Lower Dixwell Sites

St. Luke's Episcopal Church
111 Whalley Avenue
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is one of the first churches in the country, and the third oldest Episcopal Church, with a predominantly African American congregation.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (current)
255 Goffe Street
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was first constructed on Sperry Street in 1882 the church was completely remodeled in its current Gothic Revival style in 1929. The Congregation moved to their new building in 1975.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
31 Sperry Street
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was first constructed on Sperry Street in 1882. The church was completely remodeled in its current Gothic Revival style in 1929. The first African Methodist Episcopal Society Church, the present Bethel A.M.E., dates its origins to 1837.

Goffe Street Special School for Colored Children and Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Masons
106 Goffe Street
Perhaps the most notable monument to the history of Black people in New Haven, founded for the purpose of providing for “the intellectual and moral well-being of the colored people of the Town of New Haven and especially of their children”.

The Odd Fellows
113 Webster Street
The New Haven Chapter of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows was founded around 1873. In 1913, the Lodge constructed a large and elegant three-story building, now demolished.

Demolition of Odd Fellow’s Hall to make way for housing.

East Rock Lodge #141, I.B.P.O.E.of W.
204 Goffe Street
The original East Rock Lodge of Elks #141, I.B.P.O.E.of W. (Elks) instituted on December 19,1907 the New Haven Elks was especially popular for their annual “Elks Ball”, an elaborate statewide event held in the CT State Armory on Goffe Street.

East Rock Lodge of Elks #141, I.B.P.O.E.of W. (Current)
87 Webster

Congregation Keser Israel
185 Goffe Street (Was 122 Foote Street)
In 1909 a small group of families founded Temple Keser Israel at 122 Foote Street, which later merged to form Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel.

United House of Prayer for All People
100 Dixwell
Founded by Bishop C.M. Grace (known by his many followers as “Daddy Grace”). The construction of the church at 100 Dixwell along with the 36 units of moderate income housing was made possible by the use of the church private funds.

St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church (current)
136 Dixwell Avenue
Police Station 4 was converted in 1942 to become the home of the Blessed Martin de Porres Center, now St. Martin de Porres Roman Catholic Church.

Dixwell Community Q House
98 Dixwell Avenue
The original Q House was built in 1924, created by the city’s leading African Americans and other New Haven residents to serve youth and to be a base for neighborhood groups, charities, and other organizations.

Dixwell Community House
197 Dixwell Avenue
Opening in 1971, it included a space for after-school, summer and weekend programs, a senior center, social services, meetings and an early childhood education program. It closed in 2003. and was demolished in 2016.

Winchester School
68 Gregory
The original Winchester School was built in 1884; the school at 209 Dixwell Avenue was constructed in 1952. Both schools were named for Oliver F. Winchester, who founded Winchester Repeating Arms, one of the largest gun manufacturing companies in the world.

Winchester School (part of Wexler-Grant School today)
209 Dixwell Avenue
The original school was built in 1884; the school at 209 Dixwell was constructed in 1952. It was the first Community School in New England and one of the first in the United States, providing extended hours and services.

Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
217 Dixwell Avenue
Founded in 1820 as the African Ecclesiastical Society. It is the oldest African-American UCC Church in the world. This is a picture of the former church building that was located at 100 Dixwell Avenue before it moved to this current site. The former building was demolished.

Varick African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
242 Dixwell Avenue
Organized in 1818, as the earliest African American church in New Haven, the third oldest in the A.M.E.Z. denomination, and one of the oldest African American churches in the nation. It is considered to be an Underground Railroad site.

Florence Virtue Homes
37 Orchard Place
In the 1960’s, the Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church sponsored this integrated mixed income cooperative housing, named for Florence Virtue for her many good works.

N. & B. Sosensky's
246 Dixwell Avenue
Opened in 1911 as a grocery store by Bernard Sosensky and his son Nathan, the site became a hardware store in 1919, serving the community for decades and employing neighborhood residents.

Curry's Confectionery
269 Dixwell Avenue
Curry’s Confectionery a very popular institution from 1919 until 1950, with a fine reputation for some of the best homemade candy, and roasted nuts in the area.