USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Greenwich > Greenwich old & new; a history > Part 3
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Friction between the old and new towns became so acute that an appeal was made to the General Court at Hartford. In the court meeting of October, 1703, it was "recommended to the inhabitants of said Greenwich, that they would indeavor an amicable agreement amongst themselves, but fearing that may not be atteined, this court doe appoint the worshipfull Nathan Gold, Mr. Peter Burr, and Mr. John Wakeman, a com- mittee to repair to sd Towne of Greenwich and there to in- deavour a reconcilement of such differences as are amongst them, and that the priveldges of the old Towne shall remain as formerly until further order."
Apparently no compromise could be arranged, so in 1705 the town was divided into two separate ecclesiastical societies, and an agreement was confirmed by the Colonial legislature. Mr.
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Morgan, who had sympathized with the Horseneck Society during the dispute, was established as the first minister of the new Second Congregational Society. The first church building was erected on the same site upon which the present church building stands and "A four acre lot was laid out between Samuel Heusted home lott and ye meeting house" where a par- sonage was built for the use of the minister.
The Reverend Mr. Morgan had a wife and ten children to support and the annual salary of sixty pounds was hardly enough for the care of such a large family. Accordingly Mr. Morgan was granted permission to build a tide mill on Strick- land Brook at Cos Cob and "grind for ye inhabitants what grain they bring to mill on Tuesdays and Fridays, and not to hinder them for strangers." "One 12 part of all grain" was the amount granted as toll. Apparently the pastor spent more time running his mill than looking after his parishioners. There was a general protest in 1708 and after much debating Mr. Morgan ended by giving up his church work in order to run the mill.
There were a number of others mills for the use of the towns. The first mill in the old town was at the Mianus River. The "Parson's" grist mill was at Cos Cob, and in Horseneck we know of two mills, one at Brothers Brook near Indian Harbor and the other at the mouth of Horseneck Brook. Near the mouth of the Byram River there was a saw mill, so the settle- ment there was known as Sawpits until the village finally ac- quired the more dignified name of Port Chester.
All of these mills were of vital importance to settlements which depended on corn and wheat for their main food sup- ply. The mills were centers of town life, and the miller was an important member of the community. Often he was granted special privileges and his land was usually desirable property because the mill had to be easily accessible to as many inhabi- tants as possible.
Transportation was always a difficult problem because the
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roads were so bad. At town meetings the question of highways was often under discussion. Every citizen had to share in the work of road building and keeping the highways from being "incumbered with dirty slowes, bushes, trees and stones." At first there were no public highways, but just "country roads" leading from one town to another. These roads were little more than paths following the original Indian trails. In 1673 the first post rider carried mail on horseback from New York to Boston. It took him two weeks to get to Boston and the round trip was finally successfully accomplished in a month.
By 1700 there was a through road from New York to Boston which was known as "The Country Road" or the "King's Highway." George Washington travelled on this road through Greenwich in 1790 and found it "hilly and immensely stoney and trying to wheels and carriages." It must have been even more "trying" in the earlier part of the century. As this public highway, the present Post Road, came more into use, farmers along the road hung out sign posts and called their farm houses taverns. The Connecticut laws were very strict in regard to the keeping of public houses. For instance, "no inn- keeper was allowed to sell more than half a pint of wine at one time to be drunk or to permit any guest to continue tippling above half an hour, or after nine o'clock at night."
The first license for a tavern was granted to Ebenezer Mead in December, 1696, appointing him "to keep an ordinary or a house of publige enertanement." Mead Tavern stood for nearly two hundred years on the Post Road opposite the head of Greenwich Avenue. One night when a dance was being held in the Tavern, a group of Puritans broke open the door and drove out all the "merrymakers," who, jumping out of the windows, scattered in every direction to escape the clubs of the Puritan besiegers.
