The village of East Litchfield sits at the crossroads of the highways that connect Waterbury and Torrington; Hartford and Litchfield and the Naugatuck River that connects communities from Bridgeport to Winsted. East Litchfield, like Bantam, Milton and Northfield are parts of the town of Litchfield and have been since the town was settled in 1721.
Over 3,000 years ago Native Americans found East Litchfield to be a hunting ground rich with wild game. They used the outcroppings of soapstone to make various vessels for food and drink. The area was also rich with quartz that was used for arrowheads and centuries later sent to Massachusetts for sandpaper production.
When Europeans settled in the area it became a community of farmers and mill workers. Naugatuck Valley Railroad built a depot in 1849 and extended the train to Winsted. The mills along the Naugatuck River were able to load their freight and passengers could disembark at East Litchfield and get a stage coach to Litchfield center where they could take their summer retreats. Harwinton Fair attendees would take the train to and from East Litchfield where they would catch the shuttle to the Fair Grounds.
In 1849 the Naugatuck Valley Railroad extended their rails to Winsted, Connecticut. A depot was built in East Litchfield. Passengers could ride all the way to New York City without changing trains.
Along the sides the Naugatuck River in East Litchfield were many mills; the Paige and Dains Paper Mill and Baldwin's Saw Mill were two. Ice was harvested from the Naugatuck River and stored in an icehouse built by the railroad company.
After the establishment of the depot East Litchfield had a hotel and restaurant (Scovill House), a post office, blacksmith shop, harness shop, livery service to Litchfield center, Ferncliff Farm with a store and cheese factory, Mrs. Mark's variety store across from the depot, a chapel, one-room schoolhouse, icehouses, a baseball field, lumber mill, grist mill, cider mill and a paper factory.
This photograph from the late 1800s shows the village of East Litchfield with Harwinton in the background.
All of the above-mentioned business establishments disappeared after the depot closed; the chapel is still there and just a few of the original village homes.
The East Litchfield Chapel was built by local residents in 1868. It still stands today.Illustration of the East Litchfield village circa 1880. There are no known photos in existence showing the depot from this perspective. This illustration was created by East Litchfield resident and artist Jesse Richard by referencing several old photos of the area.
East Litchfield Chapel
The history of the Chapel begins in 1865, when the ladies of East Litchfield formed a Sunday school that met in the one-room 1790 schoolhouse.
Sarah and Dwight Kilbourn, newly wed in 1866, purchased property and moved to East Litchfield. Sarah, a deeply religious woman was instrumental in the management of the chapel from the time of its inception to her death in 1938. Dwight, a Civil War veteran, historian, clerk of the county court, member of the school board, station master for the East Litchfield depot and leading member of the committee that created the Connecticut 2nd Heavy Artillery monument, led the effort to save the John Brown House (burned in 1918) in Torrington, CT and purchased the building that housed the first law school in Connecticut.
By 1868, Hector Barber, a local citizen, had donated a small parcel of land (24 x 36 feet) next to his home and solicited money, materials and labor to build a Union Mission Chapel. The building would be plain, 24 x 36 feet in dimension and be built close to the street. The men of East Litchfield cut wood from their properties, had it milled locally, then set about to build themselves a chapel. The Ladies Sewing Society, that planned to meet in the new chapel, used their funds to decorate the interior. Seventeen years later (1885) an alcove and storage closets were added to the south wall. The ladies of East Litchfield put on oyster suppers to help pay for the improvement.
Funeral services for Dwight C. Kilbourn were held at both the East Litchfield Chapel and the Litchfield Congregational Church in 1914. The Torrington Register proclaimed him to be the “Best Known Man in Litchfield County.” Mr. and Mrs. Kilbourn were prominent in Litchfield, East Litchfield and the chapel.
The fifty-seventh annual reunion of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery; originally the 19th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry of the Civil War was hosted by Sarah Kilbourn (widow of Dwight Kilbourn) in 1922. The various events were held at the East Litchfield Chapel and the Kilbourn Home (next door.) The East Litchfield community prepared and served dinner to the veterans and their families; and provided entertainment in the form of patriotic songs—all in the chapel. A newspaper reporter from the Torrington Register attended and wrote an article recording the day's events, noting the generous help of the local citizens. By the mid 1920s the congregation of the East Litchfield Chapel included ninety percent of the community. In addition to religious functions, the chapel was a community gathering place. It was decided that the most economical way to gain space for preparing and serving meals would be to add an addition in the form of a walk-out basement with a wood-burning cook stove and a dry sink. Water would be brought in from nearby homes.
In 1930, the adjacent landowners each donated a small portion of their land so that the basement could be dug out and walls erected behind the original building. All the work was to be done by members of the community. They created a new foundation and basement directly behind the chapel, rolled the building south and placed it on the concrete brick foundation, added an 8 x 28 foot vestibule to the front with stairs on the east side to access the basement. Three stained glass windows were placed on the front/north, one on the west side and two on the south side. The actual work started and ended in 1933. They were still raising money to pay for it in 1935.
Evelyn Goodwin who was the Litchfield Town Clerk for over 60 years, remembered that the chapel was not for any particular denomination. “They would have the Trinity minister one week and the next the Congregational and the next week it might be the Methodist, but they used to have Sunday school, church services and Christian Endeavor meetings. When I was a little girl Mrs. Kilbourn was principal of the Sunday school and my grandmother Naser was a Sunday school teacher. We used to go with her on Sunday afternoons; she would hitch up her horse and wagon and we'd drive down and go to Sunday school.”
When the East Litchfield community organized a volunteer fire company in the 1940s, meeting were held in the chapel while the fire truck was kept in a privately owned barn across the street. But when the firehouse was built (by members of the community on donated land) it became the community center with all the space and utilities that the chapel lacked.
As new families moved into the area they maintained their relationships with churches from their former homes. With dwindling membership, the East Litchfield Mission Society offered the chapel as an incubator or starter home for a number of religious groups; as it continues to serve today. The current congregation, The Faith Bible Church, has been generous in sharing the building for occasional events. Just this May, Donald Iffland presented a program on the history of the chapel with 50 people in attendance. On August 18 two lifelong residents of East Litchfield, Janet and Richard Healy, renewed their wedding vows in the chapel with a full-house to help them celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.
1900. There was a grist mill and a cider mill on Spruce Brook. In this image the bridge is on East Litchfield Road.
Notable residents
Town of Litchfield artist Austin Purves was a long time resident of East Litchfield.
Transportation
The Naugatuck Railroad ran from Bridgeport to Winsted and in 1849 established a depot in East Litchfield .
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