Connecticut Tercentenary
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CONNECTICUT TERCENTENARY 1635-1935 PROGRAM OF EVENTS PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT JUNE 7th-14th 1935 I IgSl WiMKSi SIMS a®® mm mmm - 3 0231 00197 0180 CONNECTICUT TERCENTENARY 1635- 1935 PROGRAM OF EVENTS PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT JUNE 7Lb® pS 1935 STwrfAmftr^jr i" • THE FEfiGUSCN LIBRARY STAMFORD, CsNM, STAMFORD TODAY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE STAMFORD TERCENTENARY HONORARY CHAIRMEN HON. SCHUYLER MERRITT JUDGE CHARLES D. LOCKWOOD CHAIRMAN KINGSLEY GILLESPIE VICE-CHAIRMEN HON. ALFRED N. PHILLIPS, JR. BENJAMIN H. MEAD HON. JOHN T. HANRAHAN MRS. FERDINAND N. MONJO MRS. GOULD STEBBINS SECRETARY ELLIOT G. KINGSBURY TREASURER E. N. FAST FINANCE COMMITTEE NORRIS E. PIERSON, Chairman PUBLICITY COMMITTEE R. H. GIIJ LESPIE, Chairman CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH COMMITTEE MRS. FERDINAND N. MONJO, Chairman PAGEANT COMMITTEE MARY HIGGINS, Chairman PARADE COMMITTEE BENJAMIN H. MEAD, Chairman COLONIAL BALL COMMITTEE SARA MEAD WEBB, Chairman 31S-033 PROGRAM OF EVENTS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH TERCENTENARY JUNE 7TH HISTORICAL EXHIBIT at 10 A. M. in the Church Parlors. SHOWING OF OLD GOWNS at 4 P. M. BANQUET at the Stamford Gas & Electric Company Auditorium. DR. STANLEY HIGH, Toastmaster GUEST SPEAKERS HON. HOMER S. CUMMINGS, Attorney-General HON. WILBUR L. CROSS, Governor HON. SCHUYLER MERRITT, Congressman JUNE 8TH CHURCH PAGEANT at 3 :30 P. M. and 8 P. M. Written by Mrs. Doris Holsworth of Windsor. This Pageant will depict the history of the First Congregational Church from 1635 to the beginning of the present century. JUNE 9TH MEMORIAL SERVICE at 3 P. M. GUEST SPEAKERS DR. S. PARKES CAD MAX DR. A. G. WALTON STAMFORD HIGH SCHOOL TERCENTENARY PAGEANT JUNE 11TH and 12TH at 8 P. M. in the High School Auditorium This Pageant, written by Mary Higgins, will be enacted by 200 students assisted by the High School Band. PART 1—A Portion of Connecticut's Hall of Fame. PART 2—Our Settlers. TERCENTENARY PARADE JUNE 13TH at 7 P. M. The Parade will include representatives of the local military, patriotic, and fraternal organizations, together with floats and equipment depicting 300 years of progress. COLONIAL BALL JUNE 14TH at 9 P. M. in the Masonic Temple The local chapters of the D. A. R. ask that as many people who have colonial costumes, wear them to add atmosphere to the Cotillion which will be a part of the dance program. NOTE—Tickets for the Congregational Banquet and the Colonial Ball may be procured at $1.50 each. All other events are open to the public at no admission charge. FOURTH MEETING HOUSE BUILT IN 1790 PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST IN STAMFORD By DR. PHILLIP W. PRIOR CENTRAL PARK HE boulder on the South side of Central Park was erected in memory of the 29 Congregationalists from Wethersfield, who came here and made the settlement called Rippowam in 16+1. By 1642 the name of the settlement was changed from Rippowam to Stamford. THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE was a little distance South- west of this boulder, and was the first structure and the center of the settlement. It was a log cabin with hip roof, and surmounted by a plat- form from which the drummer sounded the call to service, or gave the alarm in case of attack by the Indians. The meeting house and the ground immediately around it, was enclosed in a palisade of logs within which a cannon was mounted. Inside the church four muskets were kept always loaded and primed. This palisade was gradually extended until the center of the settlement became a stockaded area, and served as the means of protection for 50 years when the fort wood was sold "per vote outcry" for seventeen shillings and "ye fort gates, ye wheels of ye great gun" for five shillings and six pence. The first pastor of the meeting house, Reverend Richard Denton, became dissatisfied with the jurisdiction of the New Haven Colony and resigned in 1644. Accompanied by Captain John Underhill and many others, he crossed Long Island Sound and settled what became Hemp- stead. THE THIRD MEETING HOUSE, 1703, was near the site of the first meeting house. This structure had a tower, but no belfry, the "drom" still being used for the call to service. THE FOURTH MEETING HOUSE, in 1790, was constructed within the park area, and was typical New England Colonial style with belfry and steeple. It was fitted inside with galleries and a raised pulpit. There were many square pews which were rented or sold to the most prominent families. It was heated with a brick stove which was replaced a quarter of a century later by one of iron. In 1858 it was removed to Gay Street, and converted into the Phoenix