comstock ferre, heirloom seeds, old wethersfield, ct, connecticut,, history

Just a short twenty-minute ride from my current hometown of West Hartford lies Old Wethersfield, CT which has the distinction of being the largest historic district in the state with over 1,100 contributing structures. The area was settled in 1634 and by some counts is the first settlement in the state (there is some debate over that!)

There is so much to share about Wethersfield, but for this post I wanted to highlight the Comstock, Ferre & Co. building. This landmark structure sits on Main Street and is a long-standing symbol of the towns agricultural history.

Established in 1811 as Wethersfield Seed Gardens, the building still displays its original tin signs. Wethersfield was the center of the American seed industry in the 19th century with seven or so different seed companies at one point. Until 2009, Comstock, Ferre & Co. was the longest continuously running seed company in the country.

The company went up for sale in 2009 and was purchased by the owners of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company in 2010. After being closed for a period of time to renovate and prepare for re-opening (with a focus on preservation!), Comstock, Ferre & Co. continues its long tradition of selling seeds with a focus on heirloom varieties.

With its current renovation adding a natural foods grocery store and cafe, as well as garden supplies, Comstock, Ferre & Co. is a destination unto itself. It’s just a bonus that it is surrounded by hundreds of other historic buildings and museums.


Like doors with a little side of history? Then you may enjoy other doors in the Thursday Doors series here and here. Thursday Doors is a weekly round-up hosted by Norm 2.0. Feel free to contribute or visit his site to view the weekly collection!


Don’t miss a post!  You can subscribe to The Front Door Project via e-mail on the Home page.

 

 

 

Similar Posts

18 Comments

    1. Yes!! I actually found some good blog posts from others about Comstock…people who write garden blogs! Apparently the place is a bit of a legend 🙂 it has gone through some hard times financially over the last few years with change of ownership etc but it’s an institution…hope they can keep it going!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.