Colonial Walking Tours   East Windsor Hill Post Office (Built in 1757-1770) Postal Service began here in 1673. Students are invited to step back in time as they discuss & experience what life was like for early settlers and Podunk indian tribes in the Windsor region. Walking tours go past historic colonial homes, the ancestrial burial grounds of Ulyssey S. Grant and the Bissell Ferry Tavern along the Pony Express route used between New York and Boston.

Built in 1851 by Commodore Charles Green . Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. The preliminary design(a watercolor) is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Note the elaborate chimney and diamond pane windows.

Built in 1779 by Aaron Chapin. Aaron was a second cousin to Eliphalet Chapin who lived north of this house. The cousins, both cabinet-makers worked together between 1774 and 1783 with Aaron serving as an apprentice in Eliphalet's shop. The work of both men is highly regarded although Eliphalet's work is greatly sought after by collectors and museums.

Built in 1694 by Samuel Porter.
This house was originally a saltbox. The back was raised at a later
point in time.

Built in 1757 by Ebenezer Grant . Grant was a merchant largely interested in the West Indies trade in addition to serving as a clerk for the church, town surveyor, selectman, constable, grand juror and deputy sheriff. He exported tobacco, pelts, pork, beef, tallow, cider and horses.
Note:
The broken pediment doorway that is featured in many arcitectural publications.

Ellsworth High School now serving as the South Windsor Board of Education. Built in 1934 using stones and building materials from the Hartford Theological Institute. The school is named for Erastus Ellsworth who is largely responsible for the placing the Techological Instituted in South (East)Windsor. The portico of the school is from the chapel building of the Seminary. The cornerstone is from the home of Reverend Timothy Edwards. William Wood, benefactor of the Wood Memorial Library, donated the land and materials from the Seminary for the project.

 

Built in 1788 by John Watson architect and builder Thomas Hayden
(1745-1817). It is the earliest three-story mansion standing in the Connecticut River Valley today and probably one of the first to be built. The Palladian Style had been recently introduced in the area by William Sprats and was used extensively in this house design. John Watson (1744-1824) was a Yale graduate who was a leading merchant in East Windsor Hill (South Windsor). "At the time of his death in 1824, Watson's estate was valued at nearly $50,000, making him one of the wealthiest men in the Connecticut Valley".
(Wadsworth Atheneum The Great River)