Putnam Town Hall, formerly Putnam High School, is an historic civic building at 126 Church Street in

Putnam, Connecticut Putnam is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,224 at the 2020 census. History Putnam, originally known as Aspinock, then part of Killingly, is a New England mill town incorporated in 1855. Created from se ...

. Constructed in 1874, it is one of the oldest surviving high school buildings in the state, and a distinctive local example of Gothic Revival architecture. It was added to 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 1993.

Description and history

Putnam Town Hall is located across the Quinebaug River from downtown Putnam, on the west side of Church Street between Fenner and Ravine Streets. It is a large -story brick structure with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. The main focal elements of the building are two towers, one being two stories in height at the front left corner, and a three-story tower at the front right, which has an elaborate gabled clock stage (but no clock), above which is a pyramidal roof. Most of the first-floor windows are set in segmented-arch openings, while those on the second floor are mainly rounded. Windows are set in pairs in the towers, and there are horizontal bands of ornamental brickwork, featuring bricks of varying color shades. The interior has undergone significant alterations due to its reuse as municipal offices, but some original trim and decorative features, as well as the basic layout, remain. The town of Putnam voted in 1873 to build a high school. It was completed the following year, and graduated its first class in 1876. The building was used by the town as its high school until 1911, when overcrowding prompted a move to a new facility (now no longer standing). The current high school, located on Woodstock Avenue, was opened in 1955. This building now houses municipal offices, but is one of the oldest surviving high school buildings in the state. It is also a distinctive local example of the

Ruskinian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Promo ...

style of architecture.

References

{{Authority control City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Government buildings completed in 1874 Buildings and structures in Windham County, Connecticut Putnam, Connecticut Town halls in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Connecticut 1874 establishments in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References