There were a number of taverns along the Post Road and one of the most interesting was Knapp Tavern built in 1731. Israel
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Knapp was granted a license to keep a public house and retail strong drink in Greenwich. Knapp Tavern is now known as Putnam Cottage and is the headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
EARLY SOCIAL LIFE
WHILE the taverns were one of the centers for social life of the town, the church was the real central meeting place for everyone. On Sundays, between long morning services and equally long afternoon services, there was a period of rest when social intercourse was possible. The latest news and gossip was talked over although in a very discreet manner with no laugh- ing, for that would be unseemly on the Sabbath. It was all very respectable and genteel and social distinctions were well defined. The seating in church was arranged with great care and accord- ing to each family's position in the town.
One of the earliest leaders of society in Greenwich was Lady Anne Millington. According to family tradition, Lady Anne ran away from her home in England to marry a dashing young officer of whom her family disapproved. She came to America to find him but he seems to have disappeared so the Lady Anne came to Greenwich, Old Towne, and taught school for several years. Later she married Gershom Lockwood, one of the promi- nent men of the town. When Lady Anne's family in England heard that she had settled down and married a respectable man, they were so pleased that they sent her a carved oak chest filled with silver, silk dresses and a half a bushel of guineas.
Greenwich was very proud of having a "Lady" as a citizen, and it is said that seating in church was arranged according to relationship to Lady Anne.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, pride in the family had become a deep rooted characteristic of the inhabitants of Greenwich. The children, the grandchildren, and great-grand- children of the founders of the town had married and inter-
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married until such names as Mead, Ferris, Lockwood, Reynolds and many others, were really names of tribes or clans. It was a landed aristocracy. The men were all farmers, of simple taste and simple ideas, but there was nothing democratic about them. Newcomers were regarded with suspicion and every inch of land was held with grim tenacity.
Land, always land, was the foundation of family wealth and prosperity. The most important business of the town meetings was the settling of claims to land and the distribution of new tracts of land back in the country. Since the officials of the town were mostly prominent landowners, the new tracts were kept in the family so to speak. Round Hill and Stanwich were new, growing settlements but the old names appear just as con- sistently as in the original town records.
EARLY TOWN MEETINGS
IT IS through the records of the town meetings that we really catch the spirit of Greenwich as it used to be, for almost every action of the government was in relation to farming. At the same time one is always conscious of the great family unity in the town with honorable positions passing from fathers to sons down the line. Except for slight variations, such as plans for a new mill, a new church or another dock, the records are the same year after year, with the appointing of officials as the most prominent item.
The record of a meeting in 1740 when Greenwich was one hundred years old might be considered a representative section, and it is interesting to notice how many of the names recorded are still familiar in the town after almost two hundred years more of town life.
December ye 23 day 1740.
At a town meeting held in Greenwich Leagaly warned, ye Town per vote make choice of Capt. Jeams Reynolds to be moderator for ye year insuing, further
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ye Town per vote make choice of John Knap to be Town Clark for ye year insuing.
Further mor ye town per vote make choice of Mr. Justus Bush & Capt. John Mead, Solamon Cloos & Moses Smith & David Lockwood for select-men for ye year insuing further more ye Town per vote mak choice of Nathaniell Husted and Jeams Reynold & Israel Knap for constabels per ye year insuing-it is pased pr vote of ye Town apt Jeams Reynolds is to Gether ye Cuntery Reat (tax) for ye year insuing.
Further ye Town per vote make choice of Dr. Caleb Knap & Capt. John Mead & David Lyon and sur John Baxter and Jeremiah Anderson & Theophilus Peck & Daniel Merritt and Nathan Smith Juner & Ben Brush and Beniamen Knap & David Marshall and Gershun Lockwood Juner & Jonathan Lockwood Sr., Sirveiez (surveyors) for ye year insuing, and Israel Knap sir- vecer.
Further ye Town per vote make choice of Jabez Mead & Daniel Smith and Moses Smith & Gershum Lockwood Juner fence vewers, further ye town pr vote make choice of David Reynolds, Nathan Mead, Abraham Rundell & David Palmer Kepers and David Reynolds packer.
Commity for high ways Left Lockwood, Dueken Smith, Oscar Holmz, Jams Reynoldz junr Capt. John Mead and John Ferriss junr etc etc.
