Stops 19 and 20 on Main St.

Central Fire Station, Middletown (1899)

The Central Fire Station, later called the Main Street Fire House, at 533 Main Street in Middletown, was built in 1899 during the era of horse drawn fire coaches. There is a hosedrying tower on the building’s northwest corner. It has been continuously used by theMiddletown Fire Department ever since and its Renaissance Revival design has made it a notable landmark of the north section of Main Street.
Southmayd Building (1872) Neoclassical, Victorian Eclectic
The Southmayd Building, at 542-544 Main Street in Middletown, is an outstanding example of a nineteenth-century commercial block with a cast-iron facade. It was built by George M. Southmayd, who was in the undertaking business. His father John B. Southmayd had started the business at his home, which stood on the same site. In 1911 Ludwig Krenz bought the building (It is also known as the Southmayd-Krenz Building) and opened a bar and restaurant and it has been used for that purpose ever since under various owners.
542-544 Main Street:
Next door, at 548 Main Street, is the former J. Poliner & Sons Shoe Store, built in 1833. At 512-528 Main Street in Middletown is a two-story Colonial Revival commercial building with scrubbed terra cotta tiles on the facade. Built in 1925, the building displays the name “J. Poliner & Sons.” Jacob Poliner (d. 1933), an immigrant from Austria, first settled in Hartford and then moved to Middletown, where he established at shoe store at 548 Main Street (at the corner of Ferry Street). A leading member of Adath Israel synagogue, Poliner officiated as cantor in the congregation’s early days and was widely known for his knowledge of the Talmud. One of his five sons was Judge Isreal Poliner, who opened a law office in the Poliner Building in 1928. The original Poliner shoe store was located in a building at 548 Main Street, where it remained in business for decades (even after the construction of the new Poliner Building in 1925). Built around 1833, the building still stands today (see image below).
548 Main Street:
The store later moved to a larger building at 512-528 Main Street,
J. Poliner & Sons:



Information From The Greater Middletown Preservation Trust and Historic Buildings of Connecticut
Have a news tip? Email Bill Maune