History of New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Journey back in time to New Haven, Connecticut, USA

(Westville)

• 1638 - New Haven Founded as a Colony
  In 1638, English Puritans established the New Haven Colony, which soon included what are now the towns of New Haven, Branford, Guilford, Milford, and ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1643 - New Haven Colony is organized as a state including the towns of New Haven, Milford, Guilford, Branford, Stamford and Southold, Long Island. It is an independent colony without a royal charter, organized by the Congregational Church.
  
  www.bethany-ct.com/ historicalSociety/ bhs-facts.htm
  
  
• 1673 - New Haven and Milford dispute the ownership of the Three Brothers, a clump of three chestnut trees on the Milford-New Haven boundary and now located in northern Bethany at the Naugatuck-Prospect-Bethany boundary point.
  “The area in dispute was supposed to be haunted by evil spirits. The quarrel was carried to the Governor of the Colony of Connecticut for adjustment, ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1675 - Center of New Haven is fortified against Indian attack during King Phillip’s War (1675-76); a log palisade is built but the town is not attacked. This war resulted in the extermination of Indian tribal life in Southern New England.
  
  www.bethany-ct.com/ historicalSociety/ bhs-facts.htm
  
  
•  1682 - A major tornado ripped through southwestern Connecticut, passing through Stratford, Milford, and New Haven, and then into Long Island Sound.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  June 20, 1682
  
  
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  Old Morris House, Morris Cove
  
  The Pardee-Morris House, also known as John Morris House, is a historic house museum at 325 Lighthouse Road in New Haven, Connecticut. Probably built in the late 17th century, it is one of New Haven's oldest... Read MORE...
  
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• 1717 - New Haven State House and Yale
  1717 - New Haven State House erected on the Green.
  New Haven's first State House was built in 1717 on the Green near the corner of Elm and College St...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Yale College
  American Scenery,
  by N.P. Willis, Illustrated by William Henry Bartlett, 1840
  
  According to the early histories of Yale, a group of ten ministers led by the Reverend James Pierpont of New Haven met in nearby Branford in 1700 to... Read MORE...
  
  Artwork
  
• 1755 - First Newspaper in Connecticut
  Connecticut Gazette of New Haven, the Colony's first newspaper, printed by James Parker at New Haven.
  
  The first newspaper known to be published in ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1763 - Brick State House erected on New Haven Green.
  In 1763, a new brick State House with courtrooms and a town hall on the lower floor and rooms for the General Assembly on the upper floor was erected ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1767 - Thomas and Samuel Green launch newspaper which after many changes becomes New Haven Journal-Courier
  Thomas [Green] was a prolific Connecticut printer, publishing or helping to publish about four hundred items in his lifetime. He helped edit and print...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1779 - British troops under General Tryon raid New Haven
  On July 5, the British arrive off New Haven. Troops under Brigadier General George Garth come ashore and commence the destruction of public property a...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1784 - New Haven Incorporated as a City
  New Haven was incorporated as a city in 1784, and Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Constitution and author of the "Connecticut Compromise", be...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1792 - New Haven Bank established
  In 1792, New Haven Bank was established with capital of $400,000.
  
  The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, Volume 3
  Author Sir David Brewster
  Publisher J. & ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1812 - Apple trees at New Haven CT did not blossom until the first of June, the latest such occurrence during the period beginning in 1794.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  June 1, 1812
  
  
• 1812 - Columbian Register First Published in New Haven
  Joseph Barber starts Columbian Register at New Haven. In 1911 combined with New Haven Register and continues as Register to present.
  
  Joseph Barber ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1819 - New Haven
  New-Haven, the seat of justice of the county, and semi-capital of the State, is situated at the head of the bay of the same name, upon Long-Island sou...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1821 - Captain John Davis of New Haven becomes first man to set foot on the Antarctic Continent.
  The first recorded landing on the Antarctic continent took place on February 7, 1821. Men from the American sealer Cecilia, under Captain John Davis, ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1827 - "New" State House erected in New Haven; Ithiel Town, architect.
  Along with Hartford, New Haven became co-capital of Connecticut in 1701. General Assembly meetings alternated between the two cities. When sitting in ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• January 5, 1835 - It was a record cold morning in the eastern U.S. The mercury at the Yale Campus in New Haven CT plunged to 23 degrees below zero, and reached 40 below in the Berkshire Hills of Connecticut.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  
  
