Naugatuck has more McKim, Mead & White commissions that anywhere else in Connecticut. John Howard Whittemore, a wealthy Naugatuck industrialist who made his fortune through the Eastern Malleable Iron Co., engaged America's most famous architectural firm 11 times.
Many of those commissions border than town green, including the Green itself, and the Memorial Fountain (1895), the Whittemore Library (1894), and the Congregational Church (1903).
The Memorial Fountain features a Lion's head.
The Library is a spectacular Neo-Classical Revival building constructed of pink granite. It features a continuous frieze incised with names of famous authors. Fluted Ionic columns and bronze lampstands flank the recessed entrance. A fabulous rotunda under the drum has a gold and red mosaic tile floor.
Across church St. is the Congregational Church, featuring an unusual polygonal paneled spire, that can be seen from the local highway Route 8. The style is Neo-Classical revival. The adjacent Parish House (1887) is designed by Robert W. Hill. It is Romanesque Revival. The Old Post Office (1917) is along Church St. It is Spanish Colonial Revival. St. Michael's Church (1875) is also adjacent to the Green and is High Victorian Gothic. The Train Station (1910) is Spanish Colonial Revival off of Water St.
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