USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Hamden > The history of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1959 > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
THINGS THAT CAME AND WENT
The Hamden Times newspaper, at first under the editorship of Daniel Prince and later under Warren Brainard and William Davis, was published weekly, and its press was housed in the historic building in Cen- terville which had been the scene of old town meetings. The paper, a short-lived competitor to the two New Haven papers, was never a financial success.
Day Spring Lodge, following the razing of the old town hall, had occupied temporary rented quarters in Centerville while they accumulated funds for a build- ing of their own. In 1933 their Temple was built where Centerville trotting park had been, two blocks north of the central corner.
The repeal of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1932 caused a unique and unprecedented joint meeting of the Democratic and Republican town committees, in which they harmoniously set up the plans for getting out the vote-a circumstance which is not likely to be
438
The History of Hamden
repeated. Repeal added new sources of revenue to the town treasury, the first of which came from the state in the subsequent issuance of beer permits.
Pine Rock, notable for its early geological interest and the Indian Cave, as well as the Blakeslee Com- pany's quarry business was greatly changed when they set off 20 tons of dynamite there, which lifted 180,000 tons of rock and dropped it 40 feet away. The blast was the last of importance at the quarry, substantially exhausting the usable material there, where for forty years the plant had yielded millions of tons of trap-rock for construction and foundation work.
SESQUICENTENNIAL
The year 1936 marked the 150th birthday of Ham- den as a municipality, and First Selectman Rochford invited representatives of all religious, civic, fraternal, and patriotic organizations of the town to form a com- mittee to plan an appropriate celebration of the sesqui- centennial. This central committee, which divided it- self into the necessary number of subcommittees in charge of details, was comprised of: Arthur H. Adams, Recreation Board; Harry D. Alling, Day Spring Lodge, Masons; William H. Avis, Press; William H. Balke, Selectman; Floyd A. Beecher, Hamden Plains Church; Leon A. Booth, American Legion, Post No. 88; Jere- miah Camorota, Italian-American Club; Manley E. Chester, Historical Society; Fiore Ciccone, Crosswell Lodge, Odd Fellows; Rev. George Cooley, Whitney- ville Church; Miss Gladys Crook, Girl's Reliance Club; Mrs. William J. Curren, Colony Club; Mrs. Robert L. Eaton, Mount Carmel Book Club; Roland
Only the Giant Sleeps 439
C. Finley, Grace Episcopal Church; Bernard J. Fitch, Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; George P. Fitch, Selectman; George D. Ford, Mount Carmel Congregational Church; Mrs. George D. Ford, Mount Carmel Civic Club; Miss Angelina Funaro, St. Ann's Church; Mrs. Robert Gibson, Hamden Music Club; Goldwin H. Graham, Chamber of Commerce; John H. Hamilton, St. Rita's Church; Mrs. Amelia Hansen, Alice Chapter, O. E. S .; Mrs. Thomas Hartley, Thim- ble Club; Mrs. Howard Hine, Norwood Club; Mrs. Hamilton Ingersol, Whitneyville Community Club; George J. Kimler, St. Stephen's Church; Mrs. Harold Lewis, Dunbar Community Club; Mrs. Sadye Maguire, United Social Club; Mrs. B. Hartley Mann, Visiting Nurse Association; Edward A. Nichols, Disabled American Veterans; Mrs. John Nichols, American Le- gion Auxiliary; Fred C. Olsen, St. John the Baptist Church; Miss Alice Peck, West Woods Civic Club; Arthur J. Ralph, Historical Society; F. Raymond Rochford, First Selectman; Mrs. Clayton Shores, Whitneyville Woman's Club; Roscoe Steffen, Church of Christ in Spring Glen; Stephen J. Terani, St. Steph- en's Church; George Warner, Ex-Selectman; Michael J. Whalen, Press; Mrs. Arthur Woodruff, Red Cross. Mr. Rochford issued a proclamation:
Commencing today, Hamden will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its town government. We may prop- erly feel just pride in the founders of our town, and in their successors who have carried on the develop- ment of Hamden.
Many residents of other towns in Connecticut and of other states have through their forefathers, ties and connections with Hamden, and we now invite them to come and visit with us.
440
The History of Hamden
To others we also extend a sincere welcome. On June 14, 15 and 16 there will be formal functions, exhibitions and festivities, all of which we trust will be interesting and entertaining. June 16, which day marks the 150th anniversary of our first town meet- ing, will be observed as a holiday.
