The Joseph Teel House (Norwich, Connecticut) | 1790s construction, historic house

 1790s construction, historic house

The Joseph Teel House, on the Chelsea Parade Green in Norwich, is a three-story brick Federal-style mansion, with a hip roof, built in 1789-90. It was originally built to be a tavern and inn: At the Sign of General Washington. The house was later occupied by a boarding school, run by William Woodbridge, and was for many years the home of General William Williams. He donated 7 1/2 acres to the Norwich Free Academy and his wife, Harriet Peck Williams, founded the Peck Library (1859) at the Academy (in honor of her father, Capt. Bela Peck of the Continental Army) and the Williams School in New London. The house next served as the parsonage of the Park Congregational Church and then the Norwich Free Academy headmaster’s house.