The Russell Library, Middletown, Connecticut

"Established 1875. The renovated building is the former Christ Episcopal Church, where the first public High School classes in Connecticut were conducted, and where Samuel Colt was married."

Frances Russell established Russell Library in 1875 in memory of her husband, Samuel. The Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity had built the building on the corner of Broad and Court Streets in 1834, and Mrs. Russell purchased and remodeled it in the Roman Gothic Style. The building opened as the public library for the City of Middletown on April 5, 1876. In 1930, the City helped to add the Hubbard wing, and in 1972 completed the remodeled Children's Library, originally the First Federal Saving and Loan Association of Meriden, built in 1965. [SOURCE]

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