BACK ISSUES – SPRING 2009

By Elizabeth Normen on August 10, 2009 Back Issues

SPRING 2009
VOLUME 7 / NUMBER 2
IN THIS ISSUE: Maritime Connecticut

	By Sea, the British Torch Fairfield
	Keeping Bridgeport’s Lighthouse Lit
	Thimble Island Tales
	Steamers Revolutionize Travel on Long Island Sound
	A Pequot Navigates a Life at Sea

On the cover: The Fayerweather Lighthouse. Photo: Jeremy D’Entremont

Contents Features
pg 16 Full Steam Ahead! A photo essay about how Long Island Sound fostered the Age of Steam. By Brenda Milkofsky
Pg 22 New London’s Indian Mariners Tracking Connecticut’s Native-American maritime past. By Jason R. Mancini
Pg 28 At Home with the Inuit (READ IT HERE) Whaling Captain George Comer’s surprising life inside the Arctic Circle. By Fred Calabretta
Pg 36 Five Connecticuts Defend Our Nation A quick cruise through Nutmeg naval history. By Mark Albertson
Pg 44 The New London Jibboom Club “What a Club! What a Time” it was for mariners in port. By William N. Peterson
pg 50 Cruising the Thimble Islands The colorful lore of Branford’s archipelago. By Alana Joli Abbott
Departments
pg 11	From the Publisher
pg 12	Contributors to This Issue
pg 14	Letters, etc.
pg 26	re: Collections An Autobiography in Scrimshaw. By Richard C. Malley
pg 27	re: Collections Boring Made Easy. By David J. Corrigan
pg 34	Destination Kate Moore, Keeper of the Fayerweather Lighthouse. By Mary K. Witkowski
pg 42	Destination Fairfield Set Ablaze. By Adrienne E. Saint-Pierre and Walter D. Matis
pg 56	Spotlight “The Sooner Home the Better.” By R. Bayreuther Donohue
pg 57	Soapbox Sites Underwater Worth Preserving, Too. By Nicholas F. Bellantoni and David A. Poirier
pg 59	Afterword

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Resistance to Modernism fed the rise of historic preservation in the 20th century. Preservation had roots in the late 19th-century rediscovery of American history and architecture. Early preservationists had concentrated on maintaining sites of historic importance as museums and restoring colonial houses as private homes. But reaction to the widespread demolition of urban renewal and the unfamiliar forms of Modernist architecture brought preservation to public consciousness, and a broader movement emerged.

In spite of its active Modernists, Connecticut, with its long history, actively took to preservation. As early as 1955 the state established the Connecticut Historical Commission to promote its historic heritage.

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New Podcast Episode up now!
In this episode CT Explored publisher Elizabeth Normen draws inspiration from the haunting words of her great-great grandmother, the wife of a sea captain during the Great Age of Sail. Her ancestor was one of hundreds of women in the 19th century who made the difficult choice to leave all they knew and those they loved for the uncertainly of a life at sea. What were the joys and hardships for women who made that choice? Find out in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg.
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Hannah Morgan
Mystic Seaport Museum New Haven Museum Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut State Historian CT State Historic Preservation Office Custom House Maritime Museum The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk Council of American Maritime Museums CT Maritime Heritage Festival Connecticut State Library Museum of Connecticut History Essex Historical Society Mystic River Historical Society New London, Connecticut Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library Greenwich Historical Society Pequot Library Thames River Heritage Park Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame New Bedford Whaling Museum
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From our archives -

Did you know between 1906 and the 1970s customers could select the home of their dreams from a catalog? Purchasing and building a kit home offered substantial savings over the price of a custom-built house. Sears, Roebuck & Co. is perhaps the best known of the companies from which homes could be ordered. Blueprints and the lumber and materials were shipped by train from the mills and warehouses to the nearest train station. There the buyer transported them to their building site and assembled the house themselves or hired a contractor to do so.
How do you know if you have a kit house?

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Order Your House From a Catalog
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Meg Louise Joshua Lewis Curtis Young
A friend of mine's parents had a Hogden House. I believe that they were the first to make prefab houses. 12'x12' walls that were bolted together. 12'x12' square, or 12'x24'. This particular house had a 12'x24' living room, a 12'x12' kitchen, and an ell wing with two 12'x12' bedrooms and a half size bathroom. The house could be unbolted and moved to a different location.
The small cottage on the property here is a prefab, which was likely put up in perhaps in the 1930's? I suspect it was purchased from the Washington (CT) Supply Company as they once sold prefab houses.
I had a Sears kit house in East Canaan
We have one in Woodstock 💗
Nice!
Nice!
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Connecticut Explored is excited that our author Gwen North Reiss won a 1st place in the Style category for the CT Press Club's annual writing competition! Read the full story from our Winter issue below! Thanks to The Philip Johnson Glass House for assisting us with the story! Good luck to Gwen in the National Federation of Press Women's annual competition!! ...
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Philip Johnson’s 50-Year Experiment in Architecture and Landscape 0 By Elizabeth Normen on March 17, 2020 Connecticut History, Uncategorized By Gwen North Reiss (c) Connecticut Explored Inc. Winter 2019-2020 Subscribe/Buy the Issue! Architect Philip Johnson first saw the five-acre piece of land wh...
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From our archives for #HistoricPreservationMonth -