• 1839 - Railroad completed between New Haven and Hartford.
  The Hartford and New Haven Railroad, New Haven's first railroad was opened in New Haven to North Haven in November, 1838. An old newspaper gives an ac...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  The Gothic Church
  American Scenery,
  by N.P. Willis, Illustrated by William Henry Bartlett, 1840
  Artwork
  
• 1854 - New Haven
  New Haven, a city, port of entry, seat of justice of a county of its own name, and semi- capital of Connecticut, is situated in a beautiful plain, at ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1860 - The Late Boiler Explosion - Body Recovered - Serious Affray.
  New-Haven, Saturday, Nov. 3
  
  The boy, HENRY RICE, who was killed by the steam-boiler explosion at DANN & BROTHERS' coach factory, yesterday, was fou...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1861 - The Excitement In New Haven, Conn.
  NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 11. - The excitement here is intense. The streets are crowded with people who are clamoring after extras. The national flag is...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  City Hall
  
  Responding to the growing need for more space in its public offices, the City of New Haven opened its new City Hall on Court Street in 1862, an Italian Gothic Revival structure built of brownstone and designed by architect Henry Austin. ... Read MORE...
  
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  Winchester Repeating Arms Co. and Main Office
  museumofcthistory.org
  
  The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded by Oliver Winchester in 1866.... Read MORE...
  
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•  1869 - Fish Hooks
  Fish-hooks are made now almost entirely at New Haven, Conn. They are made entirely by machinery, a piece of wire going into a machine and coming out a...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1871 - In New Haven, if the people neglect to clean the snow off their pavements, the city does it for them at the rate of two dollars each.
  
  St Joseph Herald
  Saint Joseph, Michigan
  June 17, 1871
  
  
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  The Greist Mfg. Co., Westville, New Haven, Conn., inc. 1872
  museumofcthistory.org
  
  Greist Manufacturing Company was founded by John M. Greist, an inventor who was employed by Singer to design sewing machine attachments. Greist is the inventor... Read MORE...
  
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  New Haven and Vicinity
  Picturesque America... Oliver Bell Bunce, William Cullen Bryant
  New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1872-1874.
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• 1878 - First telephone exchange in world opened in New Haven.
  The first commercial telephone exchange system in the world was opened in New Haven, in January, 1878, and has been in continuous operation ever since...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  East Rock Park, 1898
  
  Historic Towns of New England. (1898). United Kingdom: G. P. Putnam's sons.
  
  East Rock Park was the first park in the municipal parks system of New Haven. It opened in 1880. newhavenmuseum.org
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•  1882 - SILVERWARE FACTORY BURNED. LARGE FIRE IN CONNECTICUT - LOSS, $150,000.
  NEW-HAVEN, Sept. 26 - The factory of Maltby, Stevens, Curtis & Co., manufacturers of hollow-ware and German silver spoons, in Shelton, was destroyed b...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Yacht Club and Harbor View, City Point
  
  Chartered by a special Act of the Connecticut Assembly in 1882, the New Haven Yacht Club is one of the oldest chartered yacht clubs in the nation. sail-clubs.com
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• 1883 - November 27 - Fire engines were called out in New York City and New Haven, CT, as a result of the afterglow of the sunset due to vivid red ash from the Krakatoa Volcano explosion in August.
  
  The Weather Channel
  
  
•  1885 - Men of Brains - Some of the Distinguished American Inventors
  Charles Goodyear, inventor and patentee of the simple mixture of rubber and sulphur, the basis of the present great rubber industries throughout the w...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1886 - AN EXPLOSION OF GAS.
  NEW-HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 27. - People living in the lower part of the city were alarmed at noon to-day by what seemed like an earthquake shook preceded ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1890 - Why They Were Not Married.
  That the hand of the law extends over all the land dawned sadly but unmistakably on Fred N. Smith, aged eighteen and Miss Jennie Dean, aged sixteen of...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Jct. Elm and Broadway
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•  1891 - FIRE ON A BIG STEAMER. Thirteen Hundred Persons Narrowly Escape Death on a Sound Steamer.
  New Haven, Conn., July 31. - When the steamer Elm City, with 1,300 excursionists on board, was midway between New York and Bridgeport last evening, fi...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Skinner School
  
  Once a teacher training school named after Harmonous Welch, the Skinner School opened as a normal school in 1893. It then became an elementary school. It was closed in the mid-1970s. wikipedia
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  Hubinger Mansion, Whatley Avenue, New Haven, Conn.
  