In behalf of the people of the town of Hamden, I invite all townspeople, neighbors and friends of Ham- den, to join in commemorating the 150th anniver- sary of Hamden.
In advertising the celebration, two thousand pairs of automobile markers were sold, bearing the words "Come to Hamden's 150th anniversary June 14, 15, and 16." Green and gold gummed stickers designed by Alex- ander Murdoch, picturing the town hall, and with the message, "Welcome to Hamden Sesquicentennial Cele- bration June 14, 15, 16, 1786-1936," were used by the hundreds on letters and packages. A bright neon sign was affixed to the front of the town hall: "1786-Ham- den-1936." The booklet and souvenir committee pub- lished a 35-page booklet containing brief historical matter, pictures and the celebration program. They also issued 500 copper coins commemorative of the occasion, bearing a likeness of the Sleeping Giant on one side and Eli Whitney's achievements on the other.
Nine evening broadcasts from radio station WELI were presented by prominent citizens, calling attention to interesting features of the coming activities. Many of the oldest houses in the town were labeled with the name of the builder and the date. The only one-room schoolhouse still in use in Hamden, in West Woods, was painted red to make it more realistically in keep- ing with old times.
CAR
HOUTH
Mount Carmel Churchgoers in Costume on Sesquicentennial Sunday
---
عيد عازل
Sesquicentennial Group at Town Hall
-
Part of Sesquicentennial Parade, showing Selectmen's Carriage
441
Only the Giant Sleeps
SUNDAY, JUNE 14
At II A.M. services in the Mount Carmel Congrega- tional Church were conducted in the same manner as the ancient Sabbath procedure held there in 1761, and the congregation came attired in period costumes. Old collection boxes were used and the communion table was set with the original pewter service and a tablecloth eighty-one years old.
At I P.M. the firemen held memorial services at the Whitneyville firehouse hall, honoring members who had died. This service is a yearly custom, observed by fire companies throughout the state on the same day, which by chance this year fell on Hamden's celebration date.
At 1.45 P.M. a town-wide religious service under the direction of Reverend George Cooley of the Whitney- ville Church was held in the high school, attended by seven hundred people. Mr. Rochford spoke briefly, and the local clergymen who took part were Reverend Matthew Brady of St. Rita's, Reverend Harry Poole of Grace Church, Reverend William Jackson of Hamden Plains Church, and Reverend John Reilly of St. Ann's. The address, "The Founders of Connecticut, America's First Pioneers" was delivered by Reverend Dr. Rock- well H. Potter, Dean of the Hartford Seminary Foun- dation.
A pageant, "In the Valley of the Blue Hills," which depicted the history of Hamden, was presented by over 350 local participants under the direction of the author, Miss Lauretta Plumley, in Montgomery's Field on Mount Carmel Avenue in the shadow of the Sleeping Giant's head, to an appreciative audience of six thousand people.
442
The History of Hamden
The industrial exhibit in the Auditorium of the town hall was visited throughout the celebration by interested crowds, viewing the displays of twenty-eight local groups. Equal interest was shown in the exhibits at the Historical Society's old red house on Mount Car- mel Avenue, at the Mount Carmel Library, and in the town-hall committee room, which included military trophies and flags, ancient maps which showed the location of houses in the town, spinning wheels, beau- tiful old homespun cloth, furniture, dishes, and cloth- ing.
MONDAY
Under the training and direction of Miss Keane and Miss Andrus, one thousand school children presented a patriotic festival at Webb Field on Monday afternoon. At 4.30 P.M., sixteen memorial trees-eight on the north boundary of the high school and eight on the south-were dedicated and named in honor of the six- teen first selectmen of the last fifty years. The trees were given for this purpose by Walter Wirth, superintendent of the New Haven Park Department, and Joseph Bar- ry. Mr. Rochford presented the president of the Ham- den Historical Society, Manley E. Chester, as the speaker for the occasion, who said:
The town is justly proud of its sixteen stalwart leaders who have so ably managed our affairs these last fifty years. It has not always been easy in a town of this size to satisfy the many local points of view. With so many outlying sections needing local consideration, it has always taken tact and patience, love of their fel- lowmen, and consideration of the town as a whole, to satisfy all needs within the budget. We feel, how- ever, that these selectmen are representative men of Hamden. The present generation is showing the same
443
Only the Giant Sleeps
interest and responsibility in town affairs as their pre- decessors have done. We feel that the future years will be in good hands.
