Standing beside it was the |
Where my parents live.. |
CORNISH (Settled 1765; 1990 population: 1659). Although the early settlers in Cornish were chiefly from Sutton, Massachusetts, they were preceded by procurors of white pine for masts for the Royal Navy. This explains the original name of "Mast Camp." The namesake for Cornish is Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish. With little question Cornish's--and to a lesser extent, Plainfield's--fame lies in its association with that remarkable assemblage of residents and visitors known as the Cornish Colony. The heyday of the Colony was between the 1880s and early 1930s when a group of artists, writers, musicians and cultural movers and shakers in general flocked to the area for its scenery and pace of life and for the opportunity to get away from the city and congregate with their own kind. The central figure was the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens whose home and studio are on this itinerary. Many often elaborate houses were built by the Colonists of which numerous remain although usually not visible from the road. Cornish still draws the artistically inspired, the most famous today being the reclusive writer, J. D. Salinger. |
Returning to the junction of Center and Town House Roads, take a right onto Center Road, heading north. This route follows Mill Brook eventually bringing us to Cornish Center On the north side of the road stands the United Church Built 1841-42. Like the two churches at Plainfield, the former Congregational Church at Cornish Center suggests the influence of Ammi Burnham Young (1798-1874), who was born in Lebanon and designed other Greek Revival buildings for Kimball Union Academy at Meriden and Dartmouth College at Hanover. All three churches appear to have been constructed by local builder Col. Charles Egglestone (1787-1858), who worked in the Cornish-Windsor area. |
It shows the influence of Ammi Burnham Young, the Lebanon architect who designed other Greek Revival buildings at nearby Kimball Union Academy and at Dartmouth College and was responsible for the Custom House in Boston. The present congregation dates from 1954 when the Baptists and Congregationalists united together. The small brick building just to the west is the Vestry. The former parsonage is the white hilltop house further to the west. Take a moment and walk up to the small though beautifully situated Center Cemetery which is just up the hill behind the church. Continuing eastward on Center Road, we arrive back at Rt 120 Make a left turn and proceed one mile northward into Cornish Flat |
Center Cemetery This contains 60 well-marked graves and six unmarked [1898]. |
As we approach, note on the left the large hip-roofed brick Leavitt-Spaulding House (c.1800), the grandest house in Cornish Flat, the largest of the town's numerous small villages. The triangular green with its granite Civil War statue (1890), Rolls of Honor and fenceless granite posts is flanked by several interesting and attractive buildings, the most prominent being the white clapboarded, three-door First Baptist Church (1803, NR). Originally located near Cornish Center, it was moved here in 1818. Over the years substantial changes have been made to the building and although it is no longer a functioning church (its referred to as the Meeting House and is used just for that, meetings) it nonetheless remains today as the focal point of the village and the home of the Cornish Historical Society. |
Leavitt-Spaulding House (c.1800) |
On the east side of Rt 120, particularly along School Street, are several houses and sites worth having a look at. Two buildings in from Rt 120, on the south side, is the Colonial Revival-style George H. Stowell Free Library (1910) named for a local son whose donation covered the cost of construction, followed by the tiny single story brick Records Building (1886), built for $800 as the repository for town records and to accommodate the selectmen's office. The annex was added in 1895 and served as the town's "lock-up" for many years. Although the 'Steam Fire Proof' safe remains, the building--now owned by the Cornish Historical Society--has been vacant since the town functions moved in 1995 to the Town Offices in Cornish City. A bit further on stands what was the Cornish Flat School until 1955 and is now the Cheshire Lodge No 23, the Masonic Temple. Across the road is the Cornish Flat Cemetery which has no fewer than 16 graves of Revolutionary War veterans. Immediately to the east is the Park Grange No 249, a single story brick building originally a residence. We return to Rt 120 but if we had continued along School Street we would have come eventually to one of the entrances to Corbin's Park, more formally known as the Blue Mountain Forest Association. Established in the 1880s as a private game park, its forty square miles spreads over five towns. It was from Corbin's that a national movement to save the American Buffalo was launched, the park's herd being used to resupply animals for buffalo reserves in the west. The Park still continues today as a private shareholding hunting club. |
Standing beside it was the |
Cheshire Lodge No 23, |
Cornish Flat Cemetery 320 well-marked graves and about 40 mounds that are unmarked |
Park Grange No 249 Single story brick house immediately east of Cornish Flat cemetery. Gable-end-to-the-street. Formerly the Batchelor House |
