USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > West Haven > History of West Haven, Connecticut > Part 7
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Present members of the fire commission are: George H. Shepard, chairman ; George J. Miller (elected by the volunteer firemen) ; and Hans Broderson.
BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS
West Haven's Board of Park Commissioners was created by Special Act of the Connecticut Legislature on April 24, 1919, which was later amended on April 8, 1931.
This board consists of three members, "electors and residents of the town", appointed by the board of selectmen for a term of three years each, "not more than two to be of the same political party".
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
Having complete control over all park properties owned by the town, this board has done much to beautify public lands and to provide recreational cen- ters for children and adults alike. The board also has the power to employ a park superintendent and such maintenance staff as is provided for in the annual budget.
Present members of the park board include: Harley Hodges, chairman ; Hugh A. Scallen and J. Frank Doolan. Park Superintendent is Harry Noyes, a former major-league baseball player.
ZONING COMMISSION
On June 12, 1929, the State legislature approved passage of "An Act Author- izing the Town of West Haven to Create a Zoning District". Containing 19 sections, this act empowers the establishment of a zoning commission and a zon- ing board of appeals.
The zoning commission, consisting of five members, appointed by the board of selectmen for five-year terms, regulates the zoning of the town, recommends the passage of various zoning ordinances, and acts to punish violators.
The board of zoning appeals, composed of five members appointed to five- year terms by the board of selectmen, hear and decide upon appeals from the rulings of the zoning commission or other officials charged with the enforcement of any zoning ordinance.
Present members of the zoning commission are: Charles M. Hobro, chair- man ; Charles Merriam, secretary ; Robert Burrell, Hubert C. Hodge, and Michael Donovan.
Present members of the board of zoning appeals are : Alexander S. Lynch, chairman; Joseph Shrebnick, secretary; Joseph Ciochione, Edward Morrissey, and Elmer E. Newell.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
'The earliest known record concerning highway maintenance in this com- munity is shown in the statement of December 27, 1686, wherein it was directed that a road was ". .. to be kept free and open from the mouth of the West Creek to the hay or landing place. . . " This, with other rules and regulations, marked the community's first steps in official supervision and control of its arteries of travel.
DERBY TURNPIKE
One of the earlier of the "good roads" movements affecting West Haven was the formation, in 1798, of the Derby Turnpike Company, a corporation which was to derive considerable revenue from a toll road, running westerly from the State House in New Haven to a spot known as Derby Landing. Much of its route lay within the town. The fact that a fee was to be charged for passage over this highway carried with it an implication of maintenance, which. during an era of ox carts and wooded trails, was assuredly something new under the sun.
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TOWN GOVERNMENT
The building of this turnpike ushered in an era of competition in the establishment of similar roads. West Haven had its section, notably Savin Avenue and Milford Turnpike, in operation from 1802 for a period of 73 years, when it was made a free road by order of the town authorities.
Progressing from the deeply rutted ox-cart trails of that period, West Haven today has 127 miles of highway, a large proportion of which is hard surfaced. The flow of vehicular traffic, reaching its peak during the summer months when thousands of visitors pass through the town to Savin Rock, makes maintenance of adequate highways a far greater problem here than in most towns of equal size.
A legislative act of 1931 resulted in the allocation of $17,500.00 annually to West Haven towards the maintenance of the town highways.
Contrary to general custom, Main Street is not West Haven's principal street. The business and shopping center is Campbell Avenue, a wide, concrete highway of historic importance, running southerly from its junction with the Milford Turnpike to Beach Street at Savin Rock. It was by this route that the British troops marched to West Bridge, there to make their first attempt at the invasion of New Haven; and from its intersection with Main Street can be seen the Town Hall and the historic Green with its two old churches.
In its early days, Campbell Avenue was the scene of a bitter dispute between a newly organized street railway company and certain of the town's more illustrious citizens. The traction people were insistent that their choice of the name "Railroad Avenue" be substituted for "Campbell," the name then in use. Edward E. Pardee, Arthur Benham, and Harry I. Thompson insisted that the name of Adjutant Campbell, noted British officer who fell during the invasion of 1779, should continue to be honored. For a time, there was much determined putting up and taking down of signs on this famous thoroughfare-which today bears the name of Campbell Avenue.
