Historian's Corner

West Haven’s Earliest Days Part II See part 1 here. See part 3 here. See part 4 here. See part 5 here. From the booklet “Historic West Haven,” by Lorraine Wood Rockefeller: The earliest beginnings of West Haven are very difficult to … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

West Haven’s Earliest Days Part I See part 2 here. See part 3 here. See part 4 here. See part 5 here.  We acknowledge the efforts of Lorraine Wood Rockefeller, who originally set these words down in about 1960. Our town, now thickly … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

Woodlawn Duckpin Bowling Alley Dating back to 1900, the sport of duckpin bowling is unique in a number of ways:  It is a regional sport, played primarily in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states; it is a sport that has attracted people from all … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

Away to the Football Field From 1922  Yale Bowl was built in 1913-1914 to accommodate the ever larger crowds that wanted to come out and watch football games. In its time, it was the only known structure of its kind—aside from the Colosseum in … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

The Three Judges Everyone who has lived in the New Haven area has eventually heard of the Three Judges who hid on West Rock.  But who were they?  And what were they hiding from? In 1639, England’s King Charles I had a major falling out with his … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

School Clothes, Play Clothes, and Sunday Best: The Fedora Story School bells ring and children sing it’s back to Robert Hall again Mother knows for better clothes It’s back to Robert Hall again You’ll save more on clothes for … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

The Dog Days of Summer As Nature follows her annual rhythms, we reach that part of the year when the cicadas buzz, the katydids (or August bugs) pass the sultry evenings endlessly singing, “skritch-skritch-skritch—skritch skritch,”  and lawns turn … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

The Hubbard Family in West Haven   The first Hubbard ancestor settled in West Haven in 1810: he was John Hubbard  Jr.  He bought the farm and farmhouse at the corner of Jones Hill Road and Hubbard Road from the Merwin family, tanners who … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner

The Hubbard Family To know the whole story of the Hubbard family, one must take a trip backward through time to the Ninth Century A.D.  It is there that the first recorded history of the family appears, in the persons of Ragnar Lodbrog, a Viking … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner