1906 Postmark - Church exterior (Photograph from an archival source: Vintage postcard, submitted by Jim Stettner/Jim Stettner)
2004-10-30 - Electrified & enlarged Gilbert & Butler 1890s, 2-20. Tracker action rebuilt by Andover 1966. -Database Manager
2023-04-05 - Location listed on the Hook opus list as Norwichtown. -Jim Stettner
2023-04-05 - Norwichtown is the original 17th-c. settlement for this place. In the 19th-c. a new mill center was build several miles south on the river and railroad lines, christened simply Norwich to differentiate it from Norwichtown. This, the original church, was simply the Congregational Church until splinter congregations moved to the new industrial center further south, at which point it rechristened itself First Congregational to declare its status and relationship to the sanctioned sub-groups. The building is now the oldest church building in the township of Norwich. The organ here had a complicated life. First a two-manual E. & G.G. Hook is installed in the rear gallery; moved to the front and expanded with a new full-compass Swell, 3-stop pedal, short-compass bass extensions, and case wings, by Gilbert and Butler. The new action played like a truck and it was shortly thereafter electrified by the Hall Organ Co. with a couple minor tonal changes. The Andover Organ Co. retrackerized the organ in the 1960s as the first modern retrackerization of an antique American organ, but retaining Hall's electric stop action. Local builder Richard Hamar performed minor tonal tonal restorations and action readjustment in the 1970s. Finally in 1995, Jeremy Cooper deconstructed the organ to its original Hook specification, retaining all the surviving Hook material, and adding a new high-pitched neo-baroque mixture. The later G&B case and pedal additions were removed, and an all new mechanical action was installed with a reconstruction of the original keydesk, with the down-sized instrument being returned to its original position in the rear gallery. The original case was redecorated at this time in a modern fanciful rendition of the original faux rosewood finish. -Scot Huntington
Source: Church records
E. & G. G. Hook (No. 221, 1857)
First Congregational Church
Norwichtown, CT
Compasses: 56/13(?)
GREAT ORGAN SWELL ORGAN [T.F.?]
Open Diapason Open Diapason
Melodia Stop'd Diapason
Dulciana Viol da Gamba
Stop'd Diap. Bass Principal
Principal Hautboy
Flute [t.c.] Stop'd Diap. Bass
Twelfth
Fifteenth PEDAL ORGAN
Sub Bass
Manual Coupler
Pedal Coupler [Great]
Pedal Check
Tremulant
Bellows Signal
Hitch down Swell pedalRegrettably, it is not possible to display the information about the sponsor of this pipeorgandatabase entry or if there is a sponsor. Please see About Sponsors on Pipe Organ Database.