A History of the Miller & Peck Buildings

Two of the oldest buildings in downtown Waterbury are about to be demolished. Previous owners allowed the buildings to decay so badly that they can't be saved and are no longer safe to enter. The buildings have long been called Miller & Peck, since they were home to the Miller & Peck store for decades. I was recently asked about the history of the buildings and found far more than I expected.

The Miller & Peck buildings in 2023: north on the left, south on the right

 

The Miller & Peck buildings stand side-by-side on South Main Street. The building to the north (on the left when facing them) is white, with ornate Greek Revival columns flanking two-story windows. The building to the south (on the right when facing them) is blue and resembles a typical New England Greek Revival house, only bigger, with three floors under the pediment. (For ease of reference, I will call them "north" and "south" in the rest of this article.)

Both buildings were constructed out of wood almost two hundred years ago, with several additions built behind them over the course of a century. The National Historic Register nomination form for the Downtown Historic District lists the two buildings as having been constructed sometime around 1830.

I've spent the past few weeks poring through the Waterbury Land Records and various other sources tracing the history of the two buildings. A precise date of construction for either building has proven to be elusive, but what I have found is fascinating. There is undoubtedly more to find: this is merely a starting point.

My research here is focused on the history of the buildings. The history of Miller & Peck as a business is a story for another day.

 

Background

Waterbury was primarily a farming community during the 1700s. Small manufacturing operations began transforming the town during the early 1800s. By the 1830s, the town's population was growing slowly, from 3,070 in 1830 to 3,668 in 1840. The population grew faster after the 1830s thanks to the growth of the brass industry, reaching 5,137 people in 1850 and 10,004 in 1860.

By the 1820s, Waterbury's commercial center was downtown on South Main and Bank Streets, although they weren't yet called that. Waterbury's streets didn't have official names until the 1850s. Directions were given based on landmarks such as the Meeting House and Post Office. Downtown Waterbury was known as the village of the First Society.

Waterbury was connected to the outside world through the postal service and through a stage line that started in 1810. Livery stables rented out horses and carriages as an alternative to the stage line. Turnpike roads, connecting towns throughout Connecticut, were developed and maintained by private companies that charged a toll for their use.

The Waterbury River Turnpike road ran along South Main Street, part of a route that went through Naugatuck, Waterbury, Thomaston, and further north to Massachusetts. Stage coaches stopped in Waterbury at Exchange Place, which gained its name during the 1840s because travelers could exchange from one stage line to another at that location.

 

Ephraim Warner's Estate

The Miller & Peck buildings are located on a triangular block lying between East Main Street, South Main Street, and Brook Street. In 1820, that block was part of a single property which extended a little further east, past Brook Street. Back then, Brook Street didn't exist and instead the actual brook, called Little Brook, ran through the property. 

The property was owned by Ephraim Warner (1738-1808), whose dwelling house stood on the east end of the property, about where the Palace Theater is today. Warner's property included a barn, a cow house, and a small orchard. The total size of the property was about three acres. After Warner's death in 1808, the property remained intact for more than a decade while the probate court settled his estate. (The probate records describing Warner's property are available on ancestry.com)

At the corner of East Main Street and South Main Street, Warner owned a building that was used as a store. His niece's husband, Richard Fenton Welton, operated the store from about 1803 until about 1810.  In 1821, after Warner's estate was settled, his great-nephew Ephraim Warner Welton and Welton's cousin, Horace Porter, purchased the corner store and a portion of the land from Little Brook to South Main Street, more or less the triangular block that exists now. (Waterbury Land Records Volume 37, page 185)

 

Horace Porter

Horace Porter (1790-1873) eventually acquired his cousin's share of the property. During the 1820s, Porter slowly developed the block as business opportunities arose. Porter sold a portion of the block to Israel Coe, who built a blacksmith's shop on it. Further subdivisions of the property were made and sold to entrepreneurs who opened new businesses there. (Waterbury Land Records, Volume 37, pages 303-304, 673; Volume 38, page 163; Volume 39, page 446)

Sometime around 1830, Horace Porter built a new hotel, the Tontine, at the corner of East Main and South Main Streets. The location became known as "Tontine Corner." His brother Timothy Porter, who later operated a station on the Underground Railroad out of his home, helped finance the venture (the details of their arrangement are hinted at in the city's land records which suggest that Timothy owned the hotel). Stables for the hotel stood to the south of the building. The full property included the hotel, stables, and other small buildings. (Anderson, Volume 2, page 224)

