One Acre of Salt Meadow Situated in East Haven

A 1789 land deed signed by Jared and Sarah Bradley for an acre of Salt Meadow in East Haven. The wax seals are of particular interest.

Three Photographs of Trollies

Below are three photographs of trollies generously donated to the library by Catherine Satula.  My thought is that all views are of New Haven as one trolley has the header for streets as State and Ames. The photographs were taken by Edward D. Satula.

Hagaman Memorial Library Local History and Archives New Pinterest Account

See this and other archival and historical photos from the Hagaman Memorial Library at Pinterest.com

Melinda's Maps

More thanks to former East Haven resident, Melinda Tillie for another letter which included her hand drawn maps of  Main Street, East Haven. Melinda fondly recalls Holcombe's Drug Store and states in her letter:

'Holccombe's Drug Store was great and always a stop on the way home from Union School! They had a great old fashioned soda fountain...'

 She also commented on the Capitol Theatre and "The Farms" on N. High Street: 

'The Capitol Theater. You could go on Sat. and spend the afternoon, see at least two pictures plus the news etc - price? .25!'  

'You cannot believe the shock it was when "The Farms" up on N. High Street, Hine's Farm and Knudsen's Farm were sold. They were going to build houses there! If you drove up  N. High St. by The Farms, all you could see was the greenest grass and cows from N. High St. to over by the ridge.'

Thank you, Melinda.

Main Street Revisited

I received a lovely letter from Melinda K. Tillie regarding the "A Closer Look, Main Street Looking West" the March 26th, 2012 entry which was posted with the above photographs.

Melinda was born and brought up in East Haven and she lists the stores along Main Street as following:

Left side in photograph

Baltimore Brothers Meats (Main and Taylor)

Christ Church
House with gift Shop

The Diner (corner of Kirkham Ave.)

Right side in photograph

Clothes store

Wolfe's Bakery

Grand Union

Daytons (Women's Clothing)

Ice Cream store
Cleaners
Hair Salon

Barkers

Melinda also mentioned remembering Goodies, Smitty's Bar and Dairy Queen.

I was very encouraged by Melinda's letter and interest in this archival blog. Thank you Melinda!

Also relating to Main Street, I picked up some papers from an East Haven resident's estate at the Old Stone Church tag sale. Interestingly, among them were a card and a receipt from businesses at 281 and 224 Main Street as shown below.

Mary Connolly Repairs Archival Documents

Library volunteer, Mary Connolly has diligently been working to repair tears in an 1885 map of New Haven, shown in the lower picture. The map was literally in pieces before Mary set about to repair it. She is using Kizukushi, a thin long fibered Japanese tissue made from the Kozo plant used extensively in archival repair work.  Torn strips of the tissue are applied in a reversible process using wheat starch paste



Mary Connolly repairing rips and tears in 1930s issues of
The Branford Review and East Haven News





Mary just finished repairing this 1885 Price Lee
Company City Directory map 



Farm River Stone Arch Bridge

The Farm River Stone Arch Bridge has entered the news, and I believe that the above photograph taken ca.1830 is a picture of the original bridge built in 1644 that stood where the current Farm River Bridge now stands.  Former East Haven Historian and author, Doris Townshend comments:

 A wooden bridge with stone supports had been built across the river in 1644 on the route to Branford  (path to Totoket) from East Haven...(1)

Donald Chidsey also commented on the 1644 bridge:

...it was found that the old wooden bridge that spanned the Farm River just to the west of Lake Saltonstall, was in danger of collapse and in its place, a stone arch bridge was erected. (2)

A thank you to Dana Nelson, 5th Grade Teacher at Tuttle School, for the realization that the above photograph is of the 1644 bridge. Also a commendation to her 5th grade class interested in and working for the preservation East Haven history. The class, the East Haven Historical Society and other interested individuals are working to preserve the 1876 Farm River Stone Arch Bridge which replaced the 1644 structure.  The text below from the from Sarah Hughes' History of East Haven comments on the building of the replacement bridge:

Stone Arch Bridge July 25, 1876. At a special town meeting the condition of the stone arch bridge was taken into consideration, and a committee appointed by the chair, consisting of Alfred Hughes, Willet Hemingway and Timothy Andrews, to consider what was best to be done. July 31, 1876 Alfred Hughes, chairman of the committee, reported that it was the unanimous opinion, that there was no other way but to rebuild the bridge. It was in a very dangerous condition, the sand had washed out five feet under the abutment, and that it hung shelving with danger of falling any day. Voted, "The Selectmen be authorized and instructed to build a bridge, with 28 ft. in the clear, the foundation to down to solid rock. The work to be done as soon as possible, also given power to contract and receive proposals for the same." (E.H. Town Rec.) (3)

The photo below, most probably taken in the 1880s or the 1890s, is of the current Farm River Stone Arch Bridge. The bridge has also been called the Stephen Bradley Bridge.

1. Townshend, Doris "The Farm River and Its Role in New Haven County History" Journal of the New Haven Colony Historical Society 44/No 2 (1988): 8. Print.

 2. Chidsey, Donald "First Federal Researches Bridges and Transportation in Early East Haven." The Journal-Courier (New Haven) 29 April, 1974. Print.

3. Hughes, Sarah The History of East Haven New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse &  Taylor Press, 1908.