Old Money: A Numismatic Mystery

We have here a numismatic (which means of or pertaining to coins) mystery,  a fascinating treasure trove of coins from the vault of the Hagaman Library.

The coins most likely belonged to Isaac Hagaman or his father. Some are so obscured by tarnish or patina, which in coins is called "toning," that the age and origin are a mystery.

Of particular interest are the two shown below:

East Haven Commemorative Tercentenary Coins

These commemorative coins were produced for a number of towns including East Haven, as seen above, for the Connecticut Tercentenary Celebration in 1935. 

Also issued were Tercentenary automobile plates, stamps, postcards of CT houses, and pamphlets on Connecticut history.

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.