In 1839, Horace Porter mortgaged the Tontine, borrowing $2,000 from the State of Connecticut through bonding. During the 1840s, the Tontine was renamed Franklin House. The building remained standing, used for a wide variety of businesses, until 1930, when it was replaced by the Brown Building. (Waterbury Land Records, Volume 47, pages 66-67)

The Tontine was built out of wood in a style that is similar to the south Miller & Peck building. It appears in numerous postcards and other images of Exchange Place during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

 

Postcard view of Exchange Place in 1905 with the former Tontine/Franklin House Hotel on the left.
Collection of Silas Bronson Library

 

Detail of a photograph by Frederick A. Stone of Exchange Place, circa 1898, showing the Tontine when it was Lake, Strobel & Co., a jewelry store founded in 1888. Collection of Mattatuck Museum

 

Origins of the Miller & Peck Buildings

The ownership history of the Miller & Peck buildings has been harder to figure out. Although South Main Street is easily identified as the Waterbury River Turnpike road during the 1830s and 1840s, there were no street numbers. The location of each parcel of land is identified by boundaries and distance from landmarks. I might eventually be able to sort out a precise history of land ownership for the block, but it would take a very long time. Here is an example from 1830 showing how the properties are described during this time period:

Israel Coe [sells to] Philo Brown and unto his heirs & assigns forever a certain piece of Land with a Black Smith standing thereon situated in the East side of the Turnpike Road about twenty rods South from the Meeting House in said Waterbury 1st Society. Containing four rods of Land, more or less, Beginning at the Southwest corner which bears from the Northeast corner of Joseph Burtons House North 332 Degrees West distance fourteen Rods & six links thence South on the Turnpike two Rods & Eleven links, thence Eastward one Rod & Eleven links thence North three Rods sixteen links, thence Westward one Rod & six links to the first Corner ~ Bounded North & East by Joseph & Daniel Porters land, South by Horace Porters land West by Turnpike road (Waterbury Land Records Volume 41, page 30)

 

There were several entrepreneurs active in the development of the block during the 1830s. One possibility for the south building is that it was constructed for Elias Beebe and George Warner, who owned much of the block both jointly and individually. Beebe and Warner were involved in real estate development and small business development, steadily increasing their wealth and prominence during the 1830s and 1840s.

 

Early Images of the Buildings

The earliest known depictions of the Miller & Peck building date from the early 1850s. 

The 1852 map of Waterbury includes a drawing of a newly built hotel with the future Miller & Peck buildings visible next to the hotel.

Detail from the 1852 Map of Waterbury showing the Brown Hotel on the left and the future Miller & Peck buildings on the right.

The map itself shows the footprints of the two buildings as they were in 1852. You can also see that Brook Street has been laid out by this time.

Detail, Map of the Town of Waterbury, 1852. Collection of Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library

 

There is also a photograph from the early 1850s from showing the buildings. The image was reproduced in the Mattatuck Museum's book, Waterbury, 1674-1974: A Pictorial History.

The ornate Brown's Hotel is in the front center of the image, with the future Miller & Peck buildings next to it to the right. Illustrated in Waterbury, 1674-1974: A Pictorial History.

Sherman B. Chipman

By the late 1830s, the north building was owned by Sherman B. Chipman (1806-1860), who may have purchased it from Horace Porter or had it built after purchasing the land from Porter. The Greek columns on the front of the building held up a projecting pediment with an open balcony on the second floor.

Chipman was a merchant, operating grocery store in the building. He also sold patent medicines of dubious quality.

Chipman was a practitioner of the Thomsonian Botanic System, following Samuel Thompson's recommendations for alternative medicines using roots, herbs, and other ingredients. During the 1830s, Chipman advocated for the repeal of existing state medical licensing laws and the establishment of a State Botanic Medical Society. He was an active member of the Thomsonian Friendly Medical Society of the United States during the 1830s.

Litchfield Enquirer, 11 February 1836, p. 4

Waterbury American, 16 January 1847, p. 4

The next owners of the building were William & Augustus Brown, who built the elegant hotel next to it in 1849.