LIFE QUICKENS
ALTHOUGH Greenwich was fundamentally the same after the first hundred years, there were a number of superficial changes. The strict Puritan ideas had modified and there was more of a spirit of freedom in the church. A number of families were drawn to the Church of England which was struggling to assert itself against the Congregationalist organization in the state. In 1705 an Episcopal parish was established at Rye and
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the rector came at intervals to preach at Greenwich and Stam- ford. In 1738 the Reverend Mr. Wetmore of the parish of Rye held services here regularly once a month. Along with other Episcopalians in the Colony of Connecticut, the people of Stamford and Greenwich sent a petition to the General Assem- bly asking that the members of the Church of England might be excused from paying for the support of the Congregational Church.
The petition was denied but the Episcopalians continued to organize themselves and in 1742 Saint John's Parish at Stam- ford was established. A mission at Greenwich was a part of this parish until 1833 and a meeting house known as Horse- neck Chapel was built on the brow of Put's Hill in 1749. It is difficult for the modern mind to realize the significance of the building of this little Episcopal chapel. The very fact that any other denomination except the Congregational Church could be accepted in the town was really a step forward toward new ideas of freedom.
At the same time in many other ways, the town was develop- ing its field of activity. The farmers were now able to produce more food than was actually needed for their own use. As early as 1696 a small packet boat began to carry potatoes to New York from North Mianus. This was the first business center of the town with a landing and dock where the King's Highway crossed the river.
By the middle of the next century shipping to New York became a regular industry of the town, and weekly boats sailed from Mianus, Cos Cob and Horseneck. At first potatoes were the staple crop and it is said that at one time the potato market in New York was controlled by the town of Greenwich. Later other farm products such as apples, hay, grain, poultry, cattle, sheep and pigs were sent to New York.
While almost everyone in the town was a farmer there were a few men in other trades. In the early days before the Indians
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vanished, there were several fur traders, most of whom were Dutch. One of the oldest houses still standing in Cos Cob is the Holley house, which was built by a Dutch merchant and trader, Captain Bush, who must have been very successful judging from the house. This house was much larger and finer than the average Greenwich farmhouse, with high ceilings and hand carved paneling of unusual beauty.
Another Dutchman who came here in 1750 set up a pottery at Indian Harbor just beyond the tide mill. This Dutchman made especially fine grey stoneware jugs decorated with cobalt blue scrolls and dots. He was very careful not to reveal the secret of how he glazed these pots, milk pans and jugs which he sold in abundance to the farmers of Greenwich.
Business was so flourishing that the Dutchman engaged a boy named Abraham Mead as an apprentice, but he would not tell him the secret of glazing the jars. Young Mead determined to find out for himself so he watched the Dutchman closely for some time, and decided that the secret lay in the way salt was thrown in the kiln just at the right moment.
One day the Dutchman filled his small boat with pots to take them to New York to be sold, at the same time going to New Jersey for a load of clay. He left young Mead in charge of the pottery. Deciding to experiment for himself, the boy started a fire in the kiln, took some pots already made but not glazed and set them to bake. Just at the right moment he threw on the salt in the same way he had seen the potter throw it. "He's got it! He's got it" cried a breathless voice behind him. It was the Dutchman who had just returned from his trip and seeing the fire burning in the kiln had jumped off his boat and rushed to the pottery. The Dutchman made Abraham Mead his part- ner, and later the clever apprentice acquired ownership of the business and was known in the town as Potter Mead.
Thus to a small extent in business as well as in farming the inhabitants of Greenwich became more progressive.
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The series of wars between England and France, which were carried on during the middle years of the century, did not affect the prosperity of the town. A small number of men from Greenwich volunteered in King George's war from 1744 to 1748 but there was more active service during the French and Indian war when Connecticut troops were called in greater numbers. During the early years of the war Greenwich had no volunteer company, although a few citizens were forced into service. A story is told that a number of young men were quietly enjoying themselves at Mead Tavern when they were surprised by a press gang and forced to enlist. A few however managed to escape through a window.
