Cooley - Goddard House

230 Salmon Brook Street

This House:

There was a house on this site in 1855, but it was gone by 1869. Then, around 1897, the house in this picture was moved to #230 from the west side of Salmon Brook Street, near the entrance to McLean Game Refuge. It was Daniel P. Cooley’s house. Daniel was a farmer and an early successful tobacco grower. He held a patent for a tobacco seed cleaner. In addition, he served in Connecticut’s General Assembly. The house belonged to Daniel P. and Louise Cooley, who gave it, along with several acres of land, to their daughter Ada and Edward B. Goddard when they married in 1895.

A Bit More:

It is likely that the house was built around 1830 or even earlier because of the free-span, post and beam construction.

Mrs. Goddard’s three grandchildren inherited the house at her death in 1971. In 1982, it was sold to the developers of Windmill Springs, but the post and beam structure collapsed while being developed into two condos. The current house is new and was built to resemble the original.

Wedding pictures of Ada Cooley and Edward Goddard

Even More:

Cooley gave the house to his daughter, Ada Cooley who married Edward B. Goddard in 1895. The young couple lived in an apartment above the Loomis Brothers store. Edward Goddard wrote in his diary about the moving of his house. On Oct. 3, the movers came and raised his house off the foundation. The next day workers took the old cellar stones to reuse in the new foundation. On Oct 16 the move was started. It took 3 days to get the house into the road. They had to move slowly because they were going uphill. After 9 days, the house was finally in place on a new foundation. Repairs were then started on the house. They added a kitchen with plumbing, a bathroom, replastered the walls and added two new chimneys. Ada Goddard wrote to her sister “Before we could live in it at all, [we] spent over $2,00.” (Approximately $64,00 inflation-adjusted dollars in 2021.)

Edward ran a farm equipment and supply business, then became a real estate agent/broker with farm listings across western MA and CT. He also served as Granby’s representative to the Connecticut Legislature.