Of Mr. Rochford, Mr. Chester said:
Our present first selectman needs no tree or milestone at this time. He is demonstrating his keen ability to manage the town's affairs, and the citizens of the town have confidence that Hamden's "ship of state" will be safely guided through any troubled waters which may surround it. His will be the first tree and milestone of the second century of the town which will be celebrated in 1986.
A musical program was presented in the high school auditorium in the evening by Walter West, pianist; Katharine Grimes, violinist; and vocalists Caroline Thorpe, Ruth Brown, James Morton, and the Ham- den Music Club chorus. Prizes for winners in the essay contest were awarded to Betty Booth in the junior- high-school class for "Early Hamden"; to Gladys Jackson in the high-school class for "Hamden's Past Fifty Years"; and in the open class to Rachel Hartley for "A Plan for Hamden's Future."
At IO P.M. a spectacular display of fireworks was shown on the high-school grounds, with accompanying concert by the high-school band.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was the culminating high point of the three- day celebration, starting at 9.30 A.M. with a program of school athletics at Legion Field. At 12.30, a parade of major proportions took place. The vehicular division went from the town hall down Dixwell Avenue to
444
The History of Hamden
Morse Street, to Newhall, to Putnam, to Whitney, and, joined at the Web Shop bridge by the foot division, pro- ceeded to Legion Field. It was reviewed from a stand in front of the Masonic Temple by the three encumbent selectmen, and former First Selectmen George Warner, Arthur Woodruff, John Davis, and Edward Sanford.
Led with dignity and precision by the veteran mar- shal Benjamin Bamford, the full parade was in the following order: Benjamin Bamford, marshal; Town officials, citizen's committee; 102nd Infantry Band; Hamden Police Department; Fire Department; High- wood V. F. A .; Hamden's oldest fire apparatus; Sec- ond Company Governor's Foot Guard, and Fife and Drum Corps; New Haven Grays; Horse guards; Sons of American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps; American Legion, Post 88; Disabled American Veterans; High- land Heights Drum and Bugle Corps; Girl Scouts- Boy Scouts; Hamden Grammar School Band; Meriden School for Boys Band; Mount Carmel Church (old straw picnic wagon); First District Republican Club Tally-Ho; Visiting Nurse Association float; Brock- Hall Dairy float (three old-style horse-drawn milk wagons); Norwood Club carriage; American Legion float; United Social Club float; Connecticut Doughnut Company float; St. Ann's Church float; West Woods Circle float; Chamber of Commerce float; Whitney- ville Community Club float; Dunbar Hill Community Club float; Red Cross float; Glen Terrace Nursery float; a 1914 Ford sedan (Anthony Raccio); Mr. DeVecchia store float; Hamden Laundry float; O. & F. garage float; Terrani Bros. (builders) float; Giant Valley Fuel Company float; Mount Carmel Civic Club auto; Ham- den Building Tile float; Handen Provision Company; Goodman machines.
445
Only the Giant Sleeps
Prizes were awarded to the floats of the American Legion Post 88, depicting an old horse-drawn canal boat; to the West Woods Circle for their replica of the old red schoolhouse complete with teacher and pupils; and to the Red Cross Chapter for their effective and appropriately decorated float. When two years later the city of New Haven celebrated its tercentenary, the Legion canal-boat float was Hamden's entry in their parade.
Upon the arrival of the parade at Legion Field, the crowd of several thousand people stood at attention dur- ing the raising of the flag and the playing of the na- tional anthem. First Selectman Rochford welcomed the gathering and thanked the people of the town for help- ing to make the celebration a success. At his request the four ex-selectmen rose and were heartily applauded. Judge John L. Gilson, chairman of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, gave an address in which he drew attention to old family names of Hamden which had come down through the proud years of the town's growth - "Dickermans, Gilberts, Allings, Mixes, Hitchcocks, and a host of Warners." He spoke of our old town meetings as uplifting and inspiring, and said,
In this present atmosphere of tranquility, recollections of the early lives of the founders of Hamden must come back to rouse a nameless responsive thrill of some- thing deep within us. Like morning mists on Hamden's own immovable mountain, cling magic memories of her pioneers; raising a throb in every heart that loves liber- ty, rekindling the fires of patriotism in our own breasts, and engendering never-ceasing admiration for its splen- did exemplification in their lives.