William & Augustus Brown

William Brown (1804-1881) and his brother Augustus Brown (1811-1870) went into business as merchants starting around 1830, when they spent two years in South Carolina. They returned to Waterbury around 1832, opening a mercantile business at the corner of West Main Street and Exchange Place.

William Brown, illustrated in Anderson, The Town & City of Waterbury, Volume 2

There were two other Brown brothers who were all prominent in Waterbury. In 1851, all four brothers (Philo, William, Augustus, and James) established the Brown & Brothers manufacturing company.

William & Augustus Brown acquired the Franklin House (former Tontine) in 1848. They announced the opening of their new store, in Chipman's former building, in 1849.

Waterbury American, 27 April 1849, p. 3

In 1860, they sold the building to James E. Ells.

 

James E. Ells

James E. Ells (1830-1917) operated a grocery store in the Hotchkiss Block, a large office building constructed during the 1850s at the corner of North Main and East Main Streets (where the Plaza on the Green building is now). Ells, originally from Norwalk, was involved in several real estate ventures in Waterbury. In 1862, for example, he built three Italianate rental homes on North Main Street, just south of Cooke Street. ("New Buildings," Waterbury American, 25 July 1862, p. 2)

The day after purchasing the future Miller & Peck building from the Browns, James Ells advertised the second floor of the building for rent as an office or as an apartment for "one or two single gentlemen." 

Waterbury American, 10 February 1860, p. 2

 

The ground floor of the building was rented out to F.D. Conant & Co. who operated the "Ladies' Exchange" dry goods store. The company was renamed Conant, Hayden & Co. later in 1860, then renamed Conant & Hayden in 1861.

 

Waterbury American, 23 March 1860, p. 2

 

Perhaps to help finance the construction of his rental properties on North Main Street, Ells took out two mortgages on his South Main Street building in 1862. One year later, when Ells was unable to keep up with his debts, the building was acquired by Miller & Peck, who received the building in exchange for paying off the mortgages. (Waterbury Land Records, Volume 68, page 468-469; Volume 71, page 380-382; Volume 72, page 286; Volume 73, pages 69-70)

In 1863, Conant & Hayden went out of business, and Miller & Peck moved in to their new home. In their final days in business, Conant & Hayden advertised space for rent in the building, stating there were two rooms available on the second floor, and a hall on the third floor. (Waterbury American, 13 March 1863, p. 2)

 

Waterbury American, 24 April 1863, p. 3

Waterbury American, 11 December 1863, p. 2

Waterbury American, 22 December 1865, p. 3

Chloe Clarissa Welton's Building

In 1846, while the north building was still owned by Sherman B. Chipman, the south building was purchased by Chloe Clarissa Welton, wife of Merrit W. Welton. She would continue to own the building until her death in 1893, at which point the building was inherited by her daughter, Henrietta W. Daniels. Known as Mrs. C. C. Welton, she was a savvy business owner.

Born in 1816 to Elias and Hannah Pritchard, C. C. grew up in the Bucks Hill neighborhood, which was entirely farmland during that era. She married Merrit W. Welton in 1833; her husband grew up in Watertown, the son of Ezekiel and Hannah Welton.

Side Note: there was another Merrit Welton in Waterbury at this time who is easily confused with Merrit W. Welton. That Merrit Welton (no middle initial) grew up in Bucks Hill, the son of Richard and Sarah Welton.

C. C. Welton owned a millinery (women's hats) and dress making store in downtown Waterbury. The earliest record of her business that I have found is an 1844 advertisement in the Waterbury American.

Waterbury American, 21 December 1844, p. 3

Hats were a big deal during the 1840s. Women with any concern for their appearance always wore hats when they went out, and the adornment of hats with ribbons and other decorations was very popular. Welton made regular trips to New York City to view the latest fashions and bring them back to her customers in Waterbury.

Waterbury American, 20 September 1845, p. 3

Welton's shop moved a few times before she finally purchased her own building. In 1844, her shop was on Bank Street, not far from the Mansion House hotel (her advertisement says she is in the building a few rods south of the Mansion House -- one rod equals about 16 feet). In 1845, she was located on the west side of South Main Street, two doors down from the Post Office, which at this time was located just past the current Apothecaries' Hall building. (Anderson's, vol. 2, p. 169)

Welton purchased her own building from George Warner in January 1846. The property was described as a quarter acre of land, more or less, with a dwelling house standing thereon. Warner retained possession of the house until April 1, 1846. On April 10, Welton proudly announced to her customers that she had moved to her new location. Both her home and her business were in the building.

