Memorial Hall is a historic meeting hall at South Main and Elm Streets in

Windsor Locks, Connecticut Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxim ...

. Built in 1890 as a memorial to the town's

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

soldiers, it has served for most of its existence has a meeting place for veterans' organizations, from the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

to the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

. It is also one of the town's finest examples of Romanesque architecturer, and 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 1987.

Description and history

Memorial Hall is located in the center of Windsor Locks, at the southwest corner of Elm and South Main Streets. It is a three-story stone structure, built out of gray granite in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

style. It is covered by a gabled roof, and has a round tower at the northeast corner, capped by a conical roof. The main facade is dominated by a round arch on the ground floor under which the main entrance is located. The second floor has four sash windows in rectangular openings, and the third has three closely set windows in the roof gable. In the interior, the ground floor has a stairwell on the left, and a central hall flanked by meeting rooms. The tower chamber was originally used as a library. The second floor houses the building's main meeting hall. The hall was built in 1888 to a design by Frederick S. Newman of

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. The building was donated by Charles Chaffee, a mill owner from

Monson, Massachusetts Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The census-designated place of Monson Center lies at the ...

whose reason for the donation is not known. The building was constructed out of stone quarried in Monson as a memorial to Windsor Locks' Civil War soldiers, and was intended for use by the

and affiliated organizations. It has been maintained by the nearby Congregational church, under a unique preservation restriction placed at the time of its construction requiring its continued use as a space for current and past soldiers. This restriction prevented its repurposing as town hall after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, by which time the GAR chapter had closed, and the church had taken over the building ownership. It is now used by a variety of veterans organizations.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Romanesque Revival architecture in Connecticut Buildings and structures completed in 1890 Buildings and structures in Hartford County, Connecticut Windsor Locks, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References