Once the center of civic life in Stamford, CT, the Old Town Hall stands to this day as a vital cornerstone of Stamford’s public culture. Having stood for well over a century, the Old Town Hall exhibits a unique architectural style that makes it the perfect location for modern cultural, historical, and community events. While it was once an anachronistic structure amid clean-cut office buildings, the city has embraced the Old Town Hall over the years, beautifying the surrounding area and working to maintain the structure that once served so many essential civic functions.
Built originally between the years of 1929 and 1930, the structure located at 1 Atlantic Street, known most notably as the home of the State National Bank of Connecticut, is one of the cornerstone structures of the Stamford Historic District, a small, well-preserved segment of downtown Stamford that was spared from the rapid expanse of Stamford throughout the 1900s into the 2000s. The bank building stands out from the surrounding city both in terms of its age and its unique architectural design.
The Avon Theatre of Stamford was the first theater. in this Connecticut town and once again serves as an entertainment and cultural hub. The theater opened in 1939 and showed the latest films from Hollywood. While most downtown theaters closed during the 1970s and 1980s, the Avon managed to operate until 1999. After the theater closed, the Royce Foundation help preserve the building and supported the creation of a non-profit cinema with a focus on artistic and historic films.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Church of Stamford, CT, also known collectively as the Second Universalist Society of Stamford, represent one of Stamford’s most welcoming and progressive social institutions. For nearly two centuries, the Unitarian Universalist Church has stood as a symbol of interfaith acceptance and served the faithful of the town by preserving artifacts of great value to Stamford’s religious history. The Church also represents an important symbol of women’s liberty in Stamford, as the Unitarian Universalist faith was one of the earliest to allow women to take the role of clergy leadership.
This historic synagogue was built during the 1930s to replace an earlier synagogue in Stamford that was destroyed in a fire. The congregation's history stretches back to 1889, when 22 founding members first took steps to organize a community of faith. The phrase "Agudath Sholom" may be translated as "knot for peace" or "society for peace." Stamford's Jewish community is part of a larger story of Jewish immigration to the United States and specifically to Connecticut. Agudath Sholom arose from an influx of Eastern European Jews to Stamford during the 1880s, where they congregated in large enough numbers to develop a thriving community. In 1965, the growing congregation moved to a new synagogue in the city, and the Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church moved into the former synagogue building.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This short walking tour includes a handful of buildings and landmarks that tell the story of Stamford. Starting at the Old Town Hall, the tour includes historic churches and synagogues as well as a historic bank building that was constructed in the 1920s and the Avon Theatre.