Carriage Manufactory. ATLANTIC SQUARE TRIANGLE THE SECOND MEETING HOUSE was a little distance to the Southeast in what is now Atlantic Square, but within a partly constructed stockade. It had benches instead of pews, and was not heated. Whether it should be square or rectangular was decided by lot at a Town Meeting, April 4, 1671. In October, 1675, a communication from the Governor of Connecti- cut notified the officials of Stamford that five or six thousand Indians were in arms, and were preparing for an attack. Orders were issued that the "stockading of the Town shall be fully finished." Beside the second meeting house referred to above, Atlantic Square was the site of the Stocks, Whipping Post and Pillory in 1648, and in after years, the Town Bulletin Board and the Watering Tank for horses. THE THIRD TOWN HALL was constructed on the Northern part of Atlantic Square facing Central Park in 1829. This structure was removed in 1871, and was made over into the dwelling house which is now 52 River Street. The Old Fire Engine House, in the rear of the Third Town Hall, was the last building within the Atlantic Square Triangle. It was re- moved a few years after the Town Hall Building. CANAL On Canal Street, near Atlantic Square, in back of the Quintard Block, was the Canal Landing and East of it, the Ships Basin. From here the waterway followed the line of Canal Street, which street was the tow path. The old canal entered the present one at Jefferson Street. THE OLD STAGE HOUSE At the East corner of Main and Stage Streets stood the Old Stage House, the starting place of the mail and passenger route to Pound Ridge. It was afterwards called the Stamford House. TOWN HALL AND BANK TRIANGLE There was a swamp in the Town Hall and Bank Triangle in the early days. Probably the first building on this area was the School of 1800 in the Southeast corner, which later became known as the Academy. In the Town Hall Triangle in 1834 the STAMFORD NATION- AL BANK occupied a small building, faced with Gothic arches. The Universalist Church in 1845, stood on the land now covered by the Town Hall Plaza. After twenty-five years of service, this struc- ture was removed to make space for the TOWN HALL BLTILDING of 1870. This huge building was the pride of the Town for 34 years. It was five stories high, constructed of brick, with belfry and clock, and was considered a magnificent structure in its day. The first floor was used for stores, the Town Clerk's office and the Post Office. On the second floor, many leading lawyers of the Town had their offices. Above the office floor was a large theatre where plays by traveling theatrical groups were staged, as well as Town Meetings and political gatherings. Edwin Booth appeared here in Hamlet on February 2nd, 1877. This building was destroyed by fire February 4th, 1904, and the present TOWN HALL building erected. Where the Citizens Savings Bank now stands was the site of the fifth home of the Congregational Church, a Gothic structure built in 1857 and demolished in 1911. Where the Gurley Building now stands, was the home of Reverend John Bishop, who was minister of the Congregational Church for fifty years, from 1644 to 1694. ST. JOHN'S PARK AND VICINITY EAST FIELD GATE. At the Southeast corner of the Park be- yond Hawthorne Street was the entrance to the great common pasture fields extending to the Cove and Shippan. In Autumn the cattle were herded on the rocky neck known as Pfmnd Rocks. EAST FIELD. The common pasture was the land included in the original grant from Wascussue, Sagamore of Shippan, to Captain Turner, and retained as the "Reserved Land" until the departure of the Indians. In 1672 the Town deeded the land to Rev. Eliphet Jones "in lieu of land at Southfield." THE GREEN SCHOOL formerly stood in the Northeast corner of St. John's Park, and the playground designated as the East Green. This was one of the school districts established in 1731. In 1851 the building was on the East side of the road facing Main Street, and op- posite its former position. Among the well known teachers who taught here were David Clark and Sipsco Stevens. The building was de- molished recently. THE FIRST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 1743, was erected on land designated by the Town "between the Widow Holly house and the Nathan Steven's house, on a rocky ledge bounded on the Northeast by an impassable swamp." The present stone edifice was constructed on the same location in 1890. THE SECOND EPISCOPAL CHURCH was constructed in 1842 on Main Street, near Suburban Avenue. It was destroyed by fire January 24, 1890. South of St. John's Park, in the early days were "The Meadows." On the road leading to the railroad station, later called Hawthorne Street, was the site of the FIRST ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.