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Sharon A-Z
V- The Valley, Videos of Sharon, Connecticut
The Valley
Long a fixture of Sharon Valley, the "Valley Store" was opened
by Aaron Reed in 1820. Hotchkiss and Company, manufacturers
of malleable iron products such as curry combs, nails, mousetraps
and screw wrenches, operated the store from the middle of
the nineteenth century.
In the 1930s, the store was operated by Alanson (Lance) Middlebrook
and his wife, Ruth, and employed young men as clerks and delivery
men. Lance served as a state representative from Sharon. Note
the outhouse to the left and the Sharon Valley Post Office
sign.
The Blast Furnace in Sharon Valley, is supposed to have been
the first of the kind in Sharon. Samuel Roberts, now of Dobbs
Ferry, N.Y., says his grandfather, Lyman Bradley, owned and
ran it in 1825, and he thinks he was the builder of it. It
has had several owners since, the last being "The Sharon Valley
Iron Company". Its ruins are still standing to remind us of
the time when Sharon Valley was the most industrious portion
of the town.
Another important industry in Sharon Valley was the Mouse-Trap
Shop at the "Jewett Manufacturing Company's" plant. Bass-Wood
lumber in car-load lots was bought and stacked in the yard
for seasoning. The traps were of six sizes, and were called
one, two, three, four, five and six hole traps. The one hole
traps were triangular in shape. The two and three hole were
oblong, the four hole was a perfect square, and the five and
six hole were round. They were cut and stained, after which
the holes were bored. Augurs and bits of different sizes were
belted together so that the pulling of a single lever completed
the boring of many holes at the same time. The wires were
bent into the many shapes required, by machines that were
almost human in their operation. I have been told these were
the invention of Judson Bostwick, father of our neighbor,
A.J. Bostwick. The shaping of the traps from the rough lumber
gave employment to many hands, many of them boys and some
of them girls, for the work required nimble fingers rather
than bodily strength. It also made quantities of chips which
were carted away to be used for bedding for horses and cattle.
It was a common sight to see people carrying away great sacks
full of traps and wires to be put together at their homes
during the long winter evenings. It was a source of income
to many that was greatly missed after the burning of the mouse
trap shop.
Videos of Sharon, Connecticut
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