  Around 1894, Nicholas Hubinger, the “Starch King” of New Haven, built a unique and extravagant estate on the grounds near the old entrance (of East Rock Park) on Whalley Avenue. The estate... Read MORE...
  
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• 1895 - First hamburger, served at Louie's Lunch in New Haven
  
  www.ereferencedesk.com/ resources/ state-facts/ connecticut.html
  
  
• 1895 - New Haven
  New Haven, a city and port of entry, the county seat of New Haven co., Conn., and the largest and most populous city of the state, is situated at the ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Phelps Hall, 1898
  
  Historic Towns of New England. (1898). United Kingdom: G. P. Putnam's sons.
  
  Phelp’s Hall, designed to resemble a massive Tudor gatehouse, was built in 1895 as the grand entry to Yale’s Old Campus. historicbuildingsct.com
  Photograph
  
•  1896 - LIVES LOST IN RAGING FLAMES. THREE MEN SACRIFICED BY A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT WITH GAS.
  TWO EXPLOSIONS ENSUE.
  
  ONE WORKMAN KILLED INSTANTLY AND TWO SUBSEQUENTLY PERISH IN THE FIRE.
  
  MUCH PROPERTY DAMAGE.
  
  New Haven, Conn., Jan. 21. ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1898 - New Haven - The City of Elms by Frederick Hull Cogswell
  The main incidents in the history of New Haven have a flavor of romance. Even the original settlement, usually a prosy affair, was brought about by th...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  What to Get a Man for Christmas
  Postal Scale and Letter Opener
  Postal Scale Company, Chapel St., New Haven, Conn.
  
  The Ladies' Home Journal
  December 1898
  Advertisement
  
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  Country Club
  
  New Haven Country Club was founded in 1898 as one of the very early golf courses built in the United States. newhavencc.com
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  The Edw. Malley Co.
  The Metropolitan Store of Connecticut
  
  The Edw. Malley Co., often abbreviated Malley's, was a prestigious department store in Downtown New Haven, Connecticut, from 1852 to 1982.
  
  In 1848, Edward Malley started displaying... Read MORE...
  
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  Temple Street, 1898
  
  Historic Towns of New England. (1898). United Kingdom: G. P. Putnam's sons.
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  The Sperry Light, New Haven, Connecticut
  
  After appropriations in 1897-98 for a total of $75,000, the Outer Breakwall Light was built in 1899. The name of the lighthouse officially became New Haven Light in 1912, but it was popularly known as the... Read MORE...
  
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  Old Light House, New Haven, Conn.
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  New Bathing Pavilion, Light House Point, New Haven, Conn.
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  Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., New Haven, Conn.
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  Old Town Pump, New Haven, Conn.
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  Yale University - The Cloister Society Dormitory New Haven, Connecticut
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  Yale University, Osborn Hall, New Haven, Conn.
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  View in Campus, Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
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  Library and Court House Buildings, New Haven, Connecticut
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  (IL) - Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
  
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  Meadow Street and Armory
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  Elm St. from Church St.
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  Ferry Landing at Light House Point
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  First National Bank
  
  A newly organized group in New Haven, Conn. made the first application for a charter as a national bank under the National Currency Act of 1863. They then deferred to Jay Cooke, the chief financial agent of the union, who... Read MORE...
  
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  Historical Society Building
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  Chapel Street, New Haven, Conn.
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•  1901 - TROLLEY DEAL IN CONNECTICUT: New Haven Road Purchases the Webster and Worcester System.
  NEW HAVEN, Jan. 12 - The New Haven Road has just purchased through the People's Tramway Company of Danielson, Conn., the Webster and Worcester Street...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1903 - Passengers Leave Burning Sleeping Car in Nightclothes.
  Sixteen Men and Four Women Hurried from Temporary Home.
  
