Winter, 2003
| New & Noteworthy | ||
| Mix for Bricks | ||
| Gift Shop Revamped |
Holiday Town: Antique Toys on Display Through March 12
The Sharon Historical Society's newest exhibit, Holiday Town!, features over fifty antique toys from the period 1890 to 1950. On loan from Kent toy collector and designer Vic Reiling, these toys are more than mere playthings. Many are wonderful representatives of early twentieth century American life.
The exhibit is divided into five sections, Downtown, The Harbor, Farming Country, Castles on the Hills, and Getting About. Toys in each section illustrate the title themes and mirror the most modern technological innovations of the times.
Emblematic of the (literal) upward rise of the American city is the centerpiece of the Downtown, a skyscraper over four feet tall made from a Built EZ construction kit dating from the 1920s. Nearby is a gas station made of Lincoln Bricks, actually wooden bricks, made by the company that made Lincoln Logs. The gas station toy, also dating from the twenties, reflects mobile America's still relatively new love affair with the automobile.
In the Harbor, two wooden ferry boats ply the waters, one made by Holgate and the other by Keystone. The battleship Oregon is moored for a port visit while a Meccano (similar to Erector) ship resembling an American Minesweeper keeps the harbor safe.
Although the automobile was an entrenched part of American life by the 1930s, travel by train for passengers and freight was both a familiar and necessary part of everyday life. A wonderful silver and red streamliner by Lionel is juxtaposed with a very old metal trolley car made by Hillclimber circa 1895. Cardboard provided an alternative to scarce metal for a toy train made during World War II.
Holiday Town! will not only evoke fond memories for the "mature" enough to remember Hoody Doody, but it might just inspire young and old alike to take some time to play this holiday season. Visit the exhibit Tuesday through Friday, from 1-4 p.m. and by appointment. Call for special weekend winter hours.
Look for pictures of this exhibit on our Exhibits page.
Thanks to volunteer gift shop manager Theresa Kenny, the gift shop at the museum has been redesigned and stocked with a selection of gifts and books sure to please even the discerning shopper.
"Our philosophy is simple," says Theresa, "we would like to showcase Sharon, both historic and current-day, promote history, and support local craftspeople." Visitors to the museum and gift shop will find the folk art of Kathy Clegg in paintings, ornaments and note cards. Trivets and hooks handcrafted in iron by Sharon blacksmith William Trowbridge are also for sale, as are charming watercolors by Mary Anne Carley and rustic furniture by cabinet maker Chris Chevalier.
Children (and parents and grandparents!) will find a large selection of old-time toys from which to choose, all under $10. There are modern reproductions of vintage paper dolls (sure to fascinate the 7-10 year old crowd!), a variety of marbles games, tin whistles, cornhusk doll kits, stick puppets and reproduction tins containing all the makings for an old fashioned game of hopscotch!
For those interested in Sharon history, there are a wide range of publications on the topic including Echoes of Iron in Connecticut's Northwest Corner and A General History of the Town of Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut, first published in 1842 by author Charles F. Sedgwick.
The gift shop is open during regular museum hours. Local artists or craftspeople who are interested in consigning their work should contact Theresa Kenny at the Historical Society.
Ellsworth Congregational Church Save the date! Ellsworth's historic congregational church will be the site of a cocktail party to benefit the historical society on Saturday, May 1, 2004. Owned by the Crawford family and used as a private residence since the 1950s, the church has recently been restored in such a way as to preserve and reveal much of the building's original simple grandeur. Soaring cathedral ceilings, a choir balcony and a majestic stone fireplace are just a few of the features that make this space special.
Sharon History for Tots Thanks to the hard work of education coordinator Meg Szalewicz, the museum has a new program designed for the 2-5 year old crowd. Exploring Sharon's Green uses stories, crafts and a felt "Green" populated by felt animals to help young children understand why Sharon has a Green and what it was used for 200 years ago. If you have a group of 8-15 pre-school children and are interested in bringing them to the historical society for this program, call us at (860) 364-5688. Birthday parties are welcome!
Strategic Planning Process Underway The museum is moving ahead with its long-range planning process. Community interviews will be scheduled in January and February. If you are interested in sharing your views on the historical society and its future, please contact us at (860) 364-5688 or send an e-mail to director@sharonhist.org.
