Vestry

The West Hartford Vestry was a plain, one-story building in West Hartford Center used by the Congregational Church of West Hartford for holding the sessions of the Sunday school, the weekly prayer meetings, and the business meetings of the town. Located on the southeast corner of Farmington Avenue and Main Street, opposite the post office on a high bank, it was built in 1833 from land leased by Samuel Whitman, who owned the northwest corner of the farmland.

South and east of the Vestry were the horse sheds, where the teams in which the people from different parts of the town came to church on Sunday were housed during the services. Each shed was divided into sections or stalls, and each section was owned by some individual and family. These sheds were not kept in good condition and weeds were allowed to grow.

After the Separation of West Hartford in 1854, the selectmen made arrangements with West Hartford for its use for town meetings, caucuses, and political rallies. In 1863, the town purchased the Vestry, and it became the official first Town Hall of West Hartford. It was continued as such until 1881 when it became the property of the Ecclesiastical Society again and, with adjoining land, the site of the new stone church building of the Congregational Church.