From Cornish Flat we turn north on Rt 120, passing through a scenic agricultural landscape of open fields and pasture, soon crossing into the town of Plainfield. On the right just before Stage Road enters from the west is an unpaved drive, Andrews Lane, that goes into the Moulton-Yard Cemetery, quite a pleasant burying ground. At the Main Street intersection, you'll see the brick Baptist Church (1836) on the northwest corner. Next to the church is the Elias Frost House, (c. 1808); Dr Frost agreed to part with his garden to provide the site for the church. Taking a left onto Main Street we gradually climb through the village of Meriden, a hilltop settlement set off as a parish of Plainfield in 1780. Dominating the village is the campus of Kimball Union Academy. It was chartered in 1813 "to train young men for leadership in the ministry" and to serve as a preparatory school for Dartmouth College. A number of the historic houses along this stretch are now owned by the Academy, among them the fine brick Levi Bryant House (now Kilton House, 1825) on the south side and the two somewhat similar brick houses on the north side, Chellis House (1837) and Hazelton House (1810). The major school buildings are near the top of the hill: Among the more interesting are the diminutive stone Barnes Library (1924) with its classical columned temple front and domed cupola, and Baxter Hall (1892), the brick building at the corner of Chellis Road, memorable for its rounded brick corner with belltower above. Across the way at the head of the green is the Meriden Congregational Church (1899), a stone Romanesque Revival style building with a decidedly English feel to it. It's the third church on the same site and replaced the 18th century frame church that succumbed to lightning in 1894. Behind the church are horsesheds and beyond is the two-story galleried Monroe House (c. 1856) which now serves as the headmaster's residence. |
The Moulton Cemetery derived its name from Darius Moulton who owned property adjacent to it. It is east of Route 120 on the south side of Andrews Lane. It contains the graves of several members of the Moulton family. The oldest part of the graveyard is the western section. Trust funds are available for the cemetery's maintenance. |
Elias Frost House The lot for the church was purchased from Dr. Elias Frost whose frame house, built about 1808, still stands just west of the church. Dr. Frost used this land for his garden. He agreed to part with it only because of his close friendship with Major Reuben True, one of the early leaders in the church. |
Levi Bryant House (late Federal) - Main Street, Meriden, about 1820. This red brick house is now known as Kilton House at Kimball Union Academy. It is a fine example of Federal architecture exhibiting three two-story arches in the brick work of the facade as well as an arched fan light and false window in a gable. It also has flared lintels over the windows. Its gable front and side hall plan anticipate the Greek Revival style. |
Hazelton House |
Monroe House, Chellis Road, Meriden, built about 1856. Currently owned by Kimball Union Academy and used as the headmaster's house (1991), it has a monumental two-story portico supported by fluted Doric columns, also peaked lintels over windows. |
As you leave Meriden, going west on Brook Road, notice the fine view of distant Mt Ascutney to the southwest. Just a short distance further along on the north side is the entrance to the Helen Woodruff Smith Bird Sanctuary, the first such preserve in America, established in 1910 by Ernest Harold Baynes, whose bronze portrait relief is mounted on a rock not far from the entrance. Paths wind through the woods past numerous birdhouses and birdbaths, some carved from solid rock. The site has strong associations with the 'Cornish Colony.' The still-active Meriden Bird Club maintains the sanctuary. Soon after stands the Meriden Town Hall (1896). |
Descending along Brook Road, we take a left onto Colby Hill Road at Mill Hollow, immediately passing over Bloods Brook on the Meriden Covered Bridge (1880, NR). This 80-foot bridge was built by James Tasker who also was responsible for the Blacksmith Shop bridge (indeed, for all covered bridges on our itinerary). It likewise employs a multiple kingpost truss design. Shortly after the bridge, on the left, is the attractively situated Mill Cemetery which is well worth a stop. About halfway in stands a granite obelisk surrounded by a green cast-iron fence, the grave of Daniel Kimball, founder of Kimball Union Academy. As we climb Colby Hill we pass between two early houses, one noted as dating from 1794. From here the views back toward Meriden are lovely. At this point Colby Hill Road becomes unpaved and changes its name to Ladieu Road and continues to climb through woods. Once over the hill there are more good views, this time toward Vermont. |
Early Houses 1794 |
Just before rejoining Brook Road at Pratts Corners we pass another cemetery-- Coreyville --on the left. Buried here is Hodges Cutler, the last to survive of Plainfield's Revolutionary War soldiers. A sharp right turn just after takes us to Brook Road, where we turn left and continue northwesterly alongside Bloods Brook until we reach Route 12A in the very southwestern corner of Lebanon is the northernmost portion of our itinerary. Proceed south on 12A, back into Plainfield. Make the right onto River Road, a lovely untrafficked drive that runs beside the Connecticut and offers some very nice views. At the outset are several noteworthy farms, some with farmstands: Edgewater Farm with its early white clapboarded cape farmhouse, followed by Riverview Farm and the McNamera Dairy. Shortly after the latter, on the east side of the road, is River or Colby Cemetery , a small burying ground with some early slate markers. Further on is the Home Hill Country Inn (1818) on the left. This brick Federal style house replaced an earlier tavern that burned. River Road now takes us through some dense groves of pines and hardwood trees that give us an idea of what the wilderness must have been like in the days before settlement. |
Edgewater Farm |
Riverview Farm |
McNamera Dairy |
We turn left away from the river on Ferry Hill Road. Soon after we rejoin Route 12A. We turn to the north but first look right to enjoy the view of Mt Ascutney. As we proceed north and pass Freeman Road on the left notice, if the trees are bare, a yellow house on the west side of Freeman Road. This is the second and last home of Winston Churchill. The then-famous American author and 'Cornish Colonist' moved here when his grander house, Harlakenden--which for a time was Woodrow Wilson's summer White House--burned in 1923. Also nearby and off Freeman Road is The Oaks, artist Maxfield Parrish's house and studio. The house--featured in some of his famous paintings--burned in 1979 but the studio survives. |
Winston Churchill. |
