The Curtis Insurance building at 49 Main St. in North Canaan is one of the only surviving gas station buildings originally designed for owner Martin B. Dodd (1881-1944) by eclectic Norfolk architect Alfredo Taylor. According to “Alfredo Taylor in Norfolk” by Ann Havemeyer and Robert Dance, Taylor delivered this English cottage-style building, complete with “slate roof, stucco walls and half-timbering in the gable”—deluxe details found on many local Taylor-de-signed mansions. Dodd built 20 of the attractive service stations throughout the area. The photo on the bottom captures this one in the 1940s when it was an Esso service center.

—by Andra Moss