USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > West Haven > History of West Haven, Connecticut > Part 4
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'T'he first "flying horses" at Savin Rock were originated by Charles Hagar, an early concessionaire, who operated in the Grove in 1878. Hagar's horses, of light construction and portable, were frequently transported to country fairs and other resorts on a wheeled cart. Motive power was supplied by a man who pro- pelled the apparatus by means of a rope. Julius Lambert purchased Hagar's outfit in 1879, leased space from the Winchester Railway Company, and operated there for several years. As Lambert's business grew, he replaced the man-power outfit with a horse-power arrangement - a treadmill with a belt drive, operated by a small chestnut horse, who acquired local fame because of his fondness for chewing tobacco.
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
A 40-foot tower at the top of the slope at Savin Rock was used as an obser- vatory until it burned in 1897. Contemporary reports of the period state that crowds of as many as 50,000 people visited the resort in a single week-end.
From 1880 to 1893, local shipbuilding enjoyed its most prosperous period and during that time became the town's most important industry. The business prospered until local forests were exhausted. Shipwrights, usually from Nova Scotia, were quartered in a large boarding house near the shipyards. Within the 13 years of the yard's peak activity, 14 three and four-masted schooners were launched. Each launching was the signal for a holiday, and the entire town turned out to cheer the brave new hull as she slid down the ways. Skippers who sailed West Haven vessels brought back inany tales of exploit and adventure that have been handed down to the younger generation of steam sailors. Cap- tain Robert Ives commanded the James Ives, a three-master, displacing 1,450 tons, launched here on November 29, 1883, and also the Charles F. Tuttle, a three-masted schooner of 1,506 tons, launched June 12, 1886. Captain Ives, after many voyages along the Atlantic coast and around the Horn, succeeded to the command of the Maine-built four-master, John H. Platt, of 1,800 tons. The Captain promised to take his family with him on one voyage and chose the year 1898 to keep the promise. The John H. Platt, with the skipper's wife and child aboard, was proceeding under ballast to Brunswick, Georgia, for a load of cotton, when she ran into a hurricane and foundered, November 12, 1898. All hands were lost.
Some other West Haven ships were unlucky. During the period when marine architects were adding every inch of sail that a vessel could carry, the Florida, built at local yards, had such heavy topwork that she capsized when launched. The James D. Dewell left West Haven shortly after her launching in 1882, bound for the West Indies for cargo. Off the New Jersey coast, she ran into a gale and went aground on Ocean Grove Beach, N. J. She was never refloated but served as a resort attraction for many years.
On the morning of July 21, 1891, the Lucinda K. Sutton slid majestically down the ways, with Captain O'Brien at the helm. Bands blared and the crowds cheered. The decks of the vessel were bright with the gay dresses of the belles of West Haven, and an atmosphere of gaity extended even to the shipwrights who knocked away the blocking and scurried for safety. The time for launch- ing had been set without proper allowance for the tide, which was then low, and the deck load was so heavy that the ship stuck fast on a mud bank as soon as she left the ways.
The Lyman WV. Law, a West Haven four-master of 1,690 tons, was launched August 28, 1890. This vessel carried many cargoes to and from Europe until 1917, when, under the command of Captain Blake, she was one of the merchant vessels sunk by Germany just prior to the United States' entry into the World War. Carrying a cargo of citrus fruits, she was destroyed off the coast of Spain.
With the depletion of local timber and the coming of steam, West Haven shipbuilding declined. The first reduction in activity was the change from sloop
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
and schooner designs to barge construction. Finally the yards turned to repair work and refitting and, eventually, to the building of pleasure craft.
Although West Haven lost its importance as a shipbuilding center, it retained its supremacy as a shore resort. Savin Rock grew by leaps and bounds. A con- cessionaire known as "Skeele" operated the leading restaurant, bath house, and pier, and the lights were never dim at his establishment. Clam chowder and roast clams were favorite dishes, and the "shore dinner" was popularized. People made annual pilgrimages to Skeele's, just as the Indians formerly came down "to salt".
