May 22, 2013 · 7:23 pm

First Subdivision

Subdivisions are a well entrenched part of American life, whatever one’s opinions of them are.

The first planned subdivision in New Hartford occurred in 1947.  It is still in existence, largely unchanged, and is now called Litchfield Lane off of Town Hill.  It was originally called Town Hill Acres.

The newspaper description of this subdivision is clearly reveals the attitudes of the time.  The newspaper comments that they are negotiating with the town over road maintenance for the new roads being created, an entirely new problem for that era.  They also note that all of the houses will be attached to the public utilities, again something we take for granted.  The houses were also purported to be ‘interesting innovations in the Town Hill landscape”: they were ranch houses, the first of their kind in the town.   The houses were to be neither excessive ‘edifices’ nor ‘embarrassingly’ small.  They were designed to appeal to the middle class.

We do not tend to think of suburbia as noteworthy history more often seeing its faults than its successes, at best we are ambivalent about it.  Yet, it is clear that not only is it a major trend in American culture, dominating the late 20th century; but it was also regarded as both innovative and aspirational by the people of the time.

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May 15, 2013 · 5:20 pm

Memorial Monuments

Like most small towns, New Hartford’s relationship to global, or national, history is apparent in the monuments erected in response to various wars.

There is, oddly, no actual monument to the Revolutionary War (or earlier action, including the ill-fated Havana expedition of 1762 during which eight New Hartford men died, a major toll for such a small town).  However, the Town Hill Bell is, at the least, a reminder.  Men from New Hartford were involved in the Revolution from the beginning, including a slightly odd dash to Lexington and Concord, which turned back at Turkey Hills in Granby when it was apparent that the fighting was (for the moment) over.

The Civil War is well recognized.  The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which stands in the North Village Cemetery, is a sobering reminder, especially when the number of names on it is tallied.  It was erected in 1892 and dedicated in 1893.

World War One is not so immediately obvious: the simple stone with its bronze tablet is easy to miss, though its location outside Town Hall is prominent.

World War Two is commerated in Pine Meadow, on the green ( Chapin Park).  This monument, erected in the 1950′s, is daunting in its numbers: 212 men from New Hartford served during that war.  From the last names it is clear that many were relatives or brothers.  The list of names takes up the entire front, with the center panel dedicated to those who died in action.

Its back, however, is equally sobering for it records the actions since then: Korea 1950-1955, Vietnam 1961-1975, Grenada and Lebanon 1982-1984, Panama 1989-1990, Persian Gulf 1990.  In all these wars men and women from New Hartford have served.

At some point, in the coming years, Afghanistan and Iraq should be added for there have been members of the armed services who have done tours of duty in both areas who have come from New Hartford.

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May 8, 2013 · 7:11 pm

Cemeteries

New Hartford has a number of cemeteries.  There is the Town Hill Cemetery: non-denominational, this is the first cemetery in town, established in 1738.  Originally open to all residents of New Hartford, it is still technically owned by the citizens.  Then there is the Old Bakersville Burying Ground, the Old Nepaug Cemetery, the North Village Cemetery, and the Pine Meadow Cemetery (all now non-denominational).  These are all established around 1800 as the villages from which they take their names become established.  In the mid 1800′s, Immaculate Conception’s Cemetery, Catholic in denomination, is established at the same time as the Catholic church in town.  It owes its presence to the influx of French Canadian, Irish, and Italian immigrants, who moved to the town at the same as the factories took off.  Lastly, Pine Grove and the New Nepaug Cemetery are established close to the turn of the last century. The former is an expansion of Pine Meadow (though on the other side of the river), the latter an expansion of the Old Nepaug cemetery.

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May 1, 2013 · 9:28 pm

Drinks for Horses

In the modern world, we have gas stations for our convenience.  In the age of the horse and buggy, gas stations were not needed; however, water was.  Public drinking troughs, often with decorative fountains, were commonplace in all towns and cities.  In some historic districts these still exist, and the range of decoration is truly amazing.

However, in most places, the trough was purely utilitarian.  They were placed either in convenient town centers and supplied with water from the public water system, or in more remote areas where a horse might need to pause (as it might be at the top of a hill) and where a spring could provide water.  Obviously, river and stream crossings also supplied water.  These were generally wooden and it is likely that none of these, once ubiquitous, roadside icons still survive.  Though, the springs that served them can sometimes still be found.  There is one on River Road in Barkhamsted, between Pleasant Valley and Riverton, for example.

In the center of New Hartford there were several troughs.  At the intersection of Bridge, Church, and Route 44 a large riveted barrel served as the trough.  This was a very utilitarian one; but it served well.  It later was used at Asa and Irving Burdick’s dairy farm on Town Hill as a trough for the dairy cattle.  Legend has it that this barrel also served as the local drunk tank, in the old meaning of the phrase.

A more ornate water fountain was found at the Community House, now the Post Office lot.  Modeled on European, multi-level fountains this was on private property, but nonetheless served the public.  When drinking troughs were no longer used, this fountain found its way to a private home in New Hartford, where it remains to this day.

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April 24, 2013 · 9:34 pm

The Church that Stabbed Itself

Local history is built from a multitude of stories, tragic and funny, beautiful and horrible.  One of New Hartford’s more peculiar stories is that of ‘The Church that Stabbed Itself’, otherwise known as the Town Hill Congregational Church.  At the corner of Hoppen Rd and Town Hill is the Town Hill Memorial Park, built on the foundations of this church.  Currently, the bell is down for renovation, see a New Hartford Plus article of a few weeks ago.  This was the site of the first church and meeting house in town, dating back to the 1739.  Its history as a church site and as a park has been long.  However, it is best known for a windy day in January, 1910.

The church that stood there in 1910 had been built in 1829, a postcard perfect of example of Connecticut Congregational Church architecture: a classical white church surrounded by a small farming village and green fields.  But even as it was being built, its congregation was leaving.   By the 1840’s, the centers of Nepaug and North Village were rapidly expanding industrial centers.  The villagers saw no reason to climb all the way up Town Hill, building instead two new churches: North Congregational and Nepaug to serve their communities.  Town Hill’s population was declining as marginal farms were abandoned, what congregation was left would eventually shift to the other churches.  The church gradually fell out of use and in to disrepair.  By 1910 it stood vacant, damaged by lightning and time.

On that January day the steeple was lifted by the wind; it snapped off just above the bell and flipped backwards.  It had been well built, the roof was old, and, as luck had it, it fell just right.  The spire went right through the roof and lodged in the old balcony.  This failure may have been due to the removal, presumably accidental, of the iron tie rods that secured the spire.  The roof patched; but the steeple was never rebuilt.  In 1929, the church was completely removed, only its bell and the foundation stones remain.  A few pieces of the church can still be found: some deacon’s chairs in a private home, a finial at the Historical Society, and rumor has it, quite a few floorboards and beams in houses built around that time on Town Hill.

The memory of the event survives though, enshrined in any number of postcards and for many years as part of the town’s official seal.

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April 17, 2013 · 3:08 pm

Why Stanclift Cove?

Before 1936, the people of New Hartford used Greenwood’s Pond, the impoundment of the Farmington River above the North Village, as their local swimming hole and as an ideal location for yacht races.   Following the failure of the dam, boats obviously could no longer use the area, though people still recall swimming above the remains of the dam abutments during their lunch hours, as the dam was right next to the Greenwoods Factory buildings.  It is probable that swimming in New Hartford would have been confined to West Hill Lake and the rivers, had it not been for the construction of the reservoirs.  The MDC’s purchase of substantial amounts of land in New Hartford and Barkhamsted, nearly a quarter of the latter town and about a sixth of New Hartford, caused local outrage.  One of the issues was that neither town gained any benefits from the reservoirs.  Though today, the open space preserved by them is a clear benefit; at the time, the issue of open space was unheard of.

An agreement was reached that the two towns could use the Compensating Reservoir for recreation.  This was possible because the Compensating is not a drinking water supply, instead it maintains the appropriate stream flow downstream of the Nepaug and Barkhamsted Reservoirs.  Stanclift Cove, therefore, was created as a park open only to residents of those two towns.  The MDC would later open another area as a recreation site for the general public; but Stanclift Cove remains an essentially private park.

It was named after the Stanclift family, who had farmed in that area for many years.  They had been prominent in the affairs of both towns, serving in local offices and running a livery and freight service.

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April 10, 2013 · 7:34 pm

A Walking Tour

Now that it is finally spring, the center of New Hartford is quite busy.  Although stretched along Route 44, it is a very pleasant place to take a short walk.  There is, of course, the Farmington River and a variety of older commercial buildings; but there is also a surprising number of interesting houses still present.  These houses range from quite early Greek Revival to much later in the nineteenth century.    Many of these buildings have been remodeled; and sometimes entirely repurposed: for example the North End School, which is now an apartment building; however, in many cases the age of construction and building history can be discerned from the street.  This is not a village of ornate houses.  It is a village of well-built, upper middle-class homes and tenements supporting a prosperous mill town.  In fact, it is precisely what one would expect given the town’s history.

The Historical society did create a short walking tour pamphlet that covers some of these buildings, it is available at the society.

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