In 1955, more than a decade before passage of the National Historic Preservation Act, Connecticut established a state preservation office, the Connecticut Historical Commission (CHC). Initially the commission had no staff, and its members, who were appointed by the governor, acted only in an advisory capacity to the Connecticut General Assembly and the governor. In 1965 the commission hired Herbert Darbee and a supporting secretary to conduct a statewide survey of historic buildings. The following year, in response to the federal legislation, William Morris was appointed director of CHC (now called the State Historic Preservation Office), and in 1969 he hired John (Jack) Shannahan as his special assistant. By then the campaign to save the Amos Bull House was already several years old.

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Saving Hartford’s Amos Bull House
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Hartford History Center Hartford Public Library Butler-McCook House & Garden Hartford Courant Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut State Historian Connecticut Humanities Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library Preservation Connecticut Hartford Preservation Alliance Museum of Connecticut History
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50 years after it ended, the 1964 World's Fair remains one of the defining moments of its era.

Connecticut’s culture and history were featured in the New England States pavilion, the development of which Connecticut’s governor played a leadership role. State newspapers were peppered with stories as the state planned for the event. “New England Claims World’s Fair Corner,” The Hartford Courant reported on September 23, 1963, the day ground was broken for the New England States pavilion. The pavilion was located next to the Unisphere, a 12-story-high stainless-steel globe that dominated—as it does today—Flushing Meadows Park. Connecticut Governor John Dempsey, chairman of the New England Governors Conference, led the $4 million project.

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Connecticut at the New York World’s Fair
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Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut Landmarks Museum of Connecticut History Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library ConnecticutHistory.org Connecticut Humanities Connecticut State Historian Association for the Study of Connecticut History DOCOMOMO US DOCOMOMO NY/Tri-State New-York Historical Society
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Live Author Talks: Elizabeth Normen ...
Live Author Talks: Elizabeth Normen
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Check out the latest community post from one of your neighbors. (The views expressed in this post are the author’s own.)
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Connecticut Explored
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Our newest podcast episode explores the story of Connecticut’s Jewish farmers in the last century. Surprised that there were Jewish farmers? Many people are, but scores of newly arrived Jewish immigrants were assisted in making their lives in poultry and dairy farming throughout the state. Some farms developed into resorts catering to vacationing urbanites seeking a bigotry free relaxing vacation in the countryside.

LISTEN HERE: bit.ly/3csQmA2
The last three photos were taken in the 1940 by photographer Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration during the Depression. They are now in the Library of Congress.
To read more about Connecticut’s Jewish farmers, go to the Connecticut Explored website to read “Hebrew Tillers of the Soil” from the Spring 2006 issue here: bit.ly/2ztFbsn //
To order Ms. Donohue’s book, A Life of the Land: Connecticut’s Jewish farmers, go to the website of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford at jhsgh.org/store/ ...
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Eddy Portnoy
CT State Historic Preservation Office Connecticut State Grange Agriculture Committee Connecticut State Historian The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven National Museum of American Jewish History Professor Pablo Delano Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies Colchester Historical Society East Haddam Historical Society & Museum Haddam Historical Society-Thankful Arnold House Museum Ellington Historical Society Lebanon Historical Society Museum and Visitors Center Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford Connecticut Food and Farm
Frank Himmelstein Pablo Delano
The history of the Cohen Farm in Ellington CT is available at:https://www.ellingtonfarmersmarket.com/single-post/2014/06/11/Cohen-Family-Ellington-Farmers-for-99-Years
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Cornwall Historical Society Middlesex County Historical Society Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut State Historian Merrit Parkway CT State Historic Preservation Office Preservation Connecticut Connecticut State Library Museum of Connecticut History Hartford Preservation Alliance New London Landmarks The New Haven Preservation Trust Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library
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From our archives for #HistoricPreservationMonth -

CT mill towns were often owned by a single company, which would build and manage housing, stores, schools, parks, libraries, social halls, banks, and utilities. For more than 100 years, these industries thrived, but in the Great Depression of the 1930s, dozens of companies across the state were forced to shed their non-industrial real estate in order to receive federal bankruptcy protection and loan assistance. For the Cheney Brothers Silk Company of South Manchester, Connecticut, that meant selling 245 residential properties in a three-day auction in September 1937.

