During the 19th century, George Street included residences and small retail stores. In 1830, the Ransom Burritt Grocery and Provision Store occupied the corner of George and Chapel, and in 1842, Morris Charles, a shoemaker, resided on the west side near York Street. Rowhouses dotted George Street at the turn of the century as urbanization occurred; the city built a trolley on George Street sometime after 1910. In 1886, 350 George Street was a small, two-story, wooden structure. Dorothea Schmidt, widower of William K., acquired the property in 1901, and it measured 60 x 150 feet. She still resided there in 1916 along with Anna C. Dickson and Frank Morris when the block was entirely residential. Schmidt occupied the property in the late 1910s, but left after falling behind on her taxes in 1917.



Commercial businesses and services moved onto the street in the 1920s. In 1920, Hares Motors of Connecticut occupied 350 George. In 1925, the surrounding lots were still partially residential: a dentist at 336, Lewis Kimberly living at 340, a vacancy at 356. By this time, another motor company, Fergus Motors Corp., operated on the lot. The structure was made out of brick, and a sales room fronted George Street, with a garage in the back.



George Street’s buildings underwent significant structural and programmatic change in the 1930s. Vacancies on the entire block in 1935, except for the Packard Sales and Service store at 350, reflect this transformation. Brick buildings had replaced rowhouses, and by 1945, the block was an automobile service district. Along with the Packard Sales and Service depot, Fred’s Auto Body and Fender, Paradise Gasoline, and the Byron Tire Company conducted business.



Urban Renewal in the 1950s brought about more change to the Oak Street Connector area. Officials demolished Oak Street and in its place constructed the Rt. 34 Connector, displacing residents, homes, and small businesses. In 1957, Southern New England Telephone Company and architect Douglas Orr constructed a modern office building at the corner of College and George (300 George Street). The original building used porcelain enamel panels for the walls and cut sandstone blocks for the facing material. SNET also acquired the rest of the city block (350 George Street) and converted it into a parking lot.



SNET developed the parking lot at 350 George Street in 1977-79, constructing a building for data processing and office space. Architecture firm Russell, Gibson, von Dohlen oversaw the construction of the three-story, concrete office building and four-story parking garage (at 340 George Street); the project cost about $2.5 million.



The SNET/Douglass Orr building still exists today at 300 George Street and contains laboratory, research, and office space. 350 George Street still operates as a part of AT&T, and contains office space, publishing equipment, and data facilities.