697 Longmeadow Street (#27 The
Storrs House -1786)
In 1786 the house was built by the Reverend Richard
Salter Storrs, second minister of First Congregational Church. He married
Sarah Williams, granddaughter of the Rev. Stephen Williams. In 1803 Sarah
established the Female Association, one of the oldest women's charitable
organizations in the nation. In the 1860's Lucy Barber Storrs ran a small
private school for girls out of the house. Three generations of the Storrs
family lived in the house and the last members, Richard Salter Storrs, III
and his sister Sarah Storrs, left the property in 1907 for a library. It
was stipulated in the will that the house be moved to the site just south
of the Library and that the Library be built where the house originally
stood. In doing this, the back ell, containing the kitchen and a bedroom,
came off the house. These were never replaced. The front door of this
house is a classic example of a "Connecticut Valley Doorway" which is
actually double doors which divide vertically down the middle. The Storrs
House is home to the Longmeadow Historical Society and houses a fine
collection of period items. It is open to the public at specified times
and by appointment.
