A Closer Look: The Samuel R. Chidsey House

The Samuel R. Chidsey House, built in 1750, stood at the corner of Main and High Streets at 267 Main Street. According to an Evening Register article from the vertical file (date unknown) Samuel Chidsey bought the property from the Bradleys. Mr. Chidsey was first selectman of the town for many years.

The house was taken down in 1929 and the East Haven Bank was built on the corner.

Number One in the photo looks to be an advertisement for the Capitol Theatre and underneath that it states: "Free Parking." On the right however can be seen: "Tea Co." in what looks to be a separate sign. Could this have been an advertisement for the A & P market- the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company?

Number Two the sign over the door reads: "Rooms For Tourists" and under that "Meals Served." Below that is a hanging sign that states: "Greyhurst Tourists Inn." There is a sign in the window that states: Rooms. Does anyone have any information on Greyhurst Inns and the Chidsey House as a Greyhurst Inn?

A Closer Look: Atwater's Store

East Haven's Atwater's Store around 1905. The store stood near the fire house on Main Street. A closer look at the advertisements in the store window are interesting:

1. Gasoline for sale
2. This appears indistinct - Gene and Terry or Gen'l Terry? or some variant
3. Daisy Brand Mixed Nuts
4. Peanut Crisp
5. This is also indistinct - but appears to be HO or H & O Bee Soap

A Closer Look: Northwest Corner Main and High Streets, 1930

Here is a photo of Main and High, 1930.

Although the sign to the left of the picture is cut off, it can be determined that it is advertising Sunoco Gas.

Number One: Sunoco Gas
Number Two: Capitol (for Capitol Theatre)
Number Three: Coca-Cola
Number Four: Holcomb's Prescriptions

It could not be determined what film was playing at the Capitol- though it would certainly be interesting to know!

A Closer Look: The Community Building

Here is a photo from the East Haven Photograph Album of the East Haven Fire Department at 200 Main Street taken in 1924. The caption is-

1924 Next to fire station was the Community Building. Upstairs was Peggy Whyte’s School of Dance.

A closer look with the magnifying glass reveals some interesting details of the signs on and near the Community Building.

Number One: "Community Alleys, Bowling, Pool."
Number Two reads "Community Theater".
Number Three: "?andy? Soda ?emons, Ice Cream."
Number Four: a name and below that "Patent Medicines".

Interestingly, Sign Number Two indicates that not only was it a community building, but also a theater. There appears to be a movie poster on the sidewalk advertising the film. This theater would then be separate from the Capitol Theatre, located down at 271 Main Street by the present Margaret Tucker Park. If anyone has information or a correction to this observation please call the library.

On Sign Number Three- "?emons" is visible, the other letters blocked by the pole. a guess to the word ?emons was lemons. The sign would read: Candy, Soda, Lemons, Ice Cream. This of course, didn't make much sense.
By looking at the sign on the sidewalk, also advertising ice cream,it appeared there was an "s" in the word. A check on the Internet determined there was indeed a "Semons" ice cream company in the New Haven area. So we have an add here for "Candy, Soda and Semons Ice Cream."

A Closer Look

This 1925 photograph of East Haven Green facing East reveals some interesting features under a magnifying glass.

Number One- the billboard to the left of the picture is an advertisement for Chevrolet and states: "Quality at Low Cost" "A Dealer Near to Serve You."

Number Two- the signposts nailed to the light pole- the top one states "Momaguin,Short Beach" the bottom states "Branford, New London."

Number Three- the placard states at the top: "East Haven."
It would be interesting to know what the listings were below it.

Local Content and Community Reserve

The library is participating in Overdrive's Local Content and Community Reserve program which allows libraries to offer digitized documents, audio and video materials, in download formats.

So far, we have submitted three items--

A pamphlet on the 1911 dedication of the Soldier's Memorial on the East Haven Green, a ca. 1917 photograph of East Haven Boys prior to shipping out to serve in WW I, and a memorial pamphlet for the first boy killed in WW I from East Haven.

Below: East Haven boys serving in WW I

The library will be participating in the Local Content and Community Reserve program through OverDrive, a distributor of audio and e-books.

Archival material will be sent from the Hagaman Library in PDF form then changed into Adobe ebooks. Patrons will be able to browse, check-out and download these materials from the Hagaman website OverDrive link.

This will give patrons further accessibility to archival documents and information.