With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
9 West Main Street, Chester
- C.L. Griswold and Co.
- National Theatre of the Deaf, Inc.
-
Second Connecticut home of the National Theatre of the Deaf from 1983 to 2000.
- Description of Significance/Historical Narrative
- This Pattaconk Brook (South Branch) water privilege was first developed for manufacturing in 1825 by Abel Snow, who ran an anchor forge and sold primarily to shipbuilders in Chester Cove. Noah Shipman, a carriage spring manufacturer, bought the property in 1838 and sold it to Jeremiah Wilcox, another carriage-spring maker, in the early l840s. In 1850 C. L. Griswold bought the site and erected the building standing now. Griswold's rubble-masonry wing dam also survives. The shop produced auger bits, wood screws, corkscrews, reamers and other light hardware before closing in 1919. Solar Masonic Lodge No. 131 bought the mill in 1924. (Roth) The main mill building has been rehabilitated as the museum and offices of the Chester Historical Society.
- Date of Construction
- 1850
- Historic Designation(s)