  Woman Injured--Man Nearly Suffocated--Several Lose Valuables.
  
  New Haven, Conn., May 14 -...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1904 - FIRE WORKED DOWN THROUGH A SHAFT
  One of New Haven's Finest Buildings Is Ruined - Firemen Extinguished $150,000 Blaze.
  
  New Haven, Conn., Jan. 18. - Fire and water completely wrecked...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Cor. Church and Chapel Sts., 1904
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  Acme Wire Co., Whitney Lake, New Haven, Conn.
  museumofcthistory.org
  
  The Acme Wire Co. was organized in 1904 under the laws of the State of Connecticut and started in business in New Haven on a modest scale , manufacturing magnet wire , which was ... Read MORE...
  
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• 1908 - First lollipop-making machine opened for business in New Haven. George Smith named the treat after a popular racehorse.
  
  www.ereferencedesk.com/ resources/ state-facts/ connecticut.html
  
  
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  Congress Ave., Cor. Lafayette Street, 1908
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  Temple Street
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  Congress Square
  General Offices of the Conn. Commercial Travellers Mutual Accident Asso.
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  Judges Cave, West Rock Park
  
  The cave where two British judges hid in exile after sentencing the king to death, around May 15, 1661 and lasting several weeks on scraps of food brought to them by sympathetic locals. In the end, they fled to Hadley, ... Read MORE...
  
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  Junction of Whaley Ave. and Fountain Street, Westville
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  Home of Semons Ice Cream
  "The Finest Ice Cream Plant in America"
  110 Bristol Street, New Haven, Conn.
  museumofcthistory.org
  
  Semon Ice Cream Corporation was formed in 1905 from Hauff Ice Cream Corporation. The manager was John Semon.
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  Bird's Eye View of Sargent & Co.'s Factory
  museumofcthistory.org
  
  Joseph Bradford Sargent and his two brothers operated a wholesale hardware business in New York City, and subsequently obtained an interest in one of their suppliers, the Peck and... Read MORE...
  
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  The Hotel Taft
  
  Built in 1911, the Taft Hotel, on College Street in New Haven, opened its doors to the public on New Year’s Day, 1912. The elegant hotel was right near the Shubert Theater and many Broadway celebrities stayed there over the years,... Read MORE...
  
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  New Public Library
  
  1906-1911 “Gentlemen:–If the City of New Haven will provide a suitable site for it, I desire to erect and present to the City a handsome, fireproof building for the Public Library.” With these words, and a gift of $300,000,... Read MORE...
  
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• 1914 - November 21 – In New Haven CT, the new Yale Bowl officially opens; Harvard defeats Yale 36-0 in the first football game held here.
  
  www.wikipedia.org
  
  November 21, 1914
  
  
•  1915 - HISTORIC THEATRE BURNS. Grand Opera House in New Haven Destroyed, with Loss of $80,000.
  NEW HAVEN, April 25.- The Grand Opera House in Crown Street, the oldest playhouse in New Haven, was destroyed by fire early today, and the entire fire...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Church Street North from George Street showing Bijou and Poli's Theatres
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  The Shot Tower, Winchester Repeating Arms Co.,
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• 1920 - First Frisbee, Yale students discovered empty pie plates from Mrs. Frisbie Pies in Bridgeport could be sailed across the New Haven Green
  
  www.ereferencedesk.com/ resources/ state-facts/ connecticut.html
  
  
• 1920 - University of New Haven founded.
  The University of New Haven (UNH) was founded in 1920 on the campus of Yale University as the New Haven YMCA Junior College, a division of Northeaster...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  New Haven Green
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  New Haven High School
  
  Established in 1859 as New Haven High School, Hillhouse High School is New Haven's oldest public high school. Originally located on Orange Street, it adopted its nickname, "The Academics", in acknowledgment of its close... Read MORE...
  
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  New Haven R.R. Station
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• 1938 - The Great New England Hurricane of 1938
  CAT 3 - September 21, 1938
  The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was one of the most destructive and powerful storms ever to strike Southern New En...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1957 - Oak Street redevelopment
  Ground broken for first building in New Haven's Oak Street redevelopment area.
  Timeline of Connecticut History