Prominent among the various traffic lanes in the town are Elm Street, Main Street, Jones Hill, Meloy, and Saw Mill Roads, Savin Avenue, and Beach Street. These paved thoroughfares carry most of the vehicular travel within the town.
RUBBISH COLLECTION SERVICE
Inauguration of a rubbish collection service, in 1937, was one of the major accomplishments of the first term in office of the present First Selectman Charles F. Schall.
The six election districts of the town are serviced on separate days, thus assuring a complete service. Householders need only place their rubbish con- tainers at the "curb line" in front of their homes on the appointed day. Two huge trucks, with "Collecto Bodies", each manmed by a view of three, ale assigned to this duty.
Under the supervision of Highway Superintendent Christopher P. Howe and Assistant Superintendent Herman Bill, this weekly service lias met with unanimous favor.
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WEST HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
In every early Colonial community in New England, the hazard of fire loss presented one of the most fearful possibilities that the populace had to face. Buildings of inflammable wood, with bone-dry thatch, or hand-split, roofs and very poorly constructed chimneys, and the ever-present danger of forest fires in surrounding timberland, were a threat to the welfare of the community.
At the outbreak of a fire in the settlement, men, women, and children left their tasks in the home or the fields and ran to help extinguish the blaze. Each householder kept a leather bucket, and usually a ladder, in readiness for such emergencies. These were the precautionary measures taken by the citizenry to protect their property. At the call of "Fire!" they brought their own buckets to the scene of the conflagration, formed a line from the well or spring to the flames, and passed the filled and empty buckets back and forth in continuous movement. This method was effective only in extinguishing the smaller fires but was powerless to combat conflagrations that had gained headway before the arrival of help.
In the fall of 1888, when a raging fire broke out at the Hinman Hotel, corner of Beach Street and Washington Avenue, an emergency call for assistance was sent to the New Haven Fire Department, but the hotel burned to the ground before the New Haven apparatus could cover the long distance over the poor country roads. Aroused by the disaster to the possibilities of heavy fire damage, three public-spirited citizens of West Haven organized a volunteer fire de- partment.
ENGINE COMPANY No. 1
Albert H. French, James Fenwick, and George Flagler circulated a petition for a meeting of townspeople to be held in the Thompson Block, on November 18, 1888. At that meeting, the formation of Engine Company No. 1, West Haven Volunteer Fire Department, was authorized.
Dr. William V. Wilson, named as the first chief of the newly formed de- partment, established headquarters in a barn on Washington Avenue, in the rear of Shephard Pharmacy (now Cornell Pharmacy ). The first equipment was a "Button" hand pumper, manned by 30 men, 15 on each side, and 2 "Jumpers" (hose reels), equipped with high wooden wheels. The original pumper, still capable of throwing a stream of water over the flagpole on the Green, is now stored in the car Barns on Campbell Avenue. The West Haven Water Company, now extinct, installed several hydrants around the center of the town, in an effort to aid the firemen in combating conflagrations.
Until 1892, considerable time was lost between discovery of a fire and the arrival of the fire fighters. When report of a blaze was received at head- quarters, a runner was dispatched to the First Congregational Church to notify
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WEST HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
the sexton to toll the bell. By the time the firemen and apparatus arrived at the scene, there was often nothing left to save.
In an effort to improve the service, several hand-operated "crank handle" fire alarm boxes were installed in that year. These were later replaced by the present automatic Gamewell Fire Alarm System.
The present Campbell Avenue headquarters of Engine Company No. 1, with garage space for the engine on the first floor and sleeping quarters, recrea- tion rooms, and an office on the second, was erected in 1893.
The only woman member of the West Haven department was Miss Carrie B. Rockefeller, now Mrs. Charles Peckham, who, when a girl in her teens, seldom missed a fire and was regularly voted a member of the Engine Company No. 1 on November 7, 1895, "for her valuable services in helping to pull the apparatus".
Members of that early fire department were not without a certain sardonic humor, as indicated by the following excerpt from Engine Company records. "January 26, 1895; Box 8, 4:50 P. M. New house on Front Avenue, beyond fire limits. Company went as far as borough line. Loss $2,000 ... "
THE GRAHAMS
On the evening of January 15, 1892, two groups of firemen met separately to organize hook and ladder companies. Both assumed the name "Hook and Ladder No. 1" and insisted upon the right to use that designation. The contro- versy was finally taken to court and a decision rendered in favor of the "Grahams", on the ground that they were organized 30 minutes earlier than the second company. The Grahams, named for the late State Senator James Graham who gave them financial aid, purchased a truck and built the two-story building on Washington Avenue adjoining the Church Press, where they estab- lished elaborate clubrooms on the second floor.