Valentine's Day Program The historical society and Sharon's Hotchkiss Library will present a Valentine's Day program on Saturday, February 7, 2004 from 10 a.m-noon at the Gay-Hoyt House. The program is open to boys and girls ages 8-10 and will include a look at the history of Valentine's Day, Victorian valentines, and a design your own valentine craft activity. Pre-registration is necessary and participation is limited to 30. This program is free to members and $3.00 for non-members. for information and to register, call the Hotchkiss Library at (860) 364-5041 or the Historical Society at (860) 364-5688.
Photographs and Memories Among the many treasures at the Sharon Historical Society, probably the most valuable is the photograph collection. We have an entire file cabinet full of old Sharon Photographs. But it was the absence of one particular photograph that brought this collection to my mind for this edition of the Collections Connection.
As I was dismantling our recent Veterans exhibit, Ed Kirby and Reid Craig came in to pick up their uniforms. They passed a pleasant half hour swapping Sharon stories. At one point the conversation centered on the Prindle family, and Ed told Reid that we need a picture of past SHS President Ruth Prindle. The mention of her name brought forth a great story about Ruth and her father. As a child, Ruth hated walking to school, and would dawdle all the way. Her father took to following her with a switch, flicking the back of her legs with it until she was safely in the schoolhouse door!
It struck me then that photographs are not only valuable visual records, but also powerful memory triggers. Not being a Sharon resident, I am often confronted with unfamiliar faces as I work to organize our photo collection. I have a list of special people whom I love to call in for help. I learn so much from them about Sharon in the process. They don't just give me names, they tell me stories about the people in the pictures as well. Invariable we end up smiling or laughing about some treasured memory. Details that might otherwise have been forgotten forever are now brought to mind and relished. It is no wonder that the most popular advice given about what to do if your house catches fire is "grab the photo albums".
Sharon comes to life through our collection of images. The town was lucky to have had George Marckres as a devoted resident. He took it upon himself to document his town, but, not content just to photograph the buildings, he looked for the human element of Sharon as well. He did photograph the Town Hall, but he chose Election Day to do it, when the steps and sidewalk were filled with men milling around arguing politics. He took a picture of his own store, after a blizzard, with snow piled all around the few cars and trucks on the street. He recorded all the fairs, parades and festivals on the Green. Apparently, as far as he was concerned the more people in the picture the better.
The SHS has the Marckres glass plate negatives and has made prints from many of them. Most of you are aware of that. But did you know that we also have hundreds of other photographs of people, places and things? A quick look through the photo cabinet shows bulging files for: Amenia Union, Businesses, Churches, Clock Tower, Doorways, Ellsworth, Fires and Ice, Nature, People, Schools, Sharon Green, Special Events, Sharon Organizations, Town Hall, Transportation, and Views. We also have several beautiful old Victorian photo albums, and a box full of as yet unidentified photographs. But we don't have a picture of Ruth Prindle. Do you???
... by Marge McAvoy
Archaeological Dig at the Sharon Valley Blast Furnace
During the four days that included the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, several industrial archaeologists, would-be archaeologists, members of the Society of Industrial Engineers, dedicated assistants, historians and interested observers gathered at the site of the long silent Sharon Valley Iron Company blast furnace. The goal of the band of volunteers was to uncover and explore the hearth area of the furnace which was taken out of blast in 1898 after seventy-three years of operation. Since the stone stack of the furnace was torn down in 1912, the hearth has been buried under large rocks, hundreds of refractory bricks and tons of insulating sand. The following article details the exciting new findings.
In the planning stage for an extended time period, activities began on Thursday November 20th when archaeologist Victor Rolando met at the site with your SHS president and Scott Heth, Director of the National Audubon Center in Sharon. Discussions were held concerning the materials to be removed, placement of rocks, bricks and sand, and protection of the hearth after it was exposed.
On Friday November 21st work began at 8:00 a.m. with Scott Heth and Aaron Haber using tractors to move the large rocks blocking access to the hearth. For Scott this marked the beginning of about fifteen hours on the Audubon Center's Kabota tractor moving bricks and sand for two days. With only limited space to load, back up, discharge materials, turn around and return for the next load, the process provided a test of patience and operational skills.
In addition to Victor Rolando of Shaftsbury, Vermont, were several experts experienced in iron site archaeologic exploration including Bill Edwards of Richmond, Massachusetts, Tony Cantele of Harwinton, Connecticut, Karl and Eleanor Danneil of Nassau, New York, and Carla Cielo of Ringoes, New Jersey.
The total amount of materials to be moved extended eight feet above the original casting floor. With many willing hands using shovels and tossing bricks into the Kabota front bucket, the massive pile was steadily reduced. By late afternoon the front of the hearth region had been cleared to a level about two feet above the casting floor. At that point Victor Rolando and Carla Cielo uncovered the top of a rounded, barrel-shaped object. But as darkness set in, it was determined that identification would have to wait until Saturday.
