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| c. 1957 - This fixer-upper, a mid 1950s Cadillac convertible, is delivered to the Sunoco station that was once operated by the Murray family. Note the Glenwood Drive-In shown in the background. The original building was razed in January 1965. The present building was erected a few feet north of the original building. (Sneiderman photo) |
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| The Glenwood Today |
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This photo was taken from a 1951 edition of The Hamden Chronicle. It was part of an advertisement for the Hamden Tire Co., 2276 Whitney Avenue.
There have been lots of changes along the west side of Whitney Avenue in Centerville, as seen in the photo below.
Posted 4/15/11
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| 1951 |
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60 years later, this is the view of the block between Worth Avenue - not there in 1951 - and the Wilbur Cross Parkway entrance. Much of the transformation took place between 1959 and 1964. The building in the center is now the Hamden Town House. In 1979, it was the site of a fire that nearly destroyed a Howard Johnson's Restaurant. (CLICK on the photo for more details)
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| 1924 - Whitney and Dixwell (Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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This is the view looking north on Whitney Avenue at Dixwell eighty-six years ago. The new Memorial Town Hall at left is still under construction, as evidenced by the scaffolding seen in the photo. The original town hall, completed in 1888, was only 36 years old when it was torn down to make way for the much larger edifice that took its place. The small Centerville fire station, constructed in 1907, was also razed for the project.
The Malovolti Building on the northeast corner of Whitney and Dixwell was razed after being gutted by fire in February 1941. The site remained vacant until the Brown Stone House Restaurant was built in 1949. Note the ancient gas lit street lamp on the corner.
In addition to Memorial Town Hall, several other structures in this photo remain standing today, including the building immediately north of the town hall (presently scheduled for demolition), the brick building right across the street, and the wood frame building just north of it.
Posted 10/22/10
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| 1948 - The "Bank Section" - Helen, Circular and Dixwell - CLICK to enlarge |
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The "Bank Section" of Hamden was given that lasting nickname because of the imposing structure at the fork of Dixwell and Circular Avenues that once housed the Union and New Haven Trust Company (later Union Trust). Notice that the French-Italian Building is under construction at the corner of Dixwell and Helen.
Unfortunately, just out of camera range beyond the right hand edge of the photo is the Humphrey fire station, directly opposite the apartment building pictured at the corner of Gorham and Circular. When this photo was taken in 1948, the Humphrey station was still a single bay firehouse. It was renovated to its present configuration in 1951. (Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society)
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| c. 1949 - Aerial view of Whitneyville (Photo courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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Old Station 3, complete with bell tower on the northwest corner of the building, can be seen opposite a large vacant lot on Putnam Avenue in this aerial view of the east side of Whitney Avenue in Whitneyville. Many of these buildings in this late-1940s photograph are still standing in October 2009.
The date of the photo is estimated by what appears to be a 1948, '49 or '50 Packard in the parking lot of the service station on the corner of Whitney and Putnam. This photo may have been taken on the same occasion (and by the same photographer) as aerial photos of Centerville and the "Bank Section" known to have been taken in 1949.
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Whitney Avenue, just north of School Street
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| "Whitney Avenue, Centerville." - Looking north on Whitney Avenue just north of School Street (Photo by I.A. Sneiderman) |
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| Same location 72 years later |
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Dixwell Avenue at Wheeler Street
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| 1938 - Dixwell and Wheeler - CLICK to enlarge (Photo by I.A. Sneiderman) |
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| 2010 - Dixwell and Wheeler - CLICK to enlarge |
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In the 1938 booklet, The New England Hurricane, the photo on the left was captioned, "Dixwell Avenue, Hamden, near the Hamden High School." The two houses are actually located on the southeast corner of Dixwell Avenue and Wheeler Street, a location that most folks today would not think of as "near" the high school. This is probably because a major landmark that now separates these two locations, the Wilbur Cross Parkway overpass, did not exist in 1938.
The same two houses still stand today, although the one closest to the camera now has an enclosed fire escape on the near side.