Waterbury American, 25 April 1846, p. 3

The size of the building at this point isn't clear. The term "dwelling house" suggests something residential, not a three-story commercial building, but "house" is the term used for hotels. 

Only a few months later, Welton's world fell apart. Her husband was bankrupt and court proceedings were begun to seize his assets and pay his creditors. State laws, enacted in 1845 and 1846, prevented a woman's real estate and wages from being taken to pay her husband's debts, but they didn't protect other assets. The contents of C.C. Welton's millinery shop were sold at auction to pay off Merit W. Welton's debts.

 

Waterbury American, 18 July 1846, p. 3

As the turmoil of her husband's legal case played out, C.C. Welton ran an advertisement assuring her customers that she was still in business.

Waterbury American, 29 August 1846

 

The auction of Welton's inventory was held at her shop and was handled by George Warner, from whom she had bought the building. Warner had been appointed trustee of Merrit W. Welton's estate during the insolvency proceedings (Waterbury Probate Records, Volume 11, pages 247-252, 338).

Waterbury American, 12 September 1846, p. 3

Wiped out by Merrit's debts, C.C. and Merrit mortgaged C.C.'s real estate on October 17, 1846. C.C. used the money to restock her store, bringing in the best fancy goods from New York City and selling them at a discount to help her business recover from her husband's debts.  (Waterbury Land Records, volume 52, p. 132)

Waterbury American, 24 October 1846, p. 3

A year later, in 1847, Welton expanded her business, hiring four milliners and two dressmakers.

Waterbury American, 2 October 1847, p. 3

In 1848, she relocated her business from the second floor to the ground floor of the building while she renovated the second floor shop. Once the renovation was complete, she moved her shop back to the second floor and rented out the first floor. I haven't found any records of businesses on the third floor: this presumably was where the Weltons lived. Their daughter Henrietta, born in 1838, was eight years old when C.C. purchased the building.

Waterbury American, 7 July 1848, p. 3

Waterbury American, 25 March 1849, p. 3

In 1849, C.C. Welton purchased the lot behind her building from S.B. Chipman. She mortgaged the property to Chipman a year later when her husband's financial troubles were again causing trouble for her. (Waterbury Land Records Volume 52, pages 416, 422, 513, 534, 535)

In 1850, Merrit W. Welton was in San Francisco hoping to get rich in the gold rush. He instructed his attorney in Waterbury to sell of all of his property, both real estate and personal estate (with C.C.'s permission). In May, Merrit sold his wife's building, where she lived, to Samuel Atwater. (Waterbury Land Records Volume 57, pages 20, 21)

Fortunately for C.C., she was able to strike a deal with Samuel Atwater, regaining ownership of her property in 1852. She briefly considered leaving Waterbury in 1851, perhaps to relocate to San Francisco with Merrit, but instead remained in Waterbury. Merrit returned for a while in 1852, but disappears from the historical records soon after. By 1853, C.C. is the sole owner of the building, without any reference to her husband in the records. (Waterbury Land Records Volume 55, pages 128, 249; Volume 57, pages 500-501; "Planned Removal," Waterbury American, 25 July 1851, p. 3)

 

Waterbury American, 16 June 1854, p. 3

C.C. and Merrit possibly were divorced at some point during the 1850s. Or perhaps Merrit died: I have not yet found any record of his death. Either way, by 1858 C.C. was free to remarry and she married Samuel Atwater, the same man who had purchased her building and sold it back to her earlier in the 1850s. She announced both her name change and the name change for her business in a series of advertisements posted over the course of many months.

Waterbury American, 11 March 1859, p. 2

C.C. Atwater settled into a quieter life with her new husband. She ran her business and leased out the extra space in her building with steady success for decades.

Waterbury American, 29 March 1861, p. 3

Tenants over the years included Lester M. Newton, who operated a bakery, confectionery and fruit store; Benjamin Gitski, who operated a clothing store; Simon Mayer of Hartford, who opened a jewelry store in C.C.'s building; Solomon Rich of NYC, who leased part of C.C.'s building for a clothing store; Lewis Rothschild, who ran a dry goods and fancy store; William H. Coer and his son James, who owned a tobacco store; and countless others.