Frank Wilcox, one of the pioneers in shore amusement, who had once ped- dled peanuts and operated the Venetian Swings and flying horses, purchased Skeele's in 1900 and enlarged it several times, until it now accomodates 1,000 diners. The 50 cent and 75 cent dinners served became famous along the entire New England coast. Here, the first American installation of self-operating doors swung before a waitress with loaded tray in April, 1931. The Stanley Works made the hardware for this installation, and Wilcox's became the field laboratory for self-operating doors controlled by the photoelectric cell. Frank Wilcox, master host, died in 1928, but the business still endures.
Following the pattern established by the Colonial industrialists, West Haven manufacturers have continued to diversify in a number of different types of industrial enterprises. An abundant supply of semi-skilled labor has helped local factories to prosper. Many of the present-day industries moved from New Haven and other cities to this suburb, to benefit by the lower taxes; many founded in the late nineteenth century are among the town's leading industries today. Among such firms was the American Buckle Company, founded in Mid- dletown in 1843 and reorganized and moved to West Haven in 1885.
Low taxes were notable in the Borough of West Haven during those years when industry was seeking factory sites and feeling the first powerful surge of mass production and heavy profits. In 1888, the borough levied a five mill tax, and the economical rural government of Orange Township added only ten mills. The Grand List of the Borough was a conservative $1,641,570, and the State Register and Manual of that year noted the beginning of "manufacturing to some extent at West Haven".
Rail transportation, horsecars that provided service for workers going to and from their tasks, and the lack of crowding in housing facilities were favorable factors in the growth of West Haven industry. Near by, at Savin Rock, sandy beaches and picnic areas offered recreational opportunity, and the farmers from the Town of Orange were always ready to deliver firewood, produce, and milk at reasonable prices. The factory hand enjoyed a better living in West Haven than in many of the larger cities; the factory owner could depend upon an abundant labor supply. Small wonder that manufacturing flourished here.
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, many pretentious and luxurious homes were erected here by wealthy New Haven men. Most spectacular and typical of the period was the Waddingham Mansion (since destroyed by fire) on
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Old Savin Rock House, a Famous West Shore Hostelry, Destroyed by Fire in 1870
"Lovers' Lane", Savin Rock, in 1900; The Hill is known as "Savin Rock Proper".
HHISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
Elm Street. Wilson Waddingham, a millionaire, who had been a day laborer until his discovery of a gold mine in the Black Hills, was subsequently a partner in the famous Emma Mine. His West Haven residence was built by dividends paid by the mine.
Doors and walls were of solid mahogany, with panels of highly polished curly maple. Ceilings were decorated with portraits of Thomas Jefferson, Ben- jamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, John C. Calhoun, and Robert E. Lee. On the walls of the billiard room, 12 large paintings depicted dramatic scenes from American history. Decorative tiles, beneath the windows, illustrated Sir Walter Scott's works, Mother Goose rhymes, and the signs of the zodiac. The inlaid floor of this room was composed of 8,000 separate pieces. Elaborate chandeliers of hammered bronze were wrought by distinguished European craftsmen.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The turn of the century brought industrial progress and a new civic con- sciousness to West Haven. A number of New Haven industries, seeking lower tax rates, moved to West Haven, where they could enjoy as good transportation facilities and, at the same time, have close at hand the semiskilled laborers, who had been attracted to New Haven during the Spanish War boom and, in large numbers, had settled in West Haven.
West Haven became sports-conscious about the beginning of the century. The baseball park at Savin Rock was patronized by thousands of fans who fol- lowed the fortunes of the New Haven teams in the State and the Eastern leagues. At night, the "Rock" was a brilliant blaze against the sky and an esplanade of gaiety. Many famous restaurants and hotels opened for business, each with its own particular clientele. Sportsmen, boxers, ball players, actors, and the various entertainers made their headquarters at Savin Rock.
In 1901, Mr. Albert Widmann obtained a charter from the General Assembly for a daily ferry service between Savin Rock and Lighthouse Point. Five vessels were put into operation, and two piers were built; the service was conducted for thirty-three years without a single accident.
When the last horsecar went into the barn, and a clanging, electrically operated street car arrived at Savin Rock, the older residents believed that they were indeed witnessing a new era in transportation and a startling development. When the first electric fountain sprayed rainbow-hued streams of water into the air, the gasping crowds thought the limit in spectacular beauty had been attained. But the electrification of Savin Rock and West Haven on June 13, 1892 was only the forerunner of a period of greater expansion.
