Wakeman B. Meeker House, Southport Connecticut
Wakeman B. Meeker, Sr. was a prosperous shipping merchant in Southport during the nineteenth century. In 1832 he acquired the old Bulkley residence, 824 Harbor Road, the plot of land upon which the Meeker house now stands and which is directly north of the Bulkley house, and property fronting the harbor. The Meeker family lived in the colonial frame Bulkley house, and together with Simon Sherwood, Wakeman Meeker built a wharf and three warehouses across from his residence. The mercantile shipping firm of Meeker & Sherwood was organized in the 1830s. They owned three schooners and seven sloops, used for freight and passenger service. The firm dissolved at mid-century and was reorganized as W.B. Meeker & Son's.
Wakeman B, Meeker, Sr. died in December 1862 at the age of seventy-four. His son carried on the business until his own death in March 1915 at the age of eighty-six.
The three-bayed structure is two stories with attic and partially exposed basement. The main block is laid out in an irregular plan; it is rectangular with the porch, and measures 40'-6" (front elevation) x 48'-4".
The main level is laid out in an irregular side hall plan. Entering into the stair hall through the front door, a straight stairway is built against the northwest wall. To the right is an L-shaped double parlor with a fireplace on the northeast wall of each room. Access to a back room is through the doorway at the end of the entry hall as well as the veranda's exterior east door.
