USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 55
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 55
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The scenic attractions of Meriden are said to be the finest in the state. It is nearly surrounded by mountains and hills of the trap-rock formation, some of them affording specimens of volcanic action, which have attracted the attention of many scientists. On every hand are varied and beautiful aspects, but those afforded by the Hanging hills and Mt. Lamentation are to an unusual degree impressive. Concern- ing the former and their relation to Meriden and the surrounding country, Reverend J. T. Pettee has given the following beautiful de- scription in his poem, " West Peak," a part of which is here given. He says: " West Peak is the name which we, Meridenites, give to the most westerly of our 'Hanging Hills.' It is, by Prof. Guyot's survey, 995 feet above the waters of the Sound, and, though far from being the highest mountain in the State (Mt. Brace in Salisbury being 2,225 feet high), is, by considerable, the highest of the trap dikes of the Connecticut Valley. Geologists are agreed, I believe, in thinking that the valley, which stretches from Hartford to New Haven, was once
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
an estuary or arm of the sea, and Percival, the distinguished geologist of Connecticut, was the first to show how, by the eruption of the trap across the valley in Meriden, the Connecticut River was made to change its course, and empty at Saybrook instead of New Haven. By a poetic license which, I think, perfectly pardonable, 1 have taken a part for the whole, and spoken of West Peak as being formed under the ocean."
" For ages, when the world was young, I slept upon my lava-bed, While sandstones formed, and oceans sung Their solemn anthems o'er my head.
" Ages on ages rolled away, The wrinkled earth itself grew old ; And still upon my bed I lay, Oppressed by weight and years untold.
" The ocean still above me rolled, The sandstone strata thicker grew ; I lay and groaned beneath the Old, Crushed and encumbered by the New.
" Then in a glad auspicious hour, Which made my rocky heart rejoice,
I felt a resurrection power- I heard a resurrection voice.
" It said 'O mountain, 'wake, arise ; Throw off the sandstone from thy breast ; Roll back the seas, and 'neath the skies Show the bold frontage of thy crest.'
" I woke as from a troubled dream ; Threw off the weight by power,divine ;
Rose to the sun's refulgent beam, And stellar orbs that round me shine.
" The frighted waters sought the sea ; The rifted sandstone opened wide, And I, aglow with light of day, Rejoiced, a Mountain in my pride.
" Nor I alone : On every hand Around me peak like mountains stand. Which heard the voice, and felt the power, That raised me in my natal hour.
" South Mountain, Cat Hole, by my side, Almost as bold and steep as I, Majestic in their mountain pride, Point their tall turrets to the sky.
" High Rock and Rattlesnake arise ; Newgate and Talcott farther on ; And resting on the northern skies, Proud peaks of Holyoke and Mt. Tom.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
" Northeast Mt. Lamentation stands, Higby and Besec, Middletown, To Durham ranges stretch their hands, Where Tremont towereth all their own.
" Totoket rises farther down ; And Pistapaug and Saltonstall Raise to the skies their walls of stone, Their mural castles gaunt and tall.
" Near on my south Mt. Carmel lies, A giant slumbering in his might ; East Rock and West Rock kiss the skies, And Whitney Peak delights the sight.
" While on my West, in peaks less bold, The same Plutonian power is seen, Trappean dikes of lava cold, And sandstone tilted thrown between.
" These lesser heights, whose waving lines Such beauty to the landscape give, Tell of the old Triassic times, And to my tale their witness give.
" The voice which called me from the deep These trappean mountains all did hear, And rose with me from nature's sleep, And stand, as I stand, proudly here.
" And now for long telluric years, I've stood a sentry o'er the land, And watched with varying hopes and fears, The changes of Time's mighty hand.
" I saw the glacier in his might Sweep from the north, a frozen sea, Ice piled on ice to mountain height. Moving, methought, resistlessly.
