The John I. Howe House is a historic house at 213 Caroline Street in
Derby, Connecticut
Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, approximately 8 miles west-northwest of New Haven. It is located in southwest Connecticut at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers. It borders the cities of Ansoni ...
. Built in 1845, it is a distinctive example of Greek Revival architecture executed in granite, built for
John Ireland Howe
Doctor John Ireland Howe (July 20, 1793 – September 10, 1876) was an inventor and manufacturer. He was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He began the study of medicine in 1812, he then worked as a resident physician at the New York Almshouse.Appl ...
of the Howe Pin Company. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1989.
Description
The John I. Howe House is located north of the commercial downtown of Derby, on the east side of Caroline Street north of 5th Street. It is a -story masonry structure, built with loadbearing granite walls. It has a cruciform plan, with a main block covered by a gabled roof oriented north–south, and gabled projections at the centers of the eastern and western facades. The house is an outstanding example of
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
architecture implemented in masonry. Gable ends are finished in wood, and are
pedimented
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pediment ...
. Windows are set in rectangular openings with granite sills and lintels. A two-story porch, a recreation of the original based on photographs, occupies the front right corner.
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History
John Ireland Howe was a native of Ridgefield, who developed machinery for the manufacturing of straight metal pins, a process that had previously been done by hand. Originally based in upstate New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, Howe moved the business to Derby in 1838. Howe is revered as one of Connecticut's foremost nineteenth-century inventors.[ In 2016, the Derby Historical Society still owned the home, was planning for a third round of renovation, and hoped for it to become the Lower Naugatuck Valley Industrial Heritage Center, a museum to be open to the public. It has been hoped that one of Howe's pin-making machines, on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., could be returned to Derby for permanent display at the museum.]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven County, Connecticut
References
{{reflist
External links
The Dr. John Ireland Howe House
film by John Walsh at YouTube
National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut
Buildings and structures in Derby, Connecticut
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Houses in New Haven County, Connecticut
Houses completed in 1845
1845 establishments in Connecticut