Later a Greenwich company, under Captain Thomas Hobby served during several campaigns and took part in expeditions at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga. Dr. Amos Mead, "sur- geon of ye 3d Connecticut regiment," was one of the citizens of Greenwich who rendered valuable service to the colony. There are stories of other Greenwich soldiers who were in ac- tive service and who, as in the case of Timothy Reynolds, were captured by the Indians.
The years between the French wars and the American Revolution mark a period of real prosperity in Greenwich. The town government was well organized and a town hall was erected in Horseneck next to the meeting house on the corner of the Post Road and Maple Avenue. During these years Horseneck gradually developed into the most influential and prosperous section of the town while Greenwich Old Town changed only slightly.
By this time sections of the town further back in the country had developed into flourishing settlements. Stanwich, a part of Stamford and Greenwich, had become quite independent with its own church society which had been established in 1732. A meeting house thirty two feet by twenty-six feet. was erected near the town school house. Glenville was another growing set-
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tlement with a grist mill on the Byram River. There were a number of Baptists in this section of the town and in 1774 they built their first church on King Street. This building was used as a hospital during the Revolution.
EARLY SCHOOLS
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ALL OF these outlying settlements or towns within a town as they might be called had their own schools. As early as 1756 Greenwich was divided into nine school districts, Greenwich Old Town, Horseneck, Cos Cob, North Street, Pecksland, Round Hill, Quaker Ridge, Stanwich, and Glenville. Two com. mitteemen were appointed at the town meetings to supervise each school but all of these were grouped under one general school committee.
From the very beginning of town history we find Greenwich making provision for the education of the children. The first school house in the Old Town was built in 1667, three years be- fore the first church. At a town meeting in October of that year it was agreed "uppon and voeted that the scoolmaster duse for teaching scoole must bee payd acording to ye number of scoullards that went to scoole, a rate to be made in due pro- portion to make the sum up of what shall fall short of that which is given by any had (those having) noe children or child to send when ye pertickaler sumes was ingaged by them."
The length of the early school terms was not designated until a town meeting in October, 1695, when Mr. Thomas Pert "was accepted to serve ye Towne in ye ofice of Scholle Master for ye space of six months." A school committee was appointed and only those who sent children had to pay, but part of the in- come from the Grimes estate was used toward "ye deffraying of ye school charge."
When Horseneck became more of an independent settlement it was voted in 1709 that "ye schoole be keept seven months on ye west side of Mianus river and five months on ye east side,
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and ye time to be equilly devided in ye winter and ye sumer acording to proportion."
The other school districts were established as the new settle- ments developed. All of these schools were public schools, of course, but they were so very different from the modern insti- tutions called public schools that to call them by the same name seems ridiculous. The whole school house was usually one room and not very large at that. All the classes were taught by one teacher and the ages of the pupils varied from seven to twenty years of age.
During the winter the school sessions were likely to be very irregular depending on the weather, and in summer, this being a farming community, children often had to stay home when important work had to be done on the farm.
As in all New England towns, the building of a schoolhouse or church was a community affair. Everyone did his share of the physical work besides paying the common rate toward the expense of a building. Often the rate or tax consisted of pro- viding a certain amount of wood or a number of clapboards. In some cases an impoverished citizen could "work out" a fine or tax by laboring a certain number of hours on some public project.
Greenwich had its train bands and local militia like all Con- necticut towns. In the early days of the first settlement, every able bodied male was needed to help protect the town from the Indians. Later a body of men known as the "Watch" took the responsibility of protecting the inhabitants. The training of the men was an important town duty all through these years but as discontent with the English rule increased it soon became necessary to train for active military service. Officers who had served in the French and Indian war drilled new recruits so that when the crucial time arrived Greenwich was prepared to answer the call of loyal Americans.
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THE HOLLEY HOUSE ON STRICKLAND ROAD, COS COB, BUILT IN 1685 BY CAPTAIN BUSH, DUTCH TRADER, AND SAID TO BE THE OLDEST HOUSE NOW STANDING IN THE TOWN.
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GREENWICH AVENUE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM PUTNAM AVENUE, ABOUT 1890.
