Fun Fact

In 1840, Christ Episcopal Church rented the basement of the church to Connecticut’s first public high school for $125 a year. One year later, the high school moved up to College Street.

Fun Fact

Samuel Colt, American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt’s Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, was married in the church on June 5, 1856.

Fun Fact

Mrs. Frances Russell purchased the church building for $15,000. In today’s dollars that would equal $370,000. She spent another $25,000 remodeling the building. Today that remodel would cost $600,000!

How Russell Library Came to Be

Frances Russell established Russell Library in memory of her husband, Samuel. Purchasing the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity on the corner of Broad and Court Streets in 1873, Mrs. Russell remodeled the Greek Revivial building in the Roman Gothic Style, including adding the stained glass windows and a tower off the back of the building. The building opened as the public library for the City of Middletown on April 5, 1876. Patrons had to be 14 years old to borrow materials and everyone was only allowed to borrow one book at a time!

1930

The Hubbard Room was added, creating Middletown’s first children’s library.

1950s

The first mezzanine level was added in the original church building to provide room for more book stacks.

1972

The Library purchased the old the First Federal Savings and Loan Bank located on the lot next to the library. The building was remodeled and became a separate Children’s Library.