The afternoon ended with a baseball game in which a team composed of so-called "old timers," appropriate-
446
The History of Hamden
ly in keeping with the nature of the celebration defeated the high-school team, 6-2. In the evening at the high school, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer was per- formed by the Hamden WPA adult education project.
The three days' devotion to the enactment of scenes and events of our town's proud past brought together people of all ages and of varied interests from the ten villages whose activities so rarely coincided, in a happy realization of mutual pride in the history of their own town. That history, thus touching them closely, be- came of more vivid importance, and no one who par- ticipated as either actor or spectator could fail to be inspired by the past and imbued with a wish to take personal part in the future accomplishments of Ham- den.
Part V The Old Order Changeth
PART V THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH
A T the age of 150 years Hamden did not settle down into a pattern of comfortable routine -she took a deep breath and launched into a strenuous and far-sighted program of get- ting ahead, determined to take maximum good care of the children, have the best possible government, and keep a watchful eye on the pocketbook. Change-more than anything else-and with a capital C-has been the pronounced characteristic of her past 23 years. Change in the form of government and in all of the municipal departments; areas which had been agricultural became wholly residential developments; industrial firms grew and increased in number; shopping centers, the Cross Parkway and better roads changed travel patterns; and schools expanded and multiplied.
The selectmen, almost reluctantly, attached as they were to the old New England town meeting, asked a group of 16 people to serve as a committee to study the town's governmental structure with an eye to the possibility of needed changes. The committee, made up of representatives from the various municipal branches, labored diligently for months but "brought forth a mouse" with recommendations for the merging of the Town Plan and the Zoning Boards, the appointment rather than the election of assessors and the Board of Tax Review; concerns of the dog and the tree wardens; and a pension plan and Civil Service for town em- ployees. Cautiously the committee, rather than recom- mending it, suggested as "desirable" the reduction of the School Board membership from nine to seven.
450
The History of Hamden
But need for a change in form of government was becoming more and more evident as attendance at town meetings was chiefly of pressure groups whose purpose was to put through measures in their own interest. The Representative Town Meeting composed of 49 mem- bers was instituted in 1953. Voters, who now come from seven instead of five voting districts and have the privilege to speak but not to vote in town meeting, show little interest in appearing. Among other forms of gov- ernment which have been talked about as most suitable for the town as its size and magnitude increase, are council-manager and straight city-mayor forms.
The town's bonded indebtedness was reduced from $1,328,000 to $920,000 in the period between 1935 and 1942 and the tax rate was lowered a half-mill to 211/2 mills-a circumstance not likely to recur. The rate in 20-odd years has advanced to 331/2 mills; while the grand list which was $43,181,668 in 1936 has be- come $ 154,200,000. The tax rate is now set at an ad- journed town meeting in February: Property re-assess- ment was made in 1952 following the survey made by the Cleminshaw Company.
The law suit which the town had instituted against the surety company for the treasurer's defaulted bond at the time of the Hamden Bank failure, was won by the town after appeals had been made, up to the refusal of the Supreme Court to hear the case, and the amount paid the town, including interest, was $80,636.40.
In the depression years when the relief load rose to a high of 881 in 1939, the selectmen were typically careful of even the smallest detail concerning money matters-lumber from an old house razed on town property was used to build a storage shed near the town hall; and those taxpayers who were financially unable
451
The Old Order Changeth
to pay their assessments but who were able-bodied, were allowed to "work out" their taxes on the roads.
With customary pride in Hamden's ability to man- age to stay financially sound, the selectmen boasted that no relief bonds had been floated during the depression. There was no significance to the coincidence that the additions made to the town hall at that time were to the tax office and a new police "lock-up".
Seventy-five local boys went to Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camps, and at the time that Old Age Assistance was abolished 153 people were enrolled. As many as 1 50 people were working with Works Progress Administration (WPA) and among the projects under- taken that contributed much to the scenic assets of the town were the pathway up the Sleeping Giant and the look-out tower at the top; and Baldwin Drive, for which funds were furnished by the government as a memorial to Governor Simeon E. Baldwin, who had left $ 1 50,000 toward it. The drive runs for six miles along the western border of Hamden from West Rock Park entrance to West Shepard Avenue, and among the beautiful views it affords is a full panorama of the town.