" I felt his cruel ice-bound teeth Plough in my flanks, as on his way, He ground and crushed my rocks beneath : I show the furrows to this day.
* *
" I've seen the change by centuries wrought Engraved in Progress' deepest lines ; To us with greater interest fraught Than those of old Triassic times.
" I've seen the wilderness subdued, Fair villages and towns arise ; Cities with energy imbued, And art and skill and bold emprise.
" A hundred such around me rise ; I see them from my mountain height ; Their gilded domes and cloud capped spires Lend fair enchantment to the sight.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
" Their business gongs salute my ear, Their throbbing engines jar my crest ;
Their mighty industries appear, Which meet no check, and know no rest.
" Of all the towns that round me rise, Of all the cities that I greet, There's none seems fairer to my eyes Than that which slumbers at my feet.
" Fair city of the Silver Art, Still slumber in thy quiet vale ; With rocky fastnesses begirt, May naught against thy peace prevail.
" Long will I guard thy schools and homes, And hold thy precious interests fast, Watching thy good for years to come, As I have watched it in the past."
Near the summit of West Peak and several miles distant from the city, Percival Park has been projected as a summer resort, and easy roads to the same were constructed in the fall of 1889. In other direc- tions among these hills are attractive drives, among woodlands, along streams, which afford vistas of most entrancing nature. Especially is the drive through Cat Hole pass, between the East and Middle hills, invested with peculiar charms. This pass is about a mile long and very narrow in some parts, the rocks on either hand rising to almost perpendicular heights. Several of the rocks are so strongly marked as to bear some resemblance to profiles of Washington and other char- acters. In this gorge ice remains almost the entire year, and from the lower part issues "Cold Spring."
Less rugged, but also very attractive as mountain scenery, are the high lands on the east, of which Mt. Lamentation# is the principal object.
These beautiful environments conduce also to the healthfulness of the city, whose death rate is one of the lowest in the state, being but thirteen for every thousand of population.
The beginning of the city was nearly one mile east of the present center of business, on which is now Broad street,t which was then called Meriden Center. Its progress from the time of the revolution until 1840 was slow and, in the main, uneventful. At the latter time there were three churches, half a dozen stores, several public houses, a dozen small shops and about sixty residences, chiefly on Market and Colony streets. The principal families bore the names of Andrews, Austin, Booth, Butler, Benham, Barnes, Bailey, Brooks, Cowles, Curtis,
* This was so called on account of the wailing or lamentation made while searching for an early settler who was lost in these wilds, on the Middletown side.
+ Formerly called Market street.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Clark. Collins, Foster, Farrington, Griswold, Green, Hall, Holt, Ives, Jordan, Lewis, Little, Miller, Merriam, Parker, Perkins, Tyler, Twiss and Yale. Descendants of many of these families are among the most active citizens of the present time.
In addition to Colony and Broad or Market streets there were, at the period above given (1840), Main, Liberty and Wall streets, each having about the courses which they now possess. But aside from these, nearly the entire area was a common or consisted of unimproved swamp lands along the brook, which for many years were held to be of little value. In 1815 Jesse Ives bought of Benjamin Merriam six acres of land lying at the northwest corner of Main and Colony streets, for which he paid $100 per acre, which was considered as money wasted. Near the same time twelve acres of land south of Main street and east of the brook was not reckoned worth $800.
The building of the Hartford railroad, in 1839, changed the busi- ness life of the village. The center of trade was transferred from the hill to the Pilgrim Harbor section, and a steady, substantial growth began, which was greatly quickened when the dawn of manufacturing once fairly broke over the place. Since that time, and especially since its incorporation as a city, in 1867, manifold changes have taken place, from one hundred to two hundred new buildings being erected each year, and the inhabitants increasing nearly threefold. The rise of property was gradual in the city and the town, increasing from a grand list of $2,570,797, in 1855, to $10,690,432 in 1889, upon which the rate of taxation was 10 mills.
