Derby

Osborne Homestead Museum
500 Hawthorne Avenue, Derby

The Osborne Homestead Museum consists of the home and grounds of the former Frances Osborne Kellogg Estate. The house was constructed in the mid 19th century and remodeled to the Colonial Revival style in the 1920s.

Visitors learn about Frances Osborne Kellogg, a business woman, conservationist and proponent for equal professional opportunities for women, and about life in the early 20th century. The house contains the original contents of the estate.

This museum is adjacent to Osbornedale State Park and the Kellogg Environmental Center, so visits to the house can be combined with a hike and picnic at the park and a visit to the environmental center.

Sterling Opera House
4th St and Elizabeth St, Derby

This is an Italianate Victorian theater with remarkable acoustics that can seat 1250 people. It was built in 1889 by the architect H. E. Ficken who worked on Carnegie Hall.

It is important not only as a beautiful example of Victorian architecture, but as a former cultural center that hosted many artists and celebrities including John Drew, Harry Houdini, Lionel Barrymore, Grace George, and Amelia Earhart.

The building has been disused since 1965. In 2011, the building was featured in an episode of the television show "Ghost Hunters”. Historic restoration is currently underway.

Kraus Corset Factory
Roosevelt Dr and Third St, Derby

This large brick industrial building forms an obtuse angle at the corner of Roosevelt Dr and Third St. The original brick part of the building was constructed in 1879, followed by several additions, most of which have been removed.

This example of 19th century mill architecture is the best surviving building associated with corset manufacture, an important local industry. Later it was used for another important local industry, pin manufacture.

In 1987 the factory was converted into apartment buildings and today it is known as Derby Manor.

John I. Howe House
213 Caroline St, Derby

A Greek Revival loadbearing masonry building constructed of granite ashlar in about 1850 by master mason Lucius Hubbell, the house has a cross gable roof as a result of three stages of building, the last of which occurred in about 1870.

It is an outstanding example of masonry construction in the Greek Revival Style and is associated with John I. Howe, who was one of Connecticut’s most prominent inventors during the Industrial Revolution.

Howe’s pioneering inventions, which completely automated the manufacture of straight pins, made him a leader in the brass industry. He founded the Howe Pin Company in 1835, which moved to Derby three years later.

Harcourt Wood Memorial Library
313 Elizabeth St, Derby

A two-story building in the Colonial Revival style designed by architect Hartley Dennett in 1902, it is a granite ashlar building whose most distinct architectural feature is its curvilinear Flemish gables.

It is a great example of a Colonial Revival public building from the turn of the century when eclectic treatment of classical motifs became popular. It uses post-Victorian interior design trends including Richardsonian Romanesque and Arts & Crafts.

The library was funded by Derby citizen H. Holton Wood, who made his fortune in the Derby Street Railway, In honor of his son Holton Harcourt Wood who died at the age of 11.

Birmingham Green Historic District
Roughly bounded by Fifth St, Caroline St, Fourth St, and Olivia St, Derby

This district includes the buildings on three sides of the Green. The area is dominated by 19th century buildings including three churches, the Sterling Opera House and four private homes. It also includes two 20th century commercial buildings.

Sheldon Smith owned the area that is now Birmingham and enlisted Anson G. Phelps to develop it and promote industrial development. The urban planning project was successful and it became a new religious, cultural and civic center in the town.

The buildings erected around the Green, the oldest resource in the district, represent the popular architectural styles of the 19th century, including, Greek and Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival.