Stamford History Real Time

June Photo Selection of the Month: Gardening in North Stamford c. 1916

The Guide to Nature magazine issue Volume 9, No. 7, December 1916, brings us a nice article under the heading HOMES NEAR TO NATURE. (Mr. Bigelow at his moralizing best.)  Fred McDermant, the bachelor owner of the Stamford Lunch on Main Street, was an avid gardener and had a property in North Stamford, in the Turn-of-River section, where he gardened and built a house.

From Plates, Puddings and Pies to Plants

Charles O. Miller, Stamford Businessman and Philanthropist (Updated May 11)

Working on the next Photo Selection of the Month, this writer stumbled across this note: The Development of a Big Store.

"All over the southern part of Fairfield County The C. O. Miller Company store of Stamford has for many decades been a household word.  Probably in no other locality has any other store had so nearly one hundred per cent of the patronage of a community.  But this community is growing and has been growing rapidly. This necessarily has had an effect on the store.  To meet the greater Stamford and the rapidly increasing needs of this part of the county, this famous dry goods  establishment has been forced to increase its floor space by more than six thousand square feet and completely to remodel and change the building."  read all

April Photo Selection of the Month: Baseball in Stamford

Now that the baseball season has begun again, Mike Pastore and Ron Marcus thought it a good idea to check our archives for baseball in Stamford. Mike found a few photos, and the library (Ron) produced a huge collection of Annual Sports Dinner & Awards Night brochures of the Old Timers' Athletic Association of Stamford to choose from. Of course, the Athletic Association represents several sports besides baseball, such as football, boxing, golf, etc., so stay tuned for sequels.

From the Photo Archives

Uncovering Mysteries – Dick Roberts and Stamford Cemeteries

A recent story in the Stamford Advocate about Dick Roberts and his cemetery project:

Uncovering mysteries

For more about the project, read  Mapping Lost Graveyards in Stamford

Image Copyright © 2008, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

Uncovering the Past: Davenport & Treacy, Piano Plates

A piano related e-mail inquiry led the sleuths in the Marcus Research Library to the Davenport & Treacy Company of Stamford, a foundry that made piano plates.

Picturesque Stamford (1892) has Manufacturing Industries, page 244 ff.: The Davenport & Treacy Company. located on West Waterside.

“Success is such a handy word, and is so often used, that it hardly expresses the situation in this case. The amount of success that has fallen to their lot may be estimated by the fact that from 275 plates in 1884, they developed a patronage so large that in 1891, as their books indicate, they produced the enormous quantity of 23,400 piano plates and a correspondingly large output of piano hardware. The present location at West Waterside was chosen after careful deliberation, because it places them within easy access of piano manufactories by rail or boat. Their works reach the water's edge, and give them unexceptionable advantages in receiving their iron and coal, as well as material for general purposes. Their buildings have a street frontage of about 475 feet, and cover about three acres of ground. Anticipating further progress, they have ample space for the enlargement of their works.”

Photo Selection of the Month, February 2008

Postcards make up part of our Photo Archive, and from time to time we show some of them in our Photo Selection of the Month feature.

So here is our February selection:  From Our Postcard Collection: Bridges

Prior selections:

Postcards from another age
Postcards: Fun at the Beach (Shippan Point)
Portrait Postcards, Early 20th Century

Photo Selection of the Month: Lady Bird Johnson dedicates Kiwanis Park

Ladybird Johnson Opens Kiwanis Park, May 16, 1968

As readers surely know, Lady Bird Johnson, widow of the late President Johnson, passed away in July of last year.

In the collection of The Stamford Urban Redevelopment Commission (URC), as recently described, we discovered photos from the dedication of the Kiwanis Park between Atlantic and Lower Summer Street, the first completed urban renewal project in downtown Stamford. The then First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, officially opened the park, situated next to the Palace Theater, and pressed the switch that unleashed the fountain.

Read all

Today you will find a completely different park, redesigned when the Palace Theater was renovated a few years ago.

Mapping Lost Graveyards in Stamford

Society volunteer Richard Roberts has been searching for and mapping “lost” graveyards after researching his family’s genealogy and developing an interest in cemeteries.  He and Librarian Ron Marcus agreed that he would create a permanent record  for the historical society’s research library.

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