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The Cheney Company Housing Auction of 1937
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Cool. The American Thread Company in Willimantic also auctioned its company housing. The Mill Museum has the advertising, which closely resembles that of the Cheney auction, including the same colors. Last August the Museum was researching the buyers of units in one of the company housing neighborhoods, to see if it was tenants, landlords, or someone else.
The #113 - 119 was were my family lived till I was 10.! My Uncle lived right around the corner from us. Walked to Washington school through the woods ... couldn't do that today!!
I have been to numerous programs inside and outside of Manchester about the Cheneys, the family and the company and it was always made very clear that they did not “own” Manchester.
Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut State Historian Connecticut State Library Museum of Connecticut History Manchester Historical Society Manchester Public Library, CT Association for the Study of Connecticut History The Mill Museum Town of Manchester CT State Historic Preservation Office Preservation Connecticut Eastern Connecticut State University Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library Connecticut Historical Monument Society
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Terrific! Take a listen- ...
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Connecticut Explored
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We are so excited to have Elizabeth Normen on Facebook Live this Friday, May 8th at 10:00 AM, reading from her book, Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut. Please join us, especially if you have students from grades 5 - 8! We will post the video to our page following the event. 📚🖌

Elizabeth Normen is publisher of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history (ctexplored.org), and two books for students: Where I Live: Connecticut for grades 3-4 (whereilivect.org) and Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut for grades 5 - 8 (venturesmithcolonialct.org). She co-edited African American Connecticut Explored, a book of 50 essays by 30 scholars about 400 years of African American history in Connecticut published by Wesleyan University Press in 2014. She also contributes to Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history (gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com). ...
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Connecticut Explored
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Show your appreciation to teachers! For a limited time, give a teacher a TWO YEAR subscription for THE PRICE OF ONE YEAR AT THE ALREADY DISCOUNTED TEACHER RATE! That's 2 years for just $15! Select the gift subscription option—or if you're a teacher, buy one for yourself—sign up for one-year, use coupon code IHEARTTEACHERS at checkout at ctexplored.org/shop, and we'll add the free second year. If you have any questions or problems, email publisher@ctexplored.org
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Connecticut Explored
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From our archives for #HistoricPreservationMonth:
Some have suggested that the 11-mile Berlin Turnpike be designated Connecticut’s next scenic road by dint of its appearance alone: The turnpike boasts a heady visual mix of neon, brand names, logos, and 1960s motel Modernism. Known as “Gasoline Alley” during the 1950s and heralded by some as sporting Connecticut’s best examples of “roadside architecture,” the road features an offbeat blend of vintage and contemporary gas stations, diners, miniature golf courses, motels, and bowling alleys and the sites of two of Connecticut’s most memorable drivein theaters, in addition to major retailers. But the Berlin Turnpike’s eclectic beauty is not just skin deep. Since the appearance of the automobile at the beginning of the 20th century, the highway served as a model of what a modern road should be.
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www.ctexplored.org/a-hip-road-trip-2/ ...
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A Hip Road Trip 0 By Sarajane Cedrone on February 28, 2017 Uncategorized by Mary Donohue WINTER 2009/10 “The Berlin Turnpike (1942) is our Via Sacra, and the Olympia Diner (1952) our Triumphal Arch.” — Dennis Barone, in “Pike Pique: When Will the Berlin Turnpike Get the Respect it Deserves?,...
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As much as I enjoy the turnpike, a scenic by-way it is not. Too much commercial business, especially in Newington and Wethersfield. Basically a large shopping area.
The motels that turned into "no-tells" Drive-ins gone And the Berlin drive-in X rated... ... I don't think so
Connecticut Humanities CT State Historic Preservation Office Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut State Historian Berlin Historical Society Berlin, Connecticut Berlin Turnpike Newington, Connecticut Hartford History Center Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library Association for the Study of Connecticut History Society for Commercial Archeology Diner Hunter
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Connecticut Explored updated their cover photo.
4 weeks ago
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Connecticut Explored updated their business hours. ...
Connecticut Explored updated their business hours.
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Connecticut Explored
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New Episode of our podcast!
Explore the story of Connecticut’s Jewish farmers in the last century. Surprised that there were Jewish farmers? Many people are but scores of newly arrived Jewish immigrants were assisted in making their lives in poultry and dairy farming throughout the state. Some farms developed into resorts catering to vacationing urbanites seeking a bigotry free relaxing vacation in the countryside.

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I am proud of you for this reminder! A wonderful part of the heritage!
The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven National Museum of American Jewish History Colony of Connecticut History & Genealogy Connecticut State Historian CT State Historic Preservation Office Connecticut State Grange Agriculture Committee Connecticut Agricultural Education Foundation The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Connecticut Department of Agriculture Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut East Haddam Historical Society & Museum Killingly Historical Society Colchester Historical SocietyAssociation for the Study of Connecticut History
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Connecticut Explored
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Spring gardens to cheer us up! ...
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Connecticut Explored
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We’re so excited that RJ Julia Booksellers chose our book ‘Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut’ in their #QuarantineCurlups article for Connecticut Magazine! Get your copy at ctexplored.org/shop 📚👀💻 ...
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Congratulations!
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