Robert Wakeman Hill (1828-1909) was a noted architect. He received his early education in the schools of Waterbury and attended the Young Men's Institute in New Haven. He studied architecture with Henry Austin of New Haven and A. C. Nash of Milwaukee, Wis. He returned to Connecticut in 1858 and practiced architecture for a short time in Naugatuck. In 1863, he moved to Waterbury and spent the remainder of his life there. Hill was architect for the state under Governors Bigelow, Waller, Harrison and Lounsbury. He built the state armories at Waterbury, New London, Bridgeport, Norwalk and New Britain, and furnished plans for the Waterbury City Hall, the New Britain Opera House, the Thomaston Opera House, and the Winchester Soldier's Memorial in Winsted, among many others. He designed a number of buildings in Litchfield, including the County Court House (1889), the fire house (1894), two hotels, and the house of Edgar van Winkle, Hill-home. Hill died in 1909. On July 30, 1906, Hill gave a lecture at the Litchfield Historical Society titled, "Incidents in the Lives of Some of the Early Architects and Builders in Connecticut." Included in the papers is Hill's autographed text. Also included are a blueprint of a Queen Anne-style structure (1889); photographs of the residence of Bronson Beecher Tuttle, Naugautuck; residence and inn of David Beecher, Salem (later Naugatuck); the Scovill homestead, Waterbury; Don De Forest house, New Haven; and Rose Hill Cottage (built for W. H. Scovill), Waterbury; and an engraving showing buildings on the New Haven green. Photographs are located in Photo Oversize Box 7.