The organization of a juvenile Graham Company, open to sons of members, for which the Grahams built a miniature replica of their own truck, proved a successful venture, as this junior company won many prizes upon its appearance in parades throughout the State.
THE HOOKS
When the Grahams disbanded on February 16, 1902, the coveted title of Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 was taken over by the rival company, until then Hook and Ladder No. 2, and known as "The Hooks".
"The Hooks" first quarters were in the building at Elm and Water streets, now occupied by the West Haven Oil Company. Their first apparatus, a hand- drawn truck, purchased on February 12, 1892 at a cost of $275, was replaced by a horse-drawn truck on May 4, 1900. These two companies furnished suffi- cient fire protection for the central district, but, as they had considerable difficulty in reaching the outlying sections in time to be of service, the need for additional protection was recognized.
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1
HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
NORTH END HOSE CO. NO. 3 AND SEASIDE HOSE CO. No. 4
The North End Hose Company No. 3 and the Seaside Hose Company No. 4 were organized in 1895. Headquarters of the North End Hose Company, originally at Spring Street and Front Avenue to protect the northern section of the town, has since been removed to a more modern building on Spring Street.
Through the combined efforts of New Haven business men who had large summer homes at Savin Rock, the Seaside Hose Company (now Savin Rock Hose Company No. 4) was organized for the protection of shore residences. First headquarters were established in a fish market on Grove Street, and, in 1908, the present building on Holmes Street was constructed.
THE FIRE POLICE
In 1899, a uniformed unit, the Volunteer Fire Police, was organized to maintain order and discipline at fires and provide protection against looting. The first group of volunteer fire police included Lawrence Moore, as captain, and G. Bescher, J. Fenwick, J. Nissen, J. Kelly, and C. French.
The Fire Police were active in the social life of the town and regularly sponsored outings at the old Lion Park, which occupied the site of the present William Wirt Winchester Hospital on Campbell Avenue. They were faithful in attendance at fires; no sooner had fire department members arrived at the scene of conflagration than the rallying cry of "Fire Police, Get Together" was heard.
The Volunteer Fire Police functioned until 1913, when the regular police department personnel had been so increased that their services were no longer needed.
The last group of Fire Police to serve the town was under the captaincy of the late Albert French, for many years a member of the board of assessors. This unit included Thomas Halpin, Sylvester Burns, John Schmidt, James Kelley, Harry Pond, Michael Wren, James Reynolds, James Fenwick, and George Bescher.
IMPROVEMENT OF FIRE FIGHTING FACILITIES
After the turn of the century, hand-drawn apparatus was discarded in favor of horse-drawn equipment. The contract for hauling the engine or hose- cart to the fires was eagerly sought by everybody, from the leading contractor to the best liveryman in the town. Rivalry of the companies, cach hoping to be the first to arrive at a conflagration, was intense, and they inspired their teamsters with the same enthusiasm for speed.
Between fires, the horses had other work to do and frequently were em- ployed several blocks from the engine house when an alarm was sounded. At the signal the driver immediately unhooked traces, mounted the near horse and rode, circus-fashion, at the dead gallop to the firehouse, where the firemen were impatiently awaiting his arrival. Dogs and little boys followed the galloping
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West Haven's First Motorized Fire Apparatus; Placed in Service in 1912
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West Haven's First Uniformed Fire Police; Organized in 1899 to Do Duty at Fires
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WEST HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
horses. Women ran to front gates, wiping their hands on their aprons and looking up and down the road.
Finally, with a clang of bells and the clatter of iron tires on cobblestone pavements, the fire department wheeled by, men hanging onto the hand rails with one hand as they buttoned their coats or adjusted their helmets with the other, horses with rolling eyes and wide, wind-blown nostrils, and the driver, top man of this bouncing cavalcade, digging his heels into the oaken toeboard and strain- ing hard at the taut reins. Motors make better time, but remembrance of the galloping horses of the old-time fire department brings a pang of regret that they no longer run.
