Atwater Homestead 242 Christian St. c. 1774 was built by Caleb Atwater. His granddaughter Mary Lyman Atwater married Judge William G. Choate founder of Choate School. It is now a Choate dormitory and faculty residence. Beginning in 2006, the school undertook a significant restoration of the exterior of the home.

Squire Stanley House, 186 Christian Street, was built in 1690. It was also known as the Red House. It was used as a haven for Revolutionary War patriots and a place to try Loyalists. George Washington visited Squire Oliver Stanley on his way to Boston in 1775. Oliver’s son George Washington Stanley tried to open a school in the home in 1794 with little success. In 1890 Mark Pittman, the first headmaster of the Choate School lived in the home.

Atwater Cottage, 302 Christian Street, was built in 1760. The house was also known as “Ye Old Store. Caleb Atwater produced gunpowder in a red barn behind the house. In 1775. George Washington bought gunpowder from the store for his troops. Atwater later purchased and developed land in Ohio where the cities of Cleveland and Akron are now located.

1690 House, 387 North Main St. is also known as Munson House. It is actually two houses. The original built in 1690 and an addition completed in 1789. The home was extensively damaged in the tornado of 1878 and needed major repairs. The house is owned by Choate Rosemary Hall.

John Hall House, 43 North Elm Street, was built in 1789. Jeremiah Hall, a descendant of the first John Hall farmed on acreage behind the house. It was purchased by Choate Rosemary Hall in 1926 and used as a faculty residence. Three separate apartments have been created from the original home.

Porter Cook Homestead, 38 North Elm Street, built in 1789 by the Cook family with assistance from other founding Wallingford families such as the Doolittle Family and Carrington Family. The last member of the Cook family to live there was Elizabeth Hall, great, great granddaughter of Porter Cook. The home is currently owned by the Krombel Family.

Giles Hall House, 337 South Elm Street, was built in 1760. Giles Hall was the brother of Lyman Hall, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Both Giles and Lyman Hall were born in this house- The windows in the house contain the original glass panes.

Theophilus Jones Homestead , 40 Jones Road, was built in 1700. The house remained in the Jones family into the 1900s. The home has five fireplaces and the ceilings are much higher than generally found in houses built in the era. It was added to the National Register of Historic places January 30, 1992

The Augustus Hall House, 198 South Main St., was built in 1760. It is now the home of the Wallingford Historical Society. Until the late 1700’s the building functioned as a tavern and stopping place for stage coaches. The hitching posts still remain on the sidewalk outside the building. The Hall family remained in the home until 1803 when it was deeded to Caleb Thomas. His great, great, grandaughter Frannie Ives Schember left it to the Historical Society.

The Royce House, 538 North Main Street, was built for Nehemiah Royce in 1672. It was originally located on the corner of North Main and North Street and was moved to its current location in 1924. General George Washington addressed the citizens of Wallingford in front of the house in it’s old location in 1775. It has the distinction of being the oldest house still standing in Wallingford.

Sources:

“Wallingford Historical Homes Caleb Atwater Cottage”, The Wallingford Post, 10/31/57.

Wallingford Tercentenary Jubilee 300, “A Tour of Houses, from then ‘til Now”, Wallingford Garden Club, July 1, 1970.

“Some Historic Homes of Wallingford, CTPublished by The Wallingford Historical Society, 1977.

“Atwater Homestead and Cottage” The Wallingford Post, 7/1970.

“Wallingford Historical Resources Inventory: buildings and structures Vol. 1 and 2, Connecticut Historical Commission, February 1979.

Wallingford, Connecticut, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallingford,_CT, 2/19/11.