Litchfield COUNTY · Places & community
Cornwall: meetinghouse, school and home
Five photographs preserve a meetinghouse interior, the Adelphi Institute and a locally distinctive porch roof in Cornwall and North Cornwall.
Historical focus · 1739–1940, with later survey context
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The story in photographs
Sept 13, 1940
Exterior, general view from the south
Exterior, general view from the south. Sept 13, 1940.
Image credit & source
Stanley P. Mixon / Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on photographs made by the U.S. Government. This selection excludes identified third-party photocopies.
Original source · Reuse termsSept 13, 1940
Interior, looking toward pulpit from rear of auditorium
Interior, looking toward pulpit from rear of auditorium. Sept 13, 1940.
Image credit & source
Stanley P. Mixon / Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on photographs made by the U.S. Government. This selection excludes identified third-party photocopies.
Original source · Reuse termsSept 13, 1940
Interior, detail of pulpit and choir screen
Interior, detail of pulpit and choir screen. Sept 13, 1940.
Image credit & source
Stanley P. Mixon / Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on photographs made by the U.S. Government. This selection excludes identified third-party photocopies.
Original source · Reuse termsSept. 15, 1940
General view from south west
General view from south west. Sept. 15, 1940.
Image credit & source
Stanley P. Mixon / Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on photographs made by the U.S. Government. This selection excludes identified third-party photocopies.
Original source · Reuse termsSept. 15, 1940
Exterior, detail of ell porch roof, showing local type of extension gable
Exterior, detail of ell porch roof, showing local type of extension gable. Sept. 15, 1940.
Image credit & source
Stanley P. Mixon / Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on photographs made by the U.S. Government. This selection excludes identified third-party photocopies.
Original source · Reuse termsTHE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS
People, places, and change.
A town of several centers
Cornwall developed through scattered villages rather than a single early residential center around a green. The Historical Society describes settlement shaped by productive soils and waterpower, eventually known as the seven Cornwalls. This helps explain why an archive of the town must follow several places. The photographs here move between Cornwall and North Cornwall; they should not be read as buildings standing together on one street. [4]
Inside the meetinghouse
On September 13, 1940, Stanley P. Mixon photographed the Congregational Church in Cornwall. The catalog dates the building to about 1845. His three views move from the exterior to the auditorium and then the pulpit and choir screen. The sequence preserves the organization of worship space as well as the outward shape of the church. Interior photographs make it possible to compare the room’s focus and arrangement with the meetinghouses in other county collections. [1]
A school and a roof detail
Two days later, Mixon recorded the Adelphi Institute and the building identified as the Long House in North Cornwall. The school receives a general view. The house is represented by a close study of its ell porch roof; the original caption specifically calls attention to a local form of extended gable. These very different choices show the survey’s range, from an institution’s overall form to a particular construction detail. [2] [3]
Carry the investigation forward
The Cornwall Historical Society hosts a later architectural inventory researched in 1999–2000, arranged by street and indexed by site. It provides a route from these federal photographs to additional ownership and architectural information where known. Its town tours also describe the mills, rail connections and changing commercial centers that lie outside this small photographic group. Read those records alongside the images rather than asking a single facade to stand for all of Cornwall’s history. [5] [4]
Sources & further reading (5)
- Library of Congress: Congregational Church, Cornwall, Litchfield County, CT
- Library of Congress: Adelphi Institute, North Cornwall, Litchfield County, CT
- Library of Congress: "Long House", North Cornwall, Litchfield County, CT
- Cornwall Historical Society: the seven Cornwalls and village tours
- Cornwall Historical Society: Historic and Architectural Resource Survey
Keep the sources close.
Download this collection’s notes, timeline and image credits. Photographs link to their original archives and require an internet connection.
Building dates and photograph dates are recorded separately. Later photographs are identified in their captions; unknown exposure dates remain unknown. Follow each image’s credit and reuse terms.