After the appointment of the first board of fire commissioners in 1911, four pieces of Knox motorized apparatus were purchased, one for each of the fire companies. It is claimed that this department was the first volunteer fire depart- ment in the country to become completely motorized. Two of the volunteer members of the Engine Company were hired as paid drivers, one to be on duty at all times. The number of paid personnel has since increased to seven, includ- ing a fire marshal, all of whom are attached to the Engine Company. Shortly after the appointment of two full-time drivers, the chief was placed on a part- time salary. This office was filled at an annual election held by the members of the entire department. In 1936, the salary of the chief was increased to a full-time basis and the post made a permanent one.
Rated highly by fire underwriters throughout the country, the West Haven department has an enviable record as an efficient fire-fighting unit. During the year ending April 30, 1940, property involved in fires, valued at $543,895.50, sustained a loss totaling $51,893.
PRESENT FIRE DISTRICTS
Today there are three separate and distinct fire departments within the town of West Haven : the West Haven Fire Dept. (Center District) ; Allingtown Fire Department ; and West Shore Fire Department.
CENTER DISTRICT
Rolling equipment owned by the West Haven Fire Department (Center District) includes (1940) :
1 Coupe for Fire Marshal. 1 Fire Alarm Wagon (truck) for Supt. of Alarms
House No 1, Campbell Avenue, next to Town Hall-
1 500 gallon Seagrave Pumper.
1 Seagrave-Surburbanite Hook and Ladder (45 foot).
1 Emergency Squad Wagon (grass fires) Diamond T - 500 gal. pump.
House No. 2, Second Avenue near Elm Street-
1 Model "25" Intermediate Aerial Ladder Truck (65 foot).
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
House No. 3, Spring Street, between First and Campbell Avenues (North-Ends)-
1 500 gallon Mack Pumper.
House No. 4, Holmes Street at Hill Street (Savin Rock's)-
1 750 gallon Seagrave Pumper.
ALLINGTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT
In 1907, the section of West Haven known as Allingtown made plans for organizing a fire company. Work on the wooden structure in Admiral Street was started on Thanksgiving Day, 1907, and the building was dedicated on New Year's Day, 1908.
An improved, hand-drawn apparatus served the department until April 15, 1909, when a horse-drawn combination hose and chemical wagon, con- structed by C. M. Hamm, "the village blacksmith", was purchased.
As the water supply was soon found to be inadequate, the district decided, in 1910, to install fire hydrants. A fire tax, levied on the property owners and collectable by the district tax collector, is levied annually for the maintenance of the Allingtown Fire Department and has no connection with the regular taxes paid to the Town of West Haven. An independent board of fire com- missioners is regularly appointed by this district.
Peter Wols, who served as captain of the department since its oganization, was named the first chief in 1913 and held that office until 1925.
During the early days of the department, fires were reported to the engineer of the American Mills Plant either by telephone or messenger ; he immediately sounded the plant whistle to call the volunteers. Motorized apparatus was pur- chased March 15, 1915. A modern brick building replaced the wooden struc- ture in 1928. The second floor is now a community hall.
The installation of a Gamewell System Fire Alarm in the Allingtown District was completed in 1934, under a project of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
Present equipment of this department, still a volunteer unit, consists of two pumpers valued at $21,745. One pumper carries a 45-foot ladder, Indian tanks, gas masks, and an inhalator.
WEST SHORE FIRE DEPARTMENT
The West Shore Department was organized in November, 1918, through the efforts of John W. Curren and a group of West Shore property owners. Mr. Curren was named the first chief. Prior to the formation of this department when a fire proved too stubborn for the bucket brigade, a phone call was sent in to Engine Company No. 1.
The first headquarters of this department was in a shed at the rear of Prospect Street and Ocean Avenue. An enthusiastic and public-spirited citizen, G. Frank Abbott, contributed the original wooden firehouse at Dawson and
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WEST HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Ocean Avenues to the West Shore Department in 1920. The North End Hose Company loaned this new department a hand-drawn hose truck, which served until 1920, when a motorized pump was purchased.
At the time of the purchase of the second piece of motorized apparatus in 1925, George Schlissel was named district fire marshal on a full-time basis. Captain Russell Bartholomew was appointed a full-time driver in 1931. The chief of the department is elected annually from among the 114 volunteer mem- bers and serves without pay.
A P'WA grant provided for the construction of a modern, red-brick fire- house, completed in 1936, on the site of the old headquarters. The basement has been fitted out as a rathskeller for community affairs. The installation of a Gamewell System of Alarms was made in 1937, as a Works Progress Admin- istration Project.
