Samuel Benjamin’s Church

234 Salmon Brook Street

This is a picture of the current building when it was stripped down before it was converted to two condos and became part of Windmill Springs.

This Building:

In 1893 S. J. Benjamin planned to build a church on the Sanford lot, or current #234. It was to be a Seventh Day Adventist Church but it was never completed. The building stood empty.

A Bit More:

Edward Goddard bought it in 1905 for storage. It was converted to a store with a Phillips Grocery store in the south half and a barbershop in the north half.

In 1943 the store was remodeled into two 3 room apartments. In 1987 it was stripped down and became two condominiums, part of Windmill Springs. When it was being converted to condos, they uncovered two narrow arched windows facing the Salmon Brook Street and a broad arch that faced the existing meadow behind. There were two angled front doors, designed so men could enter through one door and women through the other. There were also three huge equispaced, intricately scrolled trusses beneath the roof. Remnants of a church that never was.

This is an example of one of the mugs Samuel Benjamin sold in the Loomis Brother's Store.

Even More:

Samuel Benjamin was a Granby entrepreneur. He always had some grand plan or scheme going on. He had the Granby 1895 mugs made and sold them in the Loomis Bros. Store. He bought and sold property all over town. According to many letters, he also had problems paying his bills and appears on many legal documents. When he asked Chester Peck Loomis for a pledge to help with the construction, Loomis promised to provide the carpet. When Loomis’s wife asked why he had pledged anything at all, her husband assured her that the church would never be built and would not need a rug. He was right.