In 1902-03, the great White City was built on the site of the old Connecticut League Baseball Park, and Savin Rock became a miniature Coney Island. Under an incandescent tracery of lights, the White City blazed forth like a fairyland. Fireworks and balloon ascensions were featured, band concerts were favorite entertainments, and the entire area glittered with concessions that lined
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
the edge of the sidewalks within the enclosure. The trolley company reaped a golden harvest until the mass production of automobiles.
In 1910, Mr. Albert Widmann established an annual cross-harbor swimming contest starting at Savin Rock and finishing at Lighthouse Point, which attracted thousands of spectators. A two-dollar entry fee, returned to every contestant who actually finished, confined the race to accomplished swimmers. After 1934, when a section of the Lighthouse Pier collapsed under the weight of the crowds, Mr. Widmann withdrew his sponsorship, but the contest has been continued as an A. A. U. event, under the auspices of the New Haven Register
In 1913, a building boom of such proportions developed in West Haven that it became necessary to appoint a building inspector. The Board of Police Com- inissioners was created in 1914. That same year, the N. Y., N. H., and H. R. R. built an east bound station to handle increased traffic, and the New Haven Distributing House of the Western Electric Company was established at West Haven.
With 1917 came American participation in the World War, and West Haven did all it could, both in purchase of Liberty Bonds and the provision of men and materials of war. Savin Rock was swept by a $100,000 fire in 1917. In 1918 the old "Connecticut Building," relic of Chicago's World's Fair, burned, with an estimated loss of $35,000. In that year, the board of park commissioners was created to provide public recreational areas.
The Town of West Haven was incorporated June 24, 1921, by an act of the General Assembly. At long last, the community became a self-sufficient unit, with its own town government. Town meetings have continued to be spirited events, just as they were back in Colonial days, when the Revered Theophilus Morris said that West Haven people were ready in debate and "the most learned in casuistry" of any group he had ever met.
West Haven suffered four serious fires in 1921, with losses totaling $75,000. Liberty Pier, fronting Beach Street between Grove and Holmes Streets, was erected at Savin Rock in 1922. The Pier extended 500 feet over the water, and on it were located novelty and refreshments stands, fun houses, and a roller coaster called "The Devil".
Many of Savin Rock's leased concessions stood on property of the Connecti- cut Company, the traction company that served the area. In 1924, the transpor- tation organization decided against further, operation of recreational facilities and sold the White City to the Savin Rock Amusement Company.
While West Haven's industry has grown steadily through the years, occa- sional periods of misfortune have visited the Savin Rock Community, so depen- dent upon transient pleasure-seekers for a large portion of its income. The last year of big gate receipts at the concessions was 1926. In 1932, Liberty Pier was destroyed by a disastrous fire. Faced with the reduced income of the depression years and suffering this great fire loss, an average organization probably would have abandoned the project and made no effort to rebuild. This was not true of
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Fountain in the Old Savin Rock Grove-1900; Varied Colored Lights Played on the Water at Night
Lake Phipps, Artificial Body of Water; Source of West Haven's Water Supply-1902
HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
the operators of Savin Rock. During the year 1938, a new Water-Scooter was built in the Grove at a cost of over $30,000, a new Fun House costing over $7,000 was erected on Beach Street, and a new skating rink, also on Beach Street was constructed at an expense of about $20,000.
In the hurricane of September, 1938, the high seas and gale wrecked practi- cally all of the buildings on the south side of Beach Street, with the exception of the Showboat, which, ironically, was the only building in Savin Rock covered by hurricane insurance.
Elaborate plans are now in preparation for many new amusement concessions and renovation of the old. Two new "rides" have been erected on the site of the Palais Royal, which was completely demolished. The Thunderbolt, partially destroyed, has been rebuilt, and a new nightclub has been opened on Shore Road at Oyster River. The baseball park and the outdoor arena, used for boxing bouts and midget auto races, both suffered heavy hurricane damages but have since been thoroughly reconditioned. A carrousel, to extend over the water on the south side of Beach Street is under construction at a cost of more than $50,000 and a large wooden dancehall, formerly on Washington Avenue, has been moved to Beach Street in front of the Hill's Homestead, and converted into a "ride".