In 1877 the first complete directory of the city was made, showing 5,293 names; in 1880 the names were 6,210, and the population 15,540; in 1889 the names were 11,165, and the population about 21,000. Doubt- less the varied interests of the city will cause a continued increase for many years to come.
Meriden was incorporated as a city by act of the general assembly, approved July 11th, 1867. One of the sections of this act provided that the inhabitants should " to all intents and purposes remain a part of the town of Meriden." July 24th, 1868, the charter was amended in order to permit the construction of water works by the city.
A revised charter was passed by the general assembly and approved March 28th, 1879, in which the city's territorial limits were described to be the same as those in the original charter, to wit: " Beginning at a point on the north line of the road, formerly known as the Middle- town and Meriden turnpike, 166 rods, 20 links easterly from the junc- tion of said road with the old Hartford and New Haven turnpike, and running south 50° west 328 rods; thence north 582° west 278 rods; thence north 392° west 203 rods; thence north 73° east 193 rods; thence north 532° east 395 rods; thence north 872° east 251 rods; thence south 62° east 258 rods; thence south 26° west 454 rods to the place of
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
beginning; and all the electors of this state dwelling within said limits are hereby declared to be and shall forever continue to be a body politic and corporate in fact, by the name of the city of Meriden, &c."
This charter and the by-laws based on it have been frequently amended, but the limits remain as originally fixed.
The first meeting under the city charter was held at the town hall, August 12th, 1867, and Henry C. Butler was the moderator. A ballot for the first board of officers resulted in the choice of the following ; Mayor, Charles Parker: clerk, John H. Bario ; aldermen, William J. Ives, Hiram Butler, George W. Lyon, Jedediah Wilcox ; councilmen, Lemuel J. Curtis, Owen B. Arnold, Charles L. Upham, Charles A. Roberts, Hezekiah H. Miller, Eli Ives, Augustus C. Markham, Eli Butler, Aaron L. Collins, Isaac C. Lewis, Jared R. Cook, Jared Lewis, Horace C. Wilcox, Dennis C. Wilcox, John C. Byxbee, Walter Hub- bard; treasurer, Asahel H. Curtis; collector, Samuel O. Church; aud- itor, Joel H. Guy.
It will be seen that the foregoing were leading citizens of the town, and their service, in the office indicated, shows what interest they felt in the welfare of the new city. In the main this interest has been continued, and the principal officers have been representative busi- ness or professional men.
The mayors have been the following: 1867-8, Charles Parker; 1869, Russell S. Gladwin; 1870-1, Isaac C. Lewis; 1872-3, Charles L. Upham; 1874-5, Horace C. Wilcox; 1876-S, H. Wales Lines; 1879-80, George R. Curtis; 1881-5, E. J. Doolittle, Jr .; 1886-7, Chas. H. S. Davis; 1888-9, Wallace A. Miles; 1890, Benjamin Page.
City clerks: 1867-72, John H. Bario: 1873 (six months), B. Frank Pomeroy; 1873-5, John H. Bario; 1876-85, Selah A. Hull; 1886-, Her- man Hess.
Treasurers: 1867-76, Asahel H. Curtis; 1877-86, David S. Williams; 1887-9, William Lewis; 1890, W. W. Mosher.
Auditors: 1867-70, Joel H. Guy; 1871-4, A. Chamberlain, Jr .; 1875-7, Joel I. Butler ; 1878-81, Charles L. Rockwell; 1882, Fred. R. Derby ; 1883, Herman Hess; 1884-5, Robert H. Curtis; 1886, John M. Harmon; 1887, Frank M. Byxbee; 1888-9, Chas. J. King; 1890, John M. Harmon.
City surveyors: 1875-7, Theodore H. Mckenzie; 1878-87, S. C. Pier- son; 1888-, W. S. Clark.
City attorneys: 1867-77, Ratcliffe Hicks; 1878, Frank S. Fay; 1879-, James P. Platt.
