HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY BUILDING AND STRUCTURES Norwich Heritage Trust, Inc, P.O.Box 185 Norwich, CT 06360	This Building sponsored by Rose City Renaissance
Building Name: Silver Repair Shop / Prokop Signs	Historic Name: Peter Lanman House
Town/City: Norwich	County: New London
Address:52-60	Street: Main Street
Owners:Guy Lebel, Norman Atlas, Ronald Brauman 99 Sherwood Ln. Norwich, CT	Public
Present Use: Repair shop, sign shop	Historic Use Residence
Exterior is viewable to public	Interior is accessible	Explain: Store's first floor
Style of Building: Federal	Construction Date: Early 1790
Materials Clapboard Brick	Structural System Wood Frame
Roof Gable Asphalt Shingle
Stories: 3	Dimensions: 50 x 40 with extensions to rear
Structural Condition: Deteriorated	Exterior Condition: Deteriorated
Alterations: Newer first floor storefront
Outbuildings:
Environment: commercial High Building Density

Interrelationship of Building and Surroundings:

The building sets within a stretch of almost a dozen pre-1860 buildings along Main St. forming a harmonious street-scape.

Features:

This building is laced with its longitudinal axis paralleling Main Street. The facade is six bays in width. The first floor has a projecting storefront on the east side of the facade. This is divided into two arched openings each containing display windows with unusual wooden crestings. The recessed doors have arched transoms above. Windows on the second floor have 2-over-4 double hung sash with long lower sash. The third floor has 2-over-2 double hung windows. A wooden cornice is supported by brackets. At each corner are set rectangular paneled finials. Three gable roofed dormers have open-bed pediments and arched windows. The central dormer which is largest, has paired windows. Chimneys are located on either side. The brick additions to the rear have segmentally arched windows.

Architect:

Builder:

Importance:

Peter Lanman, the original owner, was the founder of a shipping firm active in Norwich for over 70 years. He was also connected with the tavern at Lanman's Corner now the site of the Norwich Savings Society, where Washington stayed in 1775. On Lanman's death in 1804, the house was inherited by his son James Lanman 1769-1841 who occupied it until his death. James Lanman was a graduate of Yale in 1788. A lawyer, he was mentioned in 1789 in John Quincy Adam's Diary, was an original director of the Norwich Bank in 1796, served on the local Committee of Safety in 1818, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention which wrote the state constitution of 1818. Serving in both houses of the state legislature, Lanman was also a U. S. Senator from 1819-1825, A State's Attorney for New London County, a Supreme and Superior Court Judge and a Mayor of Norwich. Gurdon A. Jones, a later owner of the house, was listed as one of the richest men of Norwich in 1865.

Historically, the house is important for its association with the influential Lanman family, important in both the political and commercial history of Norwich. An 1830 land record mentions the excellent view of the harbor from the house, undoubtedly, a factor in its location. alterations were made to the building in the 19 th-century to adapt it for commercial use. The 19th-century storefront is unusual both in design and in its state of preservation.

Sources:

Sanborn Fire Map 1926

Norwich Vital Records

Land Records

Caulkins, History of Norwich CT

Norwich City Directories

1830 Map,

Perkins Old Houses

1790 Census

Norwich Judge Lanman

The Lanman Family, Dun Charles Stone, 251 Maxson Rd, Lancaster, PA 1968

A Family Monologue, Charles Lanman, no date, typewritten at Otis Library, Norwich

Evaluations:

Threats None