In the 1940 registration of men 21 to 35 for the draft, 3,000 responded; and as the war went on the honor roll on the site of the Miller Library added leaf after leaf to include the eventual roster of 3,300 names, and of this number 77 gave their lives. Their names were engraved on a wall of the town hall rotunda, as were four which represented the gold star men who perished in the Korean conflict. A practice has been made of naming new streets in Hamden after war dead. A War Memorial Committee of 46 people pondered long and seriously, narrowing their choice for recommenda-
452
The History of Hamden
tion to a veterans' building, a library, and a recreation center, with the latter brought before a town meeting which rejected it.
Citizens played an active part in war services. There were in 1946, 62 Land Army Girls who helped farmers with weeding and picking vegetables in the county, and they were housed in the Giant Valley clubhouse (the golf course was at that time inactive). An air raid warning system was set up, and 125 men served as Civil Defense auxiliary police. The Ration Board had quarters in the Centerville School. A radio room was established in the town hall tower, and faith- ful Ground Observer Corps watchers scanned the sky from that point. Victory gardens were made available to the public by the town in Bassett Park, Pine Rock field and the Webb property in Spring Glen.
An advisory center was set up in 1946, and hundreds of veterans called upon Walter Connor for its services, which he continued to give in the years since he has been town clerk. A second American Legion group was formed, in Highwood, as were chapters of AmVets, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Jewish War Veterans, and Italian War Veterans.
Both food and fuel conservation committees func- tioned in 1947; the high price of meat brought about a short time boycott; and for a number of cold weather months public buildings were not used evenings in the interest of saving fuel.
The cement paving of Whitney Avenue by the state from Cliff Street north to Todd Street included tear- ing out trolley tracks, and buses became the new trans- portation medium. In this project was a new bridge over Lake Whitney at a safer angle; and the lake within two years was re-bridged at Davis Street. Assist- ant Town Engineer Frederick Oberlin designed the
453
The Old Order Changeth
structure, and after his death in 1938 it was dedicated to him. Honoring his outstanding war record, memorial stained glass windows were installed in the town hall rotunda.
In the space of five years bridges were constructed over the railroad tracks at Mather Street and Treadwell Street, and the railroad shared the expense of bridges that carried the tracks over Putnam Avenue, Skiff Street, Sanford Street and West Woods Road.
Dr. George Joslin's long service as part-time health officer ended in 1939, and Dr. Walter Lay succeeded him. A public health survey of Hamden was made in that year under the direction of Dr. Ira Hiscock by the Public Health Department of the Yale School of Medi- cine, and many of the suggestions made were acted upon. A sanitary inspector was appointed in 1940, and in 1946 Dr. Leonard Parente was named Hamden's first full-time health director.
An outstanding project in school health was the use of fluorine on children's teeth for the prevention of tooth decay. Ours was the first school system in Con- necticut to test this process. At the end of two years the record showed a 40 per cent decline in tooth decay. The Hamden school system was again among the first to have inoculations of the Salk vaccine for the prevention of polio in 1954; and clinics were also held for adults. Hamden well remembered the frightening time in 1943 when there had been 18 cases of polio and two deaths. Town employees were given Asian flu vaccine in the epidemic of 1958.
In 1940 there was a definite revival of both residen- tial and industrial building, with several sizeable real estate developments, and the erection of such large factories as High Standard and Botwinik Bros., and extensive additions to Acme Wire and Whitney Blake
454
The History of Hamden
companies. But by 1942, government restrictions were felt, requiring that only low cost houses could be built, and only veterans' houses in the housing shortage of 1946. But by 1947 Hamden was surpassing nine neigh- boring towns in home building. Home building has steadily continued, and in a number of developments contractors failed some of the necessary requirements, especially of roads. Town Engineer Elwood Nettleton recently sponsored a town regulation which now requires pre-qualfication of contractors for public contracts.
When Dick's Pond was drained and seven acres of land thus reclaimed, there was made possible not only a recreation field and an addition to the play area of Church Street School, but sites for 63 state-aid houses.
The three privately-sponsored libraries turned over their facilities to the town when the Library Board was set up in 1943, and three library buildings were erected in 1950, in Whitneyville, in the west side of town, and the one in Centerville in part financed with the Miller Memorial fund. The leadership in library service for Hamden has been outstandingly that of Charles Ducey, continuously chairman of the Library Board except for its first few months, an able speaker and worker in library interests. The same year brought the buildings of the Jewish Center, the Spring Glen Church, and Post 88 American Legion.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.