Judges city court: 1867-8, Andrew J. Coe; 1878-, Levi E. Coe. Of this court, John Q. Thayer is the assistant judge and the clerk.
Presidents pro tem .: 1883, Alderman Robert H. Curtis; 1884-5, Al- derman N. L. Bradley; 1886-7, Alderman Benjamin Page; 1888-9, Alderman Bertrand L. Yale: 1890, Alderman J. C. Twitchell.
City collector: 1890, George A. Clark.
In 1870 the expenditures in the city for all purposes were $42,138-
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
.61; 1872, $86,434.41; 1873, $120,734.45. The entire expense in 1884 was $102,747.43. The appropriations for 1890 were $165,403.16, which was estimated to accrue from various sources and a 10-mill tax on the grand list, to yield $96,500. For many years the rate of taxation was eight mills on the dollar. The city debt, of more than $500,000 in 1878, has been yearly reduced, being $305,320.59 on the first of De- cember, 1889. The finances are in a healthy condition and the affairs of the city are judiciously managed.
The police department was not fully established until several years after the organization of the city government. William N. Beach was the first chief and there were four policemen. In June, 1870, the force was increased by the addition of another patrolman. In 1872, 560 arrests were made, 304 being for drunkenness. In 1876 A. L. Otis became the chief and served two years. In 1878 in addition to the chief, G. F. Bolles, who was at the head of the department until 1883, George Van Nostrand was appointed captain and has since sustained that relation to the force. At the time of his appointment, the force had 3 patrolmen and 25 special officers. In 1883 Roger M. Ford be- came the chief and lias since so served.
In 1884 the patrolmen numbered 6, the specials 28, and the arrests 661. Those charged with drunkenness numbered 367. The depart- ment in 1889 consisted of the chief, the captain, 1 day patrolman, 8 night patrolmen and 25 specials; 742 arrests had been made, about one-half being for intoxication. The police court paid into the city treasury $3,391.59 for fines collected and the department cost $11.056.25.
Under the direction of the city authorities the improvement of the streets began to assume good shape as early as 1870, when A. R. Boardman was the commissioner. That office was held in 1871 and 1872 by Almon Andrews, and more than $50,000 was expended on the streets. Colony street was Macadamized from Main to Columbia, and Main street was graded throughout and a portion Macadamized. Pratt street was also graded and the gutters on Butler street were finished. Broad street had been improved earlier, but was repaired from north to south, and much of Crown street was paved. At this time the city had ten miles of paved gutters, ten miles of blue stone sidewalks, and one hundred cross walks. In the following years sev- eral miles of streets were graded annually.
In 1874 maps and profiles of the streets were made and records opened. The following year profiles of 67 streets were sent to D. S. Chesbrough, sewerage engineer, at Albany, to enable him to report on the advisability of constructing sewers in the principal streets. Later a commission was appointed which, December 1st, 1877, reported that the construction of sewers in the streets as advised by Engineer Ches- brough, be deferred until the use of the Harbor brook be decided in favor of the city. This report was signed by I. C. Lewis, William J.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Ives, Eli Butler and Timothy Healy. In 1878 this committee made a further report that the city charter must be amended before sewers could be constructed. Later the right to use the brook for sewerage purposes being conceded, Andrew's dam in the lower part of the city was condemned, purchased and removed in 1884, in order to carry out a system of drainage so long projected. Since that time lateral sew- ers have been constructed, on some of the streets, near the brook, which is made to serve as an open drain.
At a special city meeting held September 22d, 1891, it was voted to adopt an irrigation plan of sewerage, estimated to cost $125,000; 100 acres of land, lying between South Meriden and alesville have been purchased, to which the sewerage will be conveyed from the central part of the city, by a system of pipes, etc.
