The Joseph Blakeslee House was a historic house at 1211 Barnes Road in
Wallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in En ...
. Built in 1780, it was a good example of a late 18th-century Cape style residence. 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 1998.
It collapsed and was demolished in 2008.
Description and history
The Joseph Blakeslee House stood at the northeast corner of Barnes Road (
Connecticut Route 68
Route 68 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut connecting the towns of Durham and Naugatuck.
Route description
Route 68 begins at Route 63 in Naugatuck. After crossing the Naugatuck River, it overpasses the Route ...
) and Research Parkway in northeastern Wallingford. The parcel which it stood is nearly surrounded by commercial development. It was a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. It was oriented facing east, with a low stone retaining wall in front. Its main facade was three bays wide, with a center entrance that was once topped by a four-light transom window. The trim at the building corners and around the window and door openings was simple. The interior followed a fairly typical period central chimney plan, although the place typically occupied by a staircase in the entrance vestibule contained a closet. The staircase to the attic was located in the rear of the house, between the kitchen and buttery.
[ With ]
The house was built in 1780 by Joseph Blakeslee, a veteran of the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
. He was forced to sell it soon afterward, apparently suffering economically from the ongoing
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The property was bought back into the family by his son in 1793, who was a farmer of middling success. The farm remained in the Blakeslee family until 1900, when it was bought by the Barnes family. The bulk of the farm was sold for development in 1963, the house parcel remaining set off and eventually acquired by the local historical society. At the time of its National Register listing in 1998, it was in deteriorated condition, with its roof in imminent failure.
It subsequently collapsed and was demolished in 2008.
See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakeslee, Joseph, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut
Colonial architecture in the United States
Wallingford, Connecticut