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
Historian's Corner
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
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
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
Historian’s corner
The Charter Oak The great white oak was easily the tallest tree in the forest. It was over five hundred years old when the first white man laid eyes upon it in 1614, as he stood on the deck of a wooden ship anchored in the Connecticut River. … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner
Historian’s corner
Blessed Are The Merciful If you happen to visit Bradley Point this summer, think about this a moment: Long before Veterans Walk ever existed, a small band of West Haveners that included Thomas Painter stood on that very same shoreline firing their … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner
Historian’s corner
July 5, 1779 July 3, 1779 was a Saturday. For Adjutant William Campbell and more than 3,000 other British and Hessian soldiers based in New York City, July 3 proved to be one terribly uncomfortable night. Soldiers, horses, cannon, and gear were … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner
Historian’s corner
If only the West Haven Green could talk about the July Fourths in its past. Without doubt, the most memorable was 239 years ago. Being a Sunday, the Green was filled with West Haveners on their way to services at the First Congregational Church. … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner
Historian’s corner
The Twilight League See part two here. See part three here. With thanks to Harry Noyes III and the late Vin DiLauro In 1959, The Boy lived on Kelsey Avenue; on summer nights, he was allowed to ride his bicycle up to Painter Park each night … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner
Historian’s corner
The Waddingham Mansion: Exactly Where was It? Part V See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. See part 4 here. Though it is difficult to estimate angles on a flat photo, as well as perspective, and Hildrich cannot show his … [Read more...] about Historian’s corner