C.C. Atwater shuttered her business for several years during the late 1870s due to ill health. When she recovered, she went back to work, unable to sit idly at home. She and her husband continued to live in C.C.'s building until their deaths in the early 1890s. The street number changed several times over the years as Waterbury grew.

Waterbury American, 30 May 1876, p. 2

Advertisement in the 1886 City Directory

"Mortality Record," Waterbury Democrat, 1 April 1893, p. 5

 

The building was inherited by C.C.'s daughter Henrietta, now the wife of David Daniels. Henrietta Daniels leased the building for over a decade. In 1901, Miller & Peck, looking to expand, leased the building from Daniels for five years. In 1906, they renewed the lease for another five years. Later in 1906, Henrietta and David, now in the seventies, were ready to retire to Colorado, where one of their children lived. They sold the building to Miller & Peck for one dollar and "other considerations." (Waterbury Lease Records, Volume 4, page 59; Volume 5, pages 112-113; Waterbury Land Records Volume 229, page 459)

 

Hopkins's 1879 Atlas of Waterbury, Plate D, showing the Miller & Peck buildings. Atlas at Silas Bronson Library

 

Sanborn Atlas of Waterbury, 1890, page 15. Collection of Library of Congress.

 

 

Miller & Peck

Now the owner of both buildings, Miller & Peck eventually modified the fronts of the buildings to make it clear they were a single business. Over the course of several decades during the 20th century, they built additions on the backs of both buildings. Instead of a single, cohesive structure, they built a warren of interlocking structures. Throughout much of the 20th century, Miller & Peck was a beloved local department store. That history deserves its own book, filled with memories of people who worked there and shopped there. Since I am unable to produce that, here are a few images to help inspire the sharing of those memories.

The Waterbury Democrat, 5 April 1939, p. 20

 

The Waterbury Democrat, 21 March 1940, p. 22

 

Miller & Peck in the 1920s, visible behind the trolley car. Illustrated in Connecticut Motor Coach Museum, Waterbury Trolleys (Arcadia Publishing, 2005) p. 39.

Sanborn Atlas of Waterbury, Volume 1, 1921. Collection of Library of Congress

By 1983, Miller & Peck was gone and the buildings had narrowly escaped demolition during Urban Renewal, when the City planned to demolish most of downtown before grassroots activists stopped that plan. The City of Waterbury sold the buildings to Buselli Associates for $5,000 with the agreement that the buildings would be restored and put back into use. The restoration was completed a year later. ("Two Historic Waterbury buildings serve as symbols of renewal, broken promises, urban decay," Republican-American, 11 August 2019)

The Miller & Peck buildings in February 1983, photographed for the Downtown Waterbury Historic District National Historic Register Nomination Form

The Miller & Peck buildings after restoration in 1984. Image from the Republican-American archives.

 

Belfonti Associates of Hamden (Michael Belfonti and Tom Gessler) purchased the former Miller & Peck buildings in 2007 and left them to rot. The same thing has been happening to the other property Gessler acquired a few years before that, the historic Kendrick House on the Green.

Earlier this year, Belfonti Associates sold the former Miller & Peck buildings to a real estate investor, Joseph Iannelli. Although Iannelli respects the historic value of the buildings, they are too far gone to save. They will be demolished soon.

I've spoken to people who have been inside over the years. They tell me that the smell of mold and rotting wood is overwhelming. Last week I took a photo of the buildings from the nearby parking garage. You can clearly see that the roofs of the original buildings are collapsing. With the amount of water that has come in through the open roofs, the floors below are presumably close to collapsing as well.

The rooftop view of the buildings, October 2024

The new owner will be demolishing all of the structures attached to the historic buildings, replacing them with a five-story mixed use structure. He has expressed an interest in honoring the history of the buildings when he constructs the new building. 

The area encompassed by the Miller & Peck complex goes all the way to Brook Street. The proposed new building has the potential to revitalize both streets, South Main and Brook.

View of the Miller & Peck buildings from the Palace Theater garage, with other buildings faded out for clarity, October 2024.