By 9:00 a.m. on Saturday the tractor was again in action and even more people were participating in the work. The "rounded, barrel-shaped object" was totally uncovered and identified as hardened clay from a keg that was kept near the furnace tap hole. [The furnace tap hole was packed with clay after the molten iron had run completely into the casting beds. Due to the intense heat the clay quickly solidified. At the time of the next tapping six hours later, the hardened clay was drilled out with an auger. For that reason a supply of clay was kept in near proximity to the tap hole.] Though through the past ninety-one years the clay had hardened and the keg wood rotted, the impressions of the staves, bottom hoop and the bung-hole remained. Further documenting the earlier existence of a keg, a few very small bits of wood chards were affixed to the surface. An additional supply of clay for the tap hole was found on the east side of the hearth opening. Buried in loose sand, this clay proved to be quite malleable and easy to work, much the same as it was when the iron works ceased operation.
In addition to the removal of debris, work on Saturday included photographs of all details, sketches, and recorded descriptions of the site. At the end of the day Scott Heth dug a trench designed to exit excess water away from the hearth area. On top of the hearth Karl Danneil and Bill Edwards concentrated on the removal of rocks, bricks and debris.
IRON MAKING IN SHARON
Throughout the Friday and Saturday work sessions, the story of Sharon Valley's industries was reiterated by our experts to the helpers and visitors.
One year after Sharon's 1739 incorporation as a town, Joseph Skinner constructed the town's first bloomery forge adjacent to the brook running from Mudge Pond to the Valley. Producing about four hundred pounds of iron per day, Skinner's Forge, quickly followed by Joel Harvey's gristmill, initiated a period of industry and manufacturing that would continue in Sharon Valley for nearly 160 years.
With iron very much needed for tools, plows, hardware and innumerable other items, iron works were constructed in other parts of town. In 1750 Gray's Forge was put into production north east of Tanner Road, another by the Hutchinson brothers near West Cornwall in 1760, and still another in the late eighteenth century east of Ellsworth along Guinea Brook.
THE SHARON VALLEY BLAST FURNACE
It was no accident that Sharon Valley became an early center for industry. Blessed by sources of water power from the Valley Brook and Webutuck Creek, carbonate rock for lime, wood to make charcoal fuel and ore from several nearby sources, manufacturing increased rapidly. By 1814, the first lime kiln was in action and in 1822 Leman Bradley sold his blast furnace at Great Falls on the Housatonic River in eastern Salisbury and purchased Sharon property along the Webutuck. There, just north of the present bridge, Bradley had his blast furnace constructed and put into blast in 1825.
With the daily furnace production of iron then measured at several tons instead of hundreds of pounds from the forge, industrial Sharon Valley grew quickly. An extraordinary entrepreneur was added to the population when Asahel A. Hotchkiss arrived in Sharon Valley with his family from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1829. Already a vibrant center of activity, Sharon's industries were destined to experience significant growth over the decades to follow.
Using iron from the local blast furnace, the Asahel Hotchkiss & Sons Company produced a substantial variety of home, farm and other utilitarian items. The population of Sharon's little village in the valley grew quickly as the Jewett Manufacturing Company, Noyes Malleable Iron Works and others were added to the list of industrial employers. In the period when rodents were a major menace, Joseph Bostwick's mouse trap works reached a manufacturing level of 80,000 traps per year. At peak, the Hotchkiss company alone provided work for 100 men, women and girls. By the late 1850s Andrew Hotchkiss had invented the exploding cannon shell which would become a major factor for Union success in the Civil War.
In 1854 the furnace was converted to a hot and cold blast type. After rebuilding the furnace in 1863, ironmaster Horace Landon produced only hot blast iron. The hot blast reduced the amount of charcoal necessary and the time needed to produce pig iron from iron ore. As a result of the 1863 rebuilding, the stone furnace stack measured thirty-feet square at the base and stood thirty-four feet high.
In 1868 the Landon Iron Co. leased the blast furnace to Frederick Miles of Salisbury for a period of two years. In 1870, basically the same lease was extended to John Adam Beckley (builder of the Beckley Furnace - East Canaan #2; 1847-1919) of North Canaan. Then, in 1873, the Barnum and Richardson Company (BRC) purchased the works from Horace Landon and formed the Sharon Valley Iron Company. Worker's homes were built and an office building constructed on Sharon Valley Road, east of the furnace (today the Valley Tavern.) In the same period Chauncey Morehouse constructed a new lime kiln near the New York State border.
