Background
David Hoadley was born in 1774 in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States.
David Hoadley was born in 1774 in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States.
After beginning work as a carpenter, young Hoadley turned his attention to planning and building houses and later, churches. Though self-trained in architecture, the distinguished examples of his surviving buildings attest his skill and aptitude in design.
Mr. Hoadley's earliest works were two Congregational churches in Waterbury built about 1795, followed after 1800 by the United Church (also known as the North Church) in New Haven designed in the Greek Revival style and considered his masterpiece. Other buildings generally ascribed to him include the Congregational Church at Killingworth, Conn., 1817, similar in design to the United Church in New Haven; the Episcopal Church at Bethany; Grace Episcopal at Hamden, in the Classic style; Congregational at Avon, and the First Congregational at Milford, 1823, all in Connecticut.
His residential work in the state was equally distinguished in character. Among the extant examples of houses known or said to have been built from his plans are the following: In New Haven, the Bennet house at 86 Broadway, 1805; Wheeler-Beecher residence on Amity Road, Bethany; Samuel Russell house at Middletown; Nathan Smith and the James Bowditch residences, New Haven, c.1816. In addition the old Noah Webster house at New Haven and the home of Eli Terry, at Greystone, noted clock maker are sometimes attributed to him. Later in life, he was associated for a few years (1825-30) with the New York firm of Town & Davis, as its Connecticut representative.