Cyrus H. Beardsley House
(c.1825–Present)

Welcome back, Monroe history lovers. This week’s historical spotlight takes us to the east side of the Monroe Center Green. The address is 754 Monroe Turnpike, and our first supporting image shows you the precise location. You surely know the house and have likely admired it, as I often do at a passing glance while driving. Be careful. It’s a short but challenging section of road, with several intersections and daring drivers to navigate. Your best bet is to park your car and spend some leisure time on the center green. Then, you can safely admire all the surrounding architecture that defines Monroe Center. Let’s head over for a closer look and learn some of the history behind this house.

This handsome brick house facing the Monroe Center Green was built c.1825 and is one of only a few surviving 19th century brick houses in our town. Do you know where the others are located? This three-quarter house dates to the late Federal architectural period; its naming is derived from it being three-quarters the width of a full-sized colonial house. Note the pediment entry to the house is off-center. The house was built for Hall Beardsley by Austin Lum, a noted area brick mason. Hall Beardsley deeded the house to his son, the Honorable Cyrus H. Beardsley, a Yale-educated lawyer, Fairfield County judge, and a state representative from Monroe to the Connecticut State Legislature for seven years. At the local level, like his father before him, Cyrus served as Monroe’s postmaster.

The house has nine fireplaces, and large ovens are built into the basement chimney where baking was done for Gray’s Academy, a private boys’ school operated by Dr. Robert Gray. The boys’ school was conducted in the house until 1865, when the women of St. Peter’s Church raised enough funds to purchase it for use as their church’s parsonage, a role it served for nearly ninety years. In the early 20th century, Mrs. Bessie Habersham, the wife of Reverend Henry Habersham, created a small public library in the front room of the house. The house was later sold to an antiques dealer, and was eventually sold to St. Jude’s Roman Catholic Church for use as their rectory and a coffee house, a convenient place for Monroe’s teenagers to gather and socialize. Today, the house is a privately owned residence.

Our second supporting image is a Fred Sherman photograph taken c.1900, when the house was inhabited by the family of Reverend Alfred Goldsborough, the rector of Saint Peter’s Church. The young lady seen in the photo is believed to be the reverend’s only daughter, Anna. Note the arched latticework framing the front entry and ornately trimmed veranda on the south-facing gable end of the house. Two popular period touches from the Victorian era. Seen in the foreground of the photo is the simple but functional fence that once enclosed the entire Monroe Center Green. The remaining images show the row of three houses along the eastern side of the center green and more contemporary views of the house and property.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s historical spotlight on the Cyrus H. Beardsley house at the Monroe Center Green. She’s a gem alright, with her four towering brick chimneys on show for all to admire. Please share this post with your family and friends, and thank you for your continued support and interest in Monroe’s rich history. Until next time, make the time to savor the views around the Monroe Center Green. My favorite viewing spot is right in front of the town hall looking eastward on a pleasant spring or summer evening with the two churches illuminated. Heavenly.  

Regards,

Kevin Daly
Historian, Monroe Historical Society
www.monroecthistory.org
Our Past is Always Present