SHARON VALLEY IRON COMPANY 1876 REPORT [From Sharon Land Records, V37-33]
Report to the Town Clerk of Sharon concerning the Sharon Valley Iron Co., July 17, 1876.
Capital Stock
$70,000.00
Investments in Sharon Real Estate 30,927.26
Investments in Personal Property 130,395.88
Amounts of Debts 120,267.53
Names of Stockholders and their Shares
W. H. Barnum
880
C. W. Barnum 400
M. B. Richardson 200
J. C. Ward 100
P. T. Cambell 200
P. S. Burrell 120
G. W. Caudrey 100
S. W. Bradley 100
James A. Root 200
I. N. Bartram 200
N. F. McNeil 100
Geo. M. Burrall 200
Total Shares 2800
The first three listed stockholders, U. S. Representative William H. Barnum (later to become U. S. Senator Barnum), Charles W. Barnum and Milo Richardson (all of Lime Rock) owned 1480 shares, 52.857% of the total. The three were also the majority stockholders of the Barnum and Richardson Company who at that point controlled most of the tri-state region's iron works and mines.
Although the Hotchkiss Company had moved operations to Bridgeport and New York in 1863, industry in Sharon Valley reached a new peak following the Civil War. In addition to the blast furnace, the lime kiln, like the furnace, was in operation twenty-four hours a day. In the southern part of the Valley where the Webutuck Creek and Valley Brook join, water wheels provided the power for the Noyes Malleable Iron Works which produced a large variety of products.
Through the remainder of the 1870s to the 1890s, the Sharon Valley Iron Company produced pig iron for local industries and railroad car wheel iron for the Lake Shore & Michigan RR, Rochester Car Wheel Co., Lehigh Valley RR, Illinois Central RR, Pennsylvania RR, Southern Pacific RR, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western RR, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul RR and several others throughout the United States.
IRON PRODUCTION ENDS IN SHARON
Near the end of the century with the iron market in decline, the Barnum and Richardson Company began closing their subsidiaries when the Cornwall Bridge Iron Company furnace was taken out of blast in 1892. [The BRC Millerton Furnace had been destroyed by fire in 1883 and never rebuilt.] In 1898, the BRC purchased the Sharon Valley Iron Company outright and closed the operation. Iron making was finished in Sharon Valley.
With the manufacture of iron no longer in the Valley, families gradually left town to find employment in other industrial areas. Over time the population of Sharon, which had fluctuated between 2,615 and 2,580 from 1840 to 1880, dropped to 1,880 inhabitants by 1910 and 1,585 in 1920. Not until the 1980 census would Sharon show a population over 2,600.
At the furnace site the buildings and equipment were sold by the BRC to a Millerton contractor in 1903. Then in 1912, conceivably because the thirty-four foot high stack was considered an attractive nuisance and dangerous to climbers, the structure was torn down to the hearth level. According to local stories, some of the large stack rocks were used in constructing abutments for an early twentieth century replacement bridge across the Webutuck Creek. These rocks were later removed and stored by the town highway crew upon the 1999 rebuilding of the bridge. Recently, several of the stored rocks were used to construct the retaining wall along the east side of the restored Sharon Valley Lime Kiln. Even in history, what goes around comes around.
As in the case of many abandoned nineteenth century industrial sites, the iron works site eventually became a repository for refuse. By the late 1940s and beyond the 1950s, the site served as the town dump. Many times during the period the fire whistle sounded and the cry went out, "the Valley dump is on fire." These fires seemed to occur most frequently on Saturday nights and drew substantial gatherings. Perhaps a bit of local entertainment before network television invaded our region.
Although all of the blast furnaces in the Salisbury Iron District from 1762 through 1923 operated under essentially the same principal, each one exhibited its own idiosyncrasies in both structure and methodology. Once the results of the archaeological field study of the Valley furnace site have been reviewed, we hope to know more about this very important feature of Sharon's fascinating history.
The Sharon Historical Society expresses thanks to the furnace site owners, the experts who traveled here from many miles, Scott Heth and Audubon Sharon, and the enthusiastic assistants who manned the shovels and tossed the bricks. We are particularly grateful for the joining of efforts of the historical society and Audubon center in another attempt to preserve the history of Sharon.
We must be reminded that the remains of the Sharon Valley Iron Company lie on private grounds. Please respect that privacy and do not enter the site without permission or through a permitted guided tour.
.. by Ed Kirby