28 Center Street

The original part of this house was built in 1843-44 as an Atheneum Library on ground given for this purpose by James Wadsworth.  When it opened it contained 7,000 volumes. Henry Colt was the first librarian and the building was open to the public on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.  When the Wadsworth Library was built in 1867, this building was sold to the Methodist Society for a parsonage.  In 1871, the Society built the large addition to the west side and in 1872 graded the grounds and added the piazza to the east section.  In 1895, major repairs were made and today its character resembles that of the Post-Civil War period.