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: A view of the main mill building from the South.

Address: North of 265 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Mills
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Textile Manufacturing
Architectural style: Industrial
Date constructed: c. 1870s
Significance: “The Marlborough Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1815, the north factory being built first, with some other smaller buildings, but later the company failed and these buildings were sold to the Union Manufacturing Company. The Union Manufacturing Company began operating this mill, and later built the lower mill and several dwellings. This property was greatly increased in value as the years went on, and the homes of the operatives furnished a market for much of the produce of the farms of the town. The fabric manufactured was a blue cotton stripe, the market for which was found in the south among the cotton planters, for the clothing of the slaves. During the Civil War there was no demand for the cloth, and no cotton, and the mills stood idle. The old mill was destroyed by fire in 1861, and the new one in 1864, together with many of the dwellings which had been occupied by the operatives of the mill. The mills when burned were owned by Isaac Allen. Since then a new mill and some dwellings have been built, and silk ribbon was manufactured for a short time, but now (1903) the mill is silent and the dwellings vacant.” Shortly after this description was written, in 1907, the mill burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Sources: Hall, Mary. Report of the Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Marlborough, August 23 and 25, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: A view of the main mill building from the East.

Address: North of 265 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Mills Dye House
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Textile Manufacturing
Architectural style: Industrial
Date constructed: c. 1870s
Significance: “The Marlborough Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1815, the north factory being built first, with some other smaller buildings, but later the company failed and these buildings were sold to the Union Manufacturing Company. The Union Manufacturing Company began operating this mill, and later built the lower mill and several dwellings. This property was greatly increased in value as the years went on, and the homes of the operatives furnished a market for much of the produce of the farms of the town. The fabric manufactured was a blue cotton stripe, the market for which was found in the south among the cotton planters, for the clothing of the slaves. During the Civil War there was no demand for the cloth, and no cotton, and the mills stood idle. The old mill was destroyed by fire in 1861, and the new one in 1864, together with many of the dwellings which had been occupied by the operatives of the mill. The mills when burned were owned by Isaac Allen. Since then a new mill and some dwellings have been built, and silk ribbon was manufactured for a short time, but now (1903) the mill is silent and the dwellings vacant.” Shortly after this description was written, in 1907, the mill burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Sources: Hall, Mary. Report of the Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Marlborough, August 23 and 25, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: A view of the Dye House, taken around 1885.

Address: North of 265 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Mills
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Textile Manufacturing
Architectural style: Industrial
Date constructed: c. 1870s
Significance: “The Marlborough Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1815, the north factory being built first, with some other smaller buildings, but later the company failed and these buildings were sold to the Union Manufacturing Company. The Union Manufacturing Company began operating this mill, and later built the lower mill and several dwellings. This property was greatly increased in value as the years went on, and the homes of the operatives furnished a market for much of the produce of the farms of the town. The fabric manufactured was a blue cotton stripe, the market for which was found in the south among the cotton planters, for the clothing of the slaves. During the Civil War there was no demand for the cloth, and no cotton, and the mills stood idle. The old mill was destroyed by fire in 1861, and the new one in 1864, together with many of the dwellings which had been occupied by the operatives of the mill. The mills when burned were owned by Isaac Allen. Since then a new mill and some dwellings have been built, and silk ribbon was manufactured for a short time, but now (1903) the mill is silent and the dwellings vacant.” Shortly after this description was written, in 1907, the mill burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Sources: Hall, Mary. Report of the Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Marlborough, August 23 and 25, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: Postcard view of the main mill buildings, c. 1905.

Address: North of 265 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Mills
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Textile Manufacturing
Architectural style: Industrial
Date constructed: c. 1870s
Significance: “The Marlborough Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1815, the north factory being built first, with some other smaller buildings, but later the company failed and these buildings were sold to the Union Manufacturing Company. The Union Manufacturing Company began operating this mill, and later built the lower mill and several dwellings. This property was greatly increased in value as the years went on, and the homes of the operatives furnished a market for much of the produce of the farms of the town. The fabric manufactured was a blue cotton stripe, the market for which was found in the south among the cotton planters, for the clothing of the slaves. During the Civil War there was no demand for the cloth, and no cotton, and the mills stood idle. The old mill was destroyed by fire in 1861, and the new one in 1864, together with many of the dwellings which had been occupied by the operatives of the mill. The mills when burned were owned by Isaac Allen. Since then a new mill and some dwellings have been built, and silk ribbon was manufactured for a short time, but now (1903) the mill is silent and the dwellings vacant.” Shortly after this description was written, in 1907, the mill burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Sources: Hall, Mary. Report of the Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Marlborough, August 23 and 25, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: Image of foundations left after the 1907 fire.

Address: North of 265 North Main Street
Contemporary Building Name: N/A
Historic Building Name: Marlborough Mills
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Textile Manufacturing
Architectural style: Industrial
Date constructed: c. 1870s
Significance: “The Marlborough Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1815, the north factory being built first, with some other smaller buildings, but later the company failed and these buildings were sold to the Union Manufacturing Company. The Union Manufacturing Company began operating this mill, and later built the lower mill and several dwellings. This property was greatly increased in value as the years went on, and the homes of the operatives furnished a market for much of the produce of the farms of the town. The fabric manufactured was a blue cotton stripe, the market for which was found in the south among the cotton planters, for the clothing of the slaves. During the Civil War there was no demand for the cloth, and no cotton, and the mills stood idle. The old mill was destroyed by fire in 1861, and the new one in 1864, together with many of the dwellings which had been occupied by the operatives of the mill. The mills when burned were owned by Isaac Allen. Since then a new mill and some dwellings have been built, and silk ribbon was manufactured for a short time, but now (1903) the mill is silent and the dwellings vacant.” Shortly after this description was written, in 1907, the mill burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Sources: Hall, Mary. Report of the Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Marlborough, August 23 and 25, 1903. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company. 1904.
Notes: Image of foundations left after the 1907 fire.

Address: 14 Jones Hollow Road
Contemporary Building Name: 14 Jones Hollow Road
Historic Building Name: E. F. Jones House
Present Use: N/A
Historic Use: Residential
Architectural style: Greek Revival / vernacular
Date constructed: c. 1850 (Ransom), 1880 (Assessor)
Description: 14 Jones Hollow Road is an L-shaped building consisting of a principal block with gable end to the street, to the north, and a wing set back on the south. In the two-bay gable end of the main block facing the street (front elevation), there are two 2-over-2 windows, off set to the north, at both first and second floors, under a horizontal six-pane attic window. Wide corner boards define the corners of the house, but there is no cornice and the eaves do not return. The wing is protected by a shed-roofed porch supported by square posts with diagonal brackets. The wing has a central door flanked by 2-over-2 windows and a second door at its north, which opens into the main block. There are two wall dormers above the porch which break through the eaves of the main roof. Each dormer has a 2-over-2 window. A chimney rises from the rear of the main block and the south end of the wing.
Significance: 14 Jones hollow Road probably was not built all at one time. The rectangular attic window suggests a time of origin toward the end of the Greek Revival era, but the two-bay gable end, without door, is unusual, as is the fact the two bays are not centered. It may be that the house originally had a one-story wing that was changed to 1 1/2 stories by raising the roof and adding the wall dormers, which are an unusual feature in Marlborough. The wall dormers and the 2-over-2 windows are late-19th century features. It may be that the Assessor's date of 1880 marks the introduction of these alterations. The conjecture on how the house grew could be informed by examination of basement walls and attic framing. The 1855 map identifies a house at approximately this location with the name E. F. Jones, one of the many Joneses who lived on Jones Hollow Road.
Sources: Ransom, David. Historical and Architectural Resources Survey, Town of Marlborough, Connecticut. April 1998.
Notes: House was torn down sometime between 1998 and 2004. A new Professional Building (doctor office) and Emergency Medical facility was built on this site.

Image: Tennant postcard of "The Lake," c.1910.
Description: Terramuggus Lake is town-owned. It has an area of 83 acres, a maximum depth of 43 feet and a mean depth of 21.4 feet. Homes have been built around most of the lake, and much of the remaining area is used for municipal or lake association beaches. The lake has a public boat launch open to Marlborough residents, but motors greater than 3.3 hp are banned. Terramuggus is an oligotrophic lake with low diversity and low abundance of aquatic plants. Only seven submerged species were found in the lake during a July 2004 survey, all of them native plants. Plants grew sparsely in widely scattered patches; some areas supported filamentous algae or Charaphyte, but no plants or algae at all grew on much of the lake bottom.
Sources: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station website: http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2799&q=376144
Image from the Historical Collection at the Richmond Memorial Library
Notes: