Mill Record New Canaan

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Disclaimer: Content for these properties was compiled in 2014-2017 from a variety of sources and is subject to change. Updates are occasionally made under Property Information, however the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation (dba Preservation Connecticut) makes no representation or warranty that the information is complete or up-to-date.

Complex Name (Common)
Standard Oil Co. DEMO’d 2019
Complex Name (Historic)
  • Standard Oil Co.
Address or Location
64 Richmond Hill Road, New Canaan
County
Fairfield
Historic Designation
Associated Mill Community
n/a
Historic Information

Companies Associated w/Complex

  • Standard Oil Co. c.1924

Use (Historic)

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

Carriage barn for Standard Oil; following text courtesy Mimi Findlay, New Canaan Preservation Alliance co-chair (2018): The brick stable/barn was constructed by Standard Oil in April 1911, following the building of large brick kerosene tank behind it on a small piece of land it had purchased from the Mead family in 1901. There were four horse stalls for two teams of horses, a stall for tack, and a stall for grain. The horse-drawn delivery wagon drove through the center, between the two rows of stalls. Upstairs was the hayloft. The oil, kerosene and eventually gasoline was shipped from Standard Oil’s refinery by train tank-cars, and a long hose or pipe delivered it down the hill from the railroad crossing on Richmond Hill into the storage tanks behind the stable. Subsequently, In 1933 Federal funds became available for constructing a park and the town purchased the buildings from Standard Oil, as they were “badly needed.” For the next 80 years, the building was used for a variety of purposes, mostly by local organizations for meetings, ranging from Margaret Liboratore’s WPA sewing group on the second floor, to American Legion meetings, and rehearsal space for the VFW Fife and Drum Corps and the Town Band. Much of its use was related to citizens’ organizations that sprang up during and after WWII and later, to sports activities within the park, including storage of baseball equipment and a place for the boy’s teams to change into their uniforms. It also served as a sculptor’s studio, among many other uses. Eventually the Department of Public Works decided to use it as a garage for its trucks, with more trucks parked around and behind the building, and, finally, as a carpent having to travel by horse and wagon to Norwalk. The Standard Oil’s delivery wagon filled its tanks and five-gallon containers to deliver to farms, and retail stores, for resale to the town for street lighting, public building heat and lighting, and to residential customers to fill their own tanks to light their oil lamps, fill their oil heaters, provide heat for cooking and warmth, or power their mowers and other machinery. In addition to the Brick Barn’s contributions to the early quality of life of the town’s residents, its later uses reflect the cultural sophistication and social interactions between residents as they coped with and celebrated the war’s conclusion and assisted the athletic teams and aesthetic life in the park afterwards.

Architectural Information

Number of Existing Buildings

one

Dates of Construction

1901

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

  • Other: Stable and carriage barn

Architectural Description

Following text courtesy Mimi Findlay, New Canaan Preservation Alliance co-chair (2018): In a community with comparatively few small-scale brick commercial buildings outside of the downtown, this vernacular building represents a locally distinctive late 19th-century industrial architecture. Its segmental-arched windows are a carry-over from the late Victorian period particularly in their use of two-course brick voussoirs serving as lintels. All the sills are bluestone. The Flemish bond brickwork (alternating header-stretcher-header at every sixth row) abruptly changes at about 12’ from the ground to an English bond (all headers at every sixth row) as though a new mason came to complete the work. The asymmetrical fenestration appears to be original, the smaller windows on the east and west located at the ends of the stalls. The wooden sash and frames appear to be original, with very thin meeting rails. Most of the original glass panes remain. The carriage door opening to the street has been widened and both carriage/garage doors are replacements for the original pair of wagon doors. The carriage barn has been altered with the addition of the enclosed outside stair accessing the second floor, but this addition appears to be over 50 years old and has acquired significance in its own right. The stair does not detract from the otherwise high physical integrity of the rest of the exterior. Building elements that have disappeared include the ventilator cupola, one boarded up window on the façade, and the two pairs of wagon doors.

Exterior Material(s)

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

n/a

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Property Information

Specific Location

south side of Richmond Hill Road opposite Grove Street.
Individually listed on the State Register of Historic Places, 2010.

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

Acreage

24.17

Use (Present)

n/a

Sources

Form Completed By

n/a

Date

2011

Bibliography

  1. State Register Nomination on file at office of SHPO, Hartford CT; also at New Canaan Preservation Alliance.
  2. Mead Park Brick Barn / Standard Oil Co. Barn. Recorded in Historic Barns of Connecticut.
  3. Mead Park Brick Barn blog. 2011.
Representative View(s)Click on image to view full file


Photographer

New Canaan Preservation Allian

Photography Date

2011