A campaign to incorporate West Haven as a city failed in a Town Meeting in 1929. A State Armory was constructed here in 1931, and the appointment of a zoning board, zoning inspector and zoning board of appeals was voted. The 1939 Grand List was $62,945,006 gross. The town area is 7,204 acres.
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WEST HAVEN INDUSTRY
Few industries aside from the grist mill developed in the farming community of early days. Records show that a paper mill was established in 1776, but farming and oystering continued to be the chief occupations of the settlers.
Within the last century a number of diversified industries, whose products have gained a wide reputation for excellence, have been established in West Haven.
HUBBARD SORGHUM MILL
In 1862, John Hubbard erected a mill, which still stands, about a quarter mile east of Oyster River off Jones Hill Road, for the purpose of refining sorghum as a substitute for sugar, during the shortage in the early days of the Civil War. Sorghum was planted in the early spring and harvested in the early fall before the stalks were dried out. After the leaves had been stripped off, the stalks were put through a series of rollers geared to a vertical shaft; power was supplied by a horse harnessed to a rotating shaft in the lower floor of the . mill. The juice, pressed from the stalks, was run through a trough into large cooking pans or separators in the refinery, where it was boiled until it reached the consistency of molasses or corn syrup. The output of the mill, though not large, was sufficient to furnish West Haven, Orange, and Milford residents, who came to the mill for their supplies and paid an average of 50 cents a gallon. The Hubbard family usually planted about an acre of their land with sorghum and also on a share basis, refined the sorghum raised by the neighboring farmers.
The old mill building, which operated until 1883, is still standing, though the refinery has been torn down. Much of the old machinery is still in the pos- session of the Hubbard family. In the mill may be seen the shaft that reached from the ground up through the roofing timbers; stored away in a nearby wagon shed, are the larger copper pans used for cooking the syrup.
H. H. RICHARDS LUMBER CO.
Oldest of the present-day or recent industries was the H. H. Richards Lumber Co., formerly of 37 Water Street, founded in 1849 by three brothers, Edward A., George O., and Benjamin F. Richards. With large dockage facil- ities on the West River channel leading into New Haven Harbor, this firm, originally capitalized for $10,000, was continuously under the direct management of the family of the founders, who personally supervised both the executive and operating affairs of the company and employed local labor almost exclusively.
In the building boom, 1923-27, when a large number of apartment houses were erected in New Haven and West Haven, the company reached its most marked prosperity and employed a yard force of 45 men. Early in 1939, the company was forced to liquidate and the assets were purchased by the Batter Building Materials Company of New Haven.
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WEST HAVEN INDUSTRY
WEST HAVEN BUCKLE COMPANY
The West Haven Buckle Company of 742 Washington Avenue, founded in 1853, produces buckle specialties of many varieties, including surgical buckles, and fastenings for artificial limbs, orthopedic appliances, garters, overalls, and other clothing.
On the first board of directors was Sheldon S. Hartshorn, an inventor, who patented in the company's name on July 24, 1860, the first hinged buckle made in America, from which most of the buckles of this type in use today have been developed.
Three years after its organization, the firm was joined by George H. Kelsey, founder of the American Buckle Company at Middletown, Connecticut, whose plant there was destroyed by fire in 1856. In 1860, the business gained impetus, when Daniel Trowbridge, a wealthy, retired shipowner and merchant, who traded his stock in an oyster company for that of the buckle company, was elected pres- ident. Mr. Trowbridge directed the affairs of the company until his death in 1893. In 1900, when the company was reorganized, Phelps Montgomery became president ; J. C. Hyde, secretary, and C. E. Thompson, treasurer.
Until 1934, power used in the factory was generated by a two-cylinder, up- right steam engine of the old Corliss type, built by the New Haven Machine Company and installed in 1853. After nearly 82 years of active service, this engine was carefully dismantled and is now on display at the museum of Henry Ford at Dearborn, Michigan.
The present officers of the company are Phelps Montgomery, president and treasurer ; John P. Montgomery, secretary and manager; A. M. Hyde, technical advisor.
THE AMERICAN BUCKLE COMPANY
The American Buckle Co., 291 Campbell Avenue, was originally founded at Middletown by George HI. Kelsey in 1843, who conducted the business there until 1856, when the plant was destroyed by fire. Mr. Kelsey, who was associated with the West Haven Buckle Company until 1885, reorganized the American Buckle Company in that year and established the present plant. Beginning with a small, two-story, red-brick building, the plant has been repeatedly enlarged, until it now occupies 60,000 square feet devoted to the manufacture of overall buckles, wire specialties, tin trimmings, cash box handles, and other wire novelties for the makers of many trade-marked articles. More than 75 per cent of the company's products are used by nationally known overall makers.
