The 1909 Hall-Benedict Drug Company Building

The Hall-Benedict Drug Company Building is a historic commercial building located at 763-767 Orange Street in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. Built in 1909 to house a pharmacy for Alonzo B. Hall and Edward M. Benedict, it is a little-altered and well-preserved example of an early 20th-century mixed residential-commercial neighborhood building. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and is a contributing property in the Whitney Avenue Historic District.

Designed by local architect Frank Elwood Brown, the 2-1/2 story brick structure features load-bearing brick walls and a roof with a steep mansard facade in the front and a slightly sloping shed roof to the rear. The front roof face has modillion blocks at the eave and is pierced by three dormers - the outer two having gabled roofs and the center having a shed roof. The asymmetrical front facade faces Orange Street and features a glassed storefront at the corner with a recessed entrance.

Upper-level windows are sash with fixed diamond-light transom windows above. A round-arch window occupies the rightmost bay of the front facade. The only significant alteration to the interior or exterior was the addition of an ell to the rear of the building in 1929. While local preservationists attempted to keep the original storefront windows, they were replaced in 2020 with modern plate-glass windows.

Despite the change to the storefront, the building remains a well-preserved example of its era. It stands as a testament to the work of Frank Elwood Brown, who produced a significant number of designs for modest residences and commercial buildings in the neighborhood.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons