Picture Tolland: Another Stop For Lafayette

TOLLAND, CT — For the second week in a row, Picture Tolland retraces the steps of Layafette.

This time, we're at the south end of the Tolland Green and The Mansion House.

The house was built by Col. Elijah Smith in 1788 and operated by he and his wife for more than a half-century as Smith's Tavern and hostelry.

Gen. Lafayette stopped there in 1824 during his famous post-Revolutionary War tour of the country.

After Col. Smith's death in 1845, the hotel continued to operate under various names and lastly as the Mansion House until it burned down in 1896.

The lot remained vacant until the 1930s when the current bungalow-style home was built by Asa Bird.

A sunroom was added in the southeast corner and operated as a tea room, then later as a gift shop.

The current site is 59 Tolland Green, two houses north of the Old Tolland County Court House Museum.

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Picture Tolland is a periodic look at images of the town, past and present.