LUMBING
JAS. HAGGE
A.FIN
& SON'S
MARKETSME: S STOREBRO
OSHINCE
LOOKING UP GREENWICH AVENUE ABOUT 1890, SHOWING EARLIEST BUSINESS BUILDINGS.
WATERBURY * CLOTHIER,
AS LOWER GREENWICH AVENUE LOOKED AFTER THE BLIZZARD. THE BUILDING ABOVE WAS REPLACED BY THE WELLSTOOD BUILDING, AT THE CORNER OF RAILROAD AVENUE.
W TT
THE HOME OF THE INDIAN HARBOR YACHT CLUB, BURNED IN 1918, LATER REPLACED BY THE PRESENT BUILDING.
THE OLD MECHANIC STREET SCHOOL, ON STREET NOW KNOWN AS SHERWOOD PLACE. ABANDONED AS A SCHOOL AFTER HAVEMEYER SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN 1892, AND TORN DOWN.
A VIEW OF THE CORNER OF PUTNAM AVENUE AND GREENWICH AVENUE ABOUT 1890,
-
WHEN GREENWICH WAS YOUNG! FIELD POINT ROAD LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE POST ROAD ABOUT 1870. WHERE THE ROAD TURNS IS NOW THE INTERSECTION WITH WEST ELM STREET.
VIEW OF GREENWICH, TAKEN ABOUT 1895, LOOKING NORTHEAST FROM A POINT NEAR THE KENT HOUSE, ON FIELD POINT. EXTENDING UP THE HILL IN THE CENTER OF THE PICTURE IS FIELD POINT ROAD. THE HAVEMEYER SCHOOL, BUILT IN 1892, MAY BE SEEN IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE PICTURE.
GARRIA LS SLEIGHS.
JOHN
RAY
SON
JOHN H. RAY'S BUILDING, WHICH STOOD ON THE WEST SIDE OF GREEN. WICH AVENUE, OPPOSITE LEWIS STREET, UNTIL DESTROYED BY FIRE IN MAY, 1900.
COS COB DISTRICT SCHOOL, BUILT IN 1851, ABANDONED AFTER PRESENT SCHOOL WAS BUILT. LOCATED ON KNOLL ON SOUTH SIDE OF POST ROAD WEST OF CROSS LANE,
THE HOME OF CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON EAST PUTNAM AVENUE, WHICH WAS TORN DOWN IN 1910 TO BE REPLACED BY THE PRESENT CHURCH BUILDING. THE OLD CHURCH WAS OPENED IN 1857.
OLD KNAPP TAVERN, LATER KNOWN AS THE TRACY HOUSE, AS IT LOOKED 50 YEARS AGO. DEDICATED AS THE PUT- NAM COTTAGE IN 1906.
EBENEZER MEAD TAVERN, BUILT IN 1696. GENERAL TRYON'S HEADQUARTERS DURING BRITISH RAID ON HORSENECK. TORN DOWN IN 1882 TO MAKE ROOM FOR FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
BEFORE COS COB POWER PLANT WAS ERECTED. HOUSE BUILT BY CHARLES BARRAS, PLAYWRIGHT, ON KNOLL OVERLOOKING COS COB HARBOR, AND OCCUPIED FOR MANY YEARS BY EDWIN BOOTH, THE ACTOR. THE HOUSE IS STILL STANDING.
J.H.RAY
GREENWICH AVENUE AND LEWIS STREET AS IT LOOKED AFTER THE BLIZZARD OF 1888.
CLUB, TAKEN PRIOR TO 1889. THE CLUB'S QUARTERS CONSISTED OF ONE ROOM OVER A SALOON.
VIEW OF THE GREENWICH YACHT CLUB, WHICH STOOD ON THE SITE OF THE PRESENT INDIAN HARBOR YACHT
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WHEN PICKWICK ARMS HOTEL WAS ERECTED IN 1920. THE LENOX HOUSE, WHICH STOOD ON EAST PUTNAM AVENUE, JUST OFF
GREENWICH AVENUE, TORN DOWN
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00 0.00
--
UPPER GREENWICH AVENUE AFTER THE BLIZZARD OF 1888.