In 1879 the city had nearly forty miles of streets, whose condition was reported to be equal to the streets of other cities of like popula- tion. Since that time new streets have been opened and about $25,000 has been expended yearly on their improvement. In 1886 the first iron bridge in the city was built, over Harbor brook, on Hanover street. The Berlin Iron Bridge Company furnished the superstruc- ture, and the entire cost was nearly $4,800.
In 1889 the city had more than sixty miles of streets and about forty-five miles of sidewalks; and in 1890 the amount appropriated for the department was $31,564.66, an amount large enough to place the streets in a creditable condition.
The commissioners since Almon Andrews have been the following: 1873, A. C. Wetmore; 1874, William J. Ives; 1875, E. A. Rice; 1876-7, T. H. Mckenzie; 1878-87. Linus F. Dennison; 1888-9, William Balzer; 1890, J. H. Sanford.
The streets of Meriden are well lighted, at an annual expense of more than 817,000, three-fifths of which is paid for electric lights. At the close of 1889, 86 such lamps were in the service of the city, in ad- dition to the 342 naphtha lamps in use. Electric lighting was intro- duced as early as 1884, when the Fuller-Wood Company put up some lamps on the fire alarm poles, and gave the city free lights for a short period. The first paid service was June 3d, 1887, when the city en- gaged the use of 30 lamps. Gas lights were introduced in 1863, and since that time various substitutes have been used, the chief ones being gasoline and naphtha. For their use 503 lamp posts were erected in various parts of the city, many now being unused.
Prior to 1883, Meriden had no public park. The first step to secure one, aside from a general discussion of the matter, was in the levying of a 2-mill tax on the assessment of the city in 1881, to be due in a year, and to be expended under the direction of the court of the com- mon council, by a special committee of aldermen and councilmen. In January, 1882, the charter of the city was amended to permit the pur- chase of a property of nine acres, lying on Camp, Franklin and War-
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
ren streets, in the northern part of the city, the cost not to exceed $8,000. The property thus acquired was improved in 1884 by grading and planting elm trees along Franklin street. In 1885 two acres of land additional, on Warren street, were added to the area of the park, at a cost of $1,500, and the whole was beautified in 1886 at an outlay of nearly $3,000.
About the same time South Broad street was improved to give it a park-like appearance, and the small square in front of the Winthrop House was beautified, making it a pleasant little spot in that part of the city. About $500 is expended yearly in the care and further im- provement of these park interests.
Soon after the formation of the city government measures were taken to secure what was deemed an abundant supply of pure water. The construction of a system of water works was begun by the city, under the direction of Engineer Bishop, of Middletown, and Decem- ber 25th, 1869, the first water was introduced into the city. The sup- ply was from a reservoir of 70 acres. constructed between two hills, two and a half miles northwest of the city. Here the water was gath- ered from the shed of the two hills, about 300 acres being thus drained, and from springs at the bottom of the reservoir. The dam joining the hills is 50 feet wide at the bottom, 12 feet wide at the top and 300 feet long. A head and fall of 250 feet above the railroad station, in the city, was thus secured, permitting a flow by gravitation at a pres- sure of 105 pounds to the square inch. Compared with the highest point on Broad street, the elevation of the reservoir is about 50 feet less than the above, with a corresponding decrease in the pressure.
The main pipes first laid were 12 inches in diameter, the distri- buting pipes being from 4 to 8 inches in diameter. At the end of four years, more than 20 miles of pipes were in use, and the consump- tion of water steadily increased. In 1874 a canal was built from the east, half a mile long. to increase the drainage into the reservoir. In 1877 the supply was further increased by building a canal a mile long, from the northwest, and draining 700 acres more of land. In 1885 title to this land and right of water privilege were secured, giving the reservoir a drainage area of 1,000 acres. The length of these canals has been increased, giving still better drainage. In 1877 the service to the city was also improved by laying an iron main 16 inches in diameter from the reservoir to Harbor brook, near Main street, thus affording two outlets. By the end of the year the cost of the works was not far from $340,000. Since that time about 850,000 more has been expended on the works, making their approximate cost, in 1890, nearly $400,000.
