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

Lost Streets of Stamford, a New Exhibit at the Society

Our new exhibit, LOST STREETS OF STAMFORD, illustrates a number of streets that were eliminated as part of the Urban Redevelopment of Stamford.

Willow Street View

The first thought of redeveloping the downtown occurred shortly after the passage of Federal Urban Renewal legislation in 1949.  The first concept model of a new downtown may have been that designed by 20 year old John Smith in 1952 while he was working as an assistant draftsman for the Planning Board.  Discussion of the renewal of the downtown area began in earnest sometime around 1956-7 when Louis Greenbaum first initiated serious consideration of the idea.  However, the City was already involved in the East Meadows Project on Jefferson St. and Federal monies were not available until that project was concluded.  The Eisenhower administration also cut federal funds for renewal in the late 50s.

A Weekend of Urban Renewal Education II:Lost Streets of StamfordExhibit Opening at the Society, Sunday, April 13

Second of two events in connection with the photo collection of the URC about the urban redevelopment in Stamford in the 1960s:

Lost Streets of Stamford

On Sunday, April 13, 2008, the Stamford Historical Society will open a new exhibit of photographs which depict many of the streetscapes and structures of downtown Stamford prior to Urban Renewal.  “Lost Streets of Stamford” features Urban Renewal Commission history from 1959 – 1968. 

2:00 – 4:00 PM
The Stamford Historical Society
1508 High Ridge Road

There will be a brief lecture by Dr. Thomas Zoubek, Executive Director of The Stamford Historical Society, about the exhibit and period of urban change in 1960s Stamford.  Refreshments will be served.

Parking is free for visitors to the Historical Society.

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

Uncovering the Past: Old Cato, former slave

By Grace Bounty, research volunteer in the Marcus Research Library.

I came across the death notice of Old Cato in The Advocate, and, as my grandchildren go to school in Suffield, CT, I became interested it.  I originally contacted the Suffield Historical Society, and then by coincidence we received a research request from a gentleman in Suffield who in return for our assistance agreed to do a little sleuthing for us in Suffield about Old Cato.  I am still following this up with the West Suffield Congregational Church, looking for information about the place of burial for Mr. Erastus H. Weed and for Old Cato.

The following death notice appeared in the Stamford Advocate, Friday, January 14, 1886:

An old colored man died a few days ago in the poor house of the Town of Suffield in this state who was formerly a slave owned in this town.  He was known time out of mind as “Old Cato”, and though the date of his birth is unknown there is good reason for believing that it was prior to the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  The Suffield people believe he was “nearer 120 than 100 years old”, and a piece of reliable evidence on this point is furnished by our townsman, Mr. George Davenport, of North Stamford, who distinctly remembers seeing “Old Cato” over sixty years ago, and he then “appeared to be a middle-aged man.”