MEMORABLE FIRES Burning of the Horse-Car Barn
On July 3, 1893, a fire completely destroyed the horse-car barn which stood on the site of the present car barn on Campbell Avenue. This wooden building, a block long and one-story high, housed the 200 horses and the cars used on the New Haven and West Haven Horse Railroad.
The fire was caused by spontaneous combustion. Gunpowder, stored there for a Fourth of July celebration, ignited and spread the fire rapidly. When the fire started, the horses stabled there were freed. They galloped out and fell into single file to jog over their customary routes. Some went to New Haven, circled the Green, and returned to the burning barn. The others went down Campbell Avenue, swung around Skeele's Restaurant at Beach Street, and also returned to the barn. Habit had been stronger than fear. They were finally herded into open lots along Campbell Avenue and Curtiss Place, without the loss of a single horse.
Destruction of the Waddingham Mansion
Among the largest and most spectacular fires in West Haven annals was the destruction of the stately "Waddingham Mansion", on Elm Street, on October 16, 1902. The massive building, valued at $500,000, containing 44 rooms, was termed "the show place of New England". It was erected by Wilson WV. Waddingham, who was credited with having discovered a gold mine in the Black Hills and was a partner in the Emma Mine. Mr. Waddingham was sub- sequently known as a "Cattle King", owner of cattle ranches in New Mexico, where he was a large landholder. The building, unoccupied at the time of the fire, was then the property of Thomas H. Linehan, New Haven casket manu- facturer. The Waddingham estate, bounded by Elm Street, Second Avenue, Fourth Avenue and Wood Street, was afterward sub-divided into building lots.
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
II. H. Richards Lumber Company Plant Fire
The H. H. Richards Lumber Company plant in Water Street was destroyed by fire on April 16, 1909. Four houses adjoining the plant were also burned to the ground in this fire, with a total loss of $75,000.
Hack Saw Shop Fire
On March 8, 1911, fire swept the interior of the West Haven Hack Saw Shop, Elm Street, and razed an adjoining duplex house. The loss was estimated at $30,000. The fire was caused by the ignition of a vat of oil used to temper hack saw blades.
Church Press Building Damaged
The Church Press Building, a two-story structure, was gutted by fire in April, 1914, with an estimated loss of $15,000. The fire started in a garage at the rear of the printing shop, worked its way through a connecting shed, and ignited the Church Press Building.
Fifteen Buildings Destroyed
On November 21, 1917, a disastrous fire, fanned by an off-shore wind, destroyed Jackson's "Palais de Dance", corner of Summer and Marsh streets, and the adjoining Wilcox's Moving Picture Theatre, at Beach and Summer streets, eight dwelling houses, and five large barns. Damage reached a total of $100,000. Tlie West Haven Fire Department, under the late Chief Charles Cameron, had but one pumper at the time and was reinforced in fighting the fire by two New Haven companies. 'The origin of the fire was reported "unknown".
Car Barns Burn .
The West Haven Car Barns on Campbell Avenue were swept by fire on May 9, 1917. The interior of the brick building was destroyed; the estimated loss was $29,130.
In 1921, there were four large fires. Bishop's Colonnade, in Beach Street, burned with a loss of $35,000. On April 6, 1921, a large barn in Brown Street near Campbell Avenue, owned by Charles Chamberlin and occupied by the Columbia Enameling Works, burned at a loss of $5,500. A company employee lost his life in this fire. The famous Orpheum Theatre in the old White City, a 1,200-seat house, was burned on June 26, 1921, with a loss estimated at $25,000. On August 17, 1921, the barns of D. M. Welch Company, at the rear of the large grocery store at Campbell Avenue and Curtiss Place, were destroyed by fire. Fifteen delivery-wagon horses were destroyed. The loss was estimated at $8,000.
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WEST HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
On November 24, 1923, a fire starting in chemical stock at the Sanderson Fertilizer and Chemical Plant, Wood Street, now the American Agricultural Company, caused damages of $25,000.
West Haven's most recent big fire, June 11, 1932, raged for twelve hours and resulted in the destruction of extensive water-front property at Savin Rock, with damages of about $500,000. The Liberty Pier, an amusement concession known as "The Devil", and many booths operated by concessionaires were de- stroyed. Every volunteer fireman in the district was called out to aid in fighting this fire.
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