In 1880 the keeper's house, at the reservoir, was built, and a new iron bridge constructed at the well house. The earth forming the sides of the reservoir being of trap rock, considerable water is lost through filtration, and in 1888 a new dam was built below the old one
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
with a view of arresting the leakage. Within the reservoir from eight to twenty feet depth of water are stored, the full capacity being about 360,000,000 gallons.
In 1881 the department introduced the meter system of selling water to manufacturing establishments, and 52 meters were placed in position that year. In 1889 the number was 77. The largest con- sumer was the Meriden Britannia Company, using about 35.000,000 gallons per year. At this time there were 220 public hydrants, for use in case of fire; four public watering tronghs and five stand pipes. The entire number of services was 2,788. Of the water takers there were 4,000 families, 45 factories, and 95 saloons. The receipts of the depart- ment were, in 1889, 851,456.51, and the net earnings $27,520.88.
The superintendents of the water works have been: 1879-86, H. L. Schleiter; 1887, Oscar Parker; 1888-9, John B. Dunlop: 1890, H. L. Schleiter.
In 1891 a new pumping station was begun, in the town of Berlin, 33 miles north from the city, from which the pure water at that point will be conveyed directly to the city, by means of large distributing pipes. The public supply can be doubled by this system, which will cost $200,000.
The destructive fire, November 27th, 1846, at Julius Pratt's comb shop, which caused the loss of $60,000 worth of property and the death of WV. B. Hall, demonstrated how poor was the protection against a general conflagration. The town was aroused, but several years elapsed before there was an organized effort to stay the fiery element. In 1850 the town bought a small gooseneck hand engine and a few men were formed into a company to man it, with Robert Oughton as the foreman. After a few years the company lost interest in the organization and the machine was set aside. Many years later it be- came the property of Charles Parker, for use in his shops.
Cataract Engine Company, No. 1, was organized not long after and placed on a more permanent basis. Of this company Robert Oughton was also the foreman, but on his removal he was succeeded by Azariah J. Riggs. This company enlisted the support of the leading people in the town and at one time had one hundred members. Its place of meeting was in a building on the opera house lot, and very stringent rules governed its affairs. The company manned an engine of the piano-box pattern, which had been purchased in New York by Curtis L. North, who took a great interest in these affairs. This engine did good service until it was burned at the woollen mills fire, in 1865. After a number of years the Cataract Company disbanded and the engine was manned by the citizens at the fires.
Meantime, in 1856, a "Bucket Brigade " had been gotten up by T. J. Coe, which was also in service several years. Its equipments con- sisted of buckets and ladders, carried on a light truck, and the ap- paratus was stored at the same place as the old engine. In this period
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
occurred, March 9th, 1863, a conflagration which has passed into the history of Meriden as the " Great Fire." All the buildings north of Main street and between the railroad and Colony street, up to what is now Winthrop Square, except the old Byxbee House, were swept away. Five years later the Byxbee House was also burned. This fire caused the town, at its meeting, April 16th, 1864, to authorize its selectinen to purchase engines and to construct reservoirs at suitable points. Before this time, John C. Byxbee and others had formed the Colum- bian Engine Company, No. 1, to which Selectman Bela Carter had given the property of the old Cataract organization. Soon after this the new company had opportunity to purchase the equipments of the disbanded Charter Oak Fire Company, of Hartford, which were labelled with the name of that body. Hence it was decided by the Meriden company to substitute that name for the Columbian, that organization now becoming the Charter Oak Engine Company, No. 1. Of this new company Charles H. Warner, Hiram Knight and John C. Byxbee were active early members. The Charter Oak Hose Com- pany was also organized in 1863 as a companion to the engine com- pany, and George (). Higby was the first foreman. The latter organi- zation is still maintained. An engine house for these companies was secured by Selectman Carter, on State street, near Main, being the first one distinctly so used in the city.
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