Old Town Hall Cornerstone Finds New Home at Historical Society

The Middlesex County Historical Society accepted a hefty donation last week to its collection of Middletown’s past — the 750-pound brownstone cornerstone from the city’s original Town Hall carved with the year 1893.

“The cornerstone has been over at the Magee Company in Middlefield for years,” says historical society executive director Deborah Shapiro. “They acquired a lot of the stone when the building was demolished,” she says, referring to the Romanesque-revival Town Hall, which was knocked down in 1961.

"The building was noted for its clock tower that towered 100 feet above the sidewalk and offered extensive views up and down the Connecticut River. The clock would strike 18 times at 6 a.m. and then again at 6 p.m. to signal the beginning and the end of the workday,” according to the state of Connecticut Judicial Branch.

“Douglas R. Magee Jr., president of the company, donated it to the historical society,” Shapiro explains. “See the hole in the middle? My belief is that’s where the time capsule would be.”

Peter Smith, who transported the cornerstone from Magee’s place Middlefield in his vintage military truck, explained the stone’s provenance.

“[Magee’s] father had a store on Main Street and he was thinking when they tore it down, he must have asked them for it.”

Shapiro recalls Middletown’s longtime beloved veterinarian who passed away in 1988.

“All of the brownstone on Dr. Bitgood’s old property on Silver Street was all salvaged out of the Town Hall,” she says.

“I hear Magee’s got the stone from Bitgood’s,” Smith said.

This cornerstone will join an outdoor collection at the historical society.
“We have the portal of Russell Manufacturing in the back,” Shapiro says. “We also have the piece over the portal of the WB Douglas Pump Co., the people who made well pumps in the 1830s [originally located at the corner of Broad and William streets].

“So we’re kind of adding to our sculpture area of bits of Middletown,” Shapiro says.

A stone seating area will eventually be placed atop the brownstone marker, allowing visitors to enjoy the historical society's lush herb garden.

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