In'Id
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Greenwich Graphic
BUILDING AT GREENWICH AVENUE AND WEST ELM STREET, TORN DOWN WHEN GREENWICH TRUST COMPANY BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1917.
THE OLD GREENWICH ACADEMY SCHOOL BUILDING, WHICH STOOD ON THE EAST SIDE OF MAPLE AVENUE NEAR PUTNAM AVENUE.
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THE GENERAL EBENEZER MEAD HOME, AT THE FOOT OF PUT'S HILL, BUILT IN 1799. NOW THE HOME OF MRS. JOHN MAHER.
THE THOMAS LYON HOMESTEAD. BUILT IN 1670 AND ORIGINALLY LOCATED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE POST ROAD ON BYRAM HILL. MOVED TO SOUTH SIDE OF THE HILL BY SERVICE CLUBS OF GREEN- WICH IN 1927 AND RESTORED.
OLD KNAPP HOMESTEAD AT STANWICH. TRADITION HAS IT THAT THE FIRST MAN SHOT IN GREENWICH DURING THE REVOLUTION DIED IN THE FRONT ROOM OF THIS HOUSE.
OLD TAVERN AT STANWICH DATING FROM THE REVOLUTION. NOW THE HOME OF MISS HARRIET LOCKWOOD.
VIEW OF INDIAN HARBOR HOTEL, WHICH WAS TORN DOWN IN 1895 TO MAKE WAY FOR THE MANSION ERECTED BY THE LATE COMMODORE E. C. BENEDICT.
THE COLONEL THOMAS A. MEAD HOME, BUILT IN 1798, WHICH STOOD ON THE CORNER OF WEST PUTNAM AVENUE AND DEARFIELD DRIVE. THE HOUSE WAS MOVED TO GROVE LANE AND IS NOW OCCUPIED BY RALPH E. BRUSH.
THE RESIDENCE OF ISAAC H. MEAD ON INDIAN FIELD ROAD, NEAR EASTERN END OF BRUCE PARK. THE FIRST BRICK HOUSE IN GREEN- WICH. LATER TORN DOWN.
AS THE POST ROAD LOOKED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY. LOOKING WEST TOWARD THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
VIEW OF OLD DAVIS TIDE MILL, WHICH STOOD NEAR THE PRESENT BRIDGE ON THE SOUTHERLY SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY LEADING INTO BRUCE PARK.
THE S. MERWIN MEAD HOME WHICH STOOD ON THE EAST SIDE OF GREENWICH AVENUE BELOW ELM STREET. THE BUILDING IN THE DISTANCE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE STREET STOOD ON THE CORNER OF THE PRESENT GREENWICH TRUST COMPANY BUILDING.
LAYING THE TROLLEY TRACKS ON GREENWICH AVENUE IN 1901. SECOND BUILDING ON LEFT, WITH PORCH, WAS THEN THE TOWN HALL. VIEW TAKEN FROM SHORT DISTANCE ABOVE LEWIS STREET.
THE TOLL GATE HOUSE, WHICH STOOD AT TOLL GATE HILL ON THE POST ROAD FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY.
VIEW OF LAFAYETTE PLACE, LOOKING SOUTH TOWARDS OLD LENOX HOUSE, WHICH STOOD ON PICKWICK ARMS HOTEL CORNER.
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THE PARSON'S GRIST MILL ON STRICKLAND ROAD, COS COB, BUILT IN 1704 BY REV. JOSEPH MORGAN. OPERATED BY HOLLEY FAMILY FOR MANY YEARS. DESTROYED BY FIRE JANUARY 28, 1889.
THE OLD HOUSE AT INDIAN FIELD, NOW PART OF MEAD'S POINT, OWNED BY CHARLES MEAD. PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN JUNE, 1889.
VIEW OF THE INDIAN HARBOR HOTEL FROM THE OLIVER D. MEAD FARM ON FIELD POINT. THE HOTEL WAS LATER TORN DOWN AND THE MANSION OF THE LATE COMMODORE E. C. BENEDICT WAS BUILT ON ITS SITE.
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