This concern is reputed to be the first of its kind to make use of the process of electric welding in joining wire ends. All of the equipment needed for the process was designed and built within the factory. The designs of articles pro- duced here are coverel by over 50 patents, including the exclusive right to man- ufacture the "movable bar" type of overall buckle. In 1934, when the Wire Novelty Company plant moved from West Haven, the buckle business of that firm was purchased by the American Buckle Company.
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
For many years, the Kelsey family, which in 1885 subscribed to almost all of the capital stock, remained in exclusive control. Officers of the present company are Robert J. Hodge, president; Jessup Salisbury, vice-president and treasurer; and Hubert C. Hodge, secretary. The company now employs an average of 50 persons, the majority of whom have been continuously in the firm's employ for from 30 to 50 years.
THE CHURCHI PRESS
The Church Press, occupying a two-story, wooden building at 674 Wash- ington Avenue, is reported to be the oldest print shop in New Haven County that has been continually under the management of one family. The firm specializes in all types of ecclesiastical printing, and, on a web press capable of printing a 16-page tabloid, prints the town's weekly newspaper, The West Haven Town Crier.
Sherman Thomas, grandfather of Nathan Thomas, who now conducts the Church Press, opened a small printing shop in New Haven in the late 1880's. Edwin P. Thomas, son of Sherman, served his apprenticeship in this little establishment and is reputed to have originated the idea of printing daily baseball scores on a single sheet of paper, a tabulation that found a ready sale in the cafes and business houses of New Haven-as its successor does today.
In the spring of 1892, Edwin P. Thomas and Robert W. French formed a partnership and started a printing shop in a little brick building on Washington Avenue, West Haven, near the plant of the West Haven Buckle Company. They named it the "Knox-All" Printery. A short time later, they removed the business to its present location, a building erected by the late Senator James R. Graham. In 1897, Mr. French resigned from the firm, and in 1901 the name was changed to The Church Press. Edwin Thomas continued to operate the plant until his death in 1920, when his two sons, Herbert and Nathan assumed control. Herbert, the senior partner, died in 1937.
The printing shop, now under the management of Nathan Thomas, does all types of job printing, from advertising pamphlets to books. Complete equipment for job work consists of two linotype machines, four small job presses, two cylinder presses, folder and cutter, saws and caster, and a flat-bed web press.
HAMM BLACKSMITHING SHOP
The Hamm Blacksmithing Shop, formerly located at 1165 Campbell Avenue established by Charles M. Hamm in 1890, originally specialized in the construction of metal parts for the finer carriages of that era. With the advent of the auto- mobile, the concern turned to hand-made finishings, such as ornamental iron garden benches, and, when they, in turn, were superseded by machine products, specialized in springs and spring repairs.
Until the firm closed down in 1939, Mr. Hamm, then 90 years of age, was still actively engaged in the business with his son Max, who, at the age of 14, began to serve his apprenticeship with his father. The building has since been demolished.
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Old West Haven Railroad Station and the West Haven Buckle Company Plant
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Making Buckles at the American Buckle Co. Plant; 75% of Product Used by Overall Manufacturers
WEST HAVEN INDUSTRY
AMERICAN MILLS COMPANY
The West Haven Branch of the American Mills Company, in the Allingtown section, corner of Orange and Front Avenues, produces clastic webbing for the manufacturers of suspenders, garters, corsets, and other articles of apparel.
Established here in 1903, with Archer J. Smith as president, the original plant consisted of one building, used for both manufacturing and executive purposes. The present plant includes a factory covering a 200-foot frontage on Orange Avenue and a 700-foot frontage on Front Avenue ; a one-story, red- brick weaving room, on Front Avenue; and a three-story red-brick adminis- trative and shipping building on Orange Avenue. The company regularly employs 250 persons and, periodically, a large additional force, operating on two or three shifts, as orders require. The present officers are: Julius B. Smith, president; James R. Sheldon, vice-president; and F. M. Chamberlain, secretary and treasurer.
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