86 Forest Rd, Mansfield, CT
In the early 1900's this house had sixteen rooms, eight up and eight down with several fireplaces. There was a cellar under the whole house, which was partitioned off into rooms for storage. The big beams in the attic were put together with wooden pegs. The fireplace in the kitchen had a Dutch oven. The walls were brick plastered and Mr. Hallock recalls that in real cold weather the frost showed on the inside walls. He also recalls the good spring "in the pasture below the elm tree." The building near the barn - across the road from the house - was at that time a fully equipped slaughter house. (It has since been made into apartments). Mr. Hallock, who is a son of Bert C. & Mary I. Hallock also recalls the good apple and peach orchards. His parents made the first Hallock's icecream while they Were living here.
At the present time, on the barn across the road from the house is a sign reading: "Guilford Park, named from Guilford, England, near London. The north boundary is known as Tolland Turnpike, route of General George Washington and his staff in the gear 1789. "In the nearby Village of Merrow was established in the year 1838, by Joseph Makkens of Merrow, the first knitting mill in the United States, and gunpowder was made under U. S. Patent signed by James Monroe, President and John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the United State."
The present ower, Paul Gurley Merrow, son of George and Elizabeth (Gurley) Merrow was born at the Crystal Spring Farm, now owned by Helen Merrow, widow of John G. G. Merrow. The Merrow family has been in Mansfield since 1835.
In talking with Mr. Merrow, he emphasized that the first knitting mill referred to a ones was the first to be established as a knitting mill.
The front porch on the house was added in 1941 or thereabouts, and came from the Clement Scott house in Hartford. New floors have been laid over the ones of wide oak boards. The inside chimney With fireplaces back to back between the rooms, has been removed and there is a small fireplace in the east end of the house. The casings are still the older ones, however. The S-shaped blind fasteners of metal were made by Robert Baxter's father. In the bedroom is a Window with small diamond-shaped panes that Mr. Merrow had brought from a chapel in Wales.
Part of the house has now been converted to apartments and a newer brick apartment house built on the west side of the main house, as well as the apartments in the former slaughter house across the road.
In 1963 a Society survey was made. This includes the architectural details of the survey form, the "other information of interest" quoted above, and an abbreviated title search.
Around 1978 a survey was made, resulting in 322 sheets of information on individual houses.
No sheet has been found for this house.
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| 86 Forest Rd 1927 | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 1927 Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze |
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| 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 1927 Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze | 86 Forest Rd 193- Courtesy of S. Goldberg & S. Henze |
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| 86 Forest Rd 1963 | 86 Forest Rd 1963 | 86 Forest Rd 1963 | 86 Forest Rd 1963 | 86 Forest Rd 1934; Aerial survey of Connecticut 1934 photograph 10170; Courtesy Conn. State Library |
In 1869 an atlas of Tolland County was published by O. W. Gray. It includes a map of Mansfield. The Committee used this map as the basis of its work for many years.
The Society has notated this house # 9 in District VI as occupied by H. Starkweather.Variant Names
Starkweather House, Merrow Farm
Reminiscences
This file was created: 07 Dec 2009 by Patrick McGlamery
This file was updated: 20 Jan 2010 by George Waller