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Whitney Avenue at School Street
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| Christmas 1964 - 2392 Whitney Avenue |
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| Christmas 2009 - 2392 Whitney Avenue |
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The "Big Y" in Mount Carmel
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| Yantic Beef Co. & Hamden Grain Co., 3310 Whitney Avenue - c. 1969 (CLICK to enlarge - Photo by Tom Doherty) |
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| 10/23/09 - The Matiste Building, 3308 Whitney Avenue - Site of the Yantic Beef Co. 40 years earlier (CLICK to enlarge) |
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The Yantic Beef Co., known locally as "The Big 'Y'", was razed around 1980 in conjunction with the anticipated construction of a brand new stretch of Sherman Avenue between Whitney Avenue and Old Hill Road.
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The Web Shop in Centerville
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Several Hamden firemen worked at the Web Shop in Centerville before joining the fire department. Among them were Mario "Bucky" Serafino and Al Purce. The building was located on the east side of Whitney Avenue at Mill River, where the Wilbur Cross Pky. now crosses. Home of the American Mills Co. until the late 1930s, the building was torn down about 1940 to make way for the parkway.
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Bolton Street, Whitney Lane, and Other Roads That Once Were
Hamden is changing all the time. But the one area of Hamden that probably saw the most change between 1970 and 1980 was Mount Carmel. Between 1974 and 1976, construction of the Route 40 Connector to I-91 resulted in the demolition of almost every building between Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the corners of Ives/Dickerman Streets and Whitney Avenue.
Bolton Street is among a few Hamden streets that have been cut short, reconfigured, or have disappeared altogether. It ran west off #2902 Whitney Avenue in Mt. Carmel, up a steep hill to just beyond Villa Road. The portion of Bolton Street between Whitney and Villa was eliminated when the Rt. 40 Connector was built in the mid-1970s. Several houses on the street were either razed or moved.
What's left of Bolton Street today is accessible only from the end of Villa Road, off Dickerman Street. The street was extended west and south to a cul-de-sac after 1990, and there are more houses on Bolton Street today than before the Connector.
The Route 40 Connector also forced the rerouting of Tabor Street, which ran west off Whitney Avenue about 300 feet south of Ives Street. Tabor Street now runs south, then west, off Dickerman Street about 50 feet west of Whitney. The lone house on Tabor Street was not affected by the Connector and still stands.
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| Hamden Grain and Produce Co. and Yantic Beef Co. |
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Further north on the west side of Whitney Avenue was a group of large wood frame offices and warehouses that were the Hamden Grain and Produce Co. and the Yantic Beef Co., which was known locally as "The Big 'Y'." Ever mindful of the fire load of these buildings, Hamden firefighters often speculated that if the Big Y ever caught fire, it would indeed be the "Big One."
These buildings were razed around 1980 in conjunction with the anticipated construction of a brand new stretch of Sherman Avenue between Whitney Avenue and Old Hill Road.
The old segment of Sherman Avenue, which ran between the Mount Carmel Congregational Church and the church parish house, was re-routed to exit on the new stretch of Sherman Avenue just west of Whitney. It was renamed Kenwood Avenue because it had become an extension of the original Kenwood Avenue. Depot Road and Railroad Avenue, which ran west and north off the old segment of Sherman Avenue, disappeared altogether.
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Whitney Lane ran west off Whitney Avenue opposite the old Web Shop in Centerville. That street, and the three houses located there, were all casualties of the Wilbur Cross Parkway construction of the late 1940s.
Did you ever wonder why the house numbers on Mix Avenue start in the 400s? It's because Mix Avenue originally began at Circular Avenue, not Benham Street. Around 1948, construction of the Wilbur Cross Parkway bisected Mix Avenue between Benham and Roosevelt Streets. The southern half of Mix Avenue, from #1 to #333, became Battis Road.
Hobson Avenue runs east of, and parallel to Dixwell Avenue just south of the Parkway. Hobson Avenue originally ran all the way from Wheeler St. to Marietta St. (opp. the high school). In 1948, the Parkway made Hobson Avenue a dead end street just north of Miles Street.
In the early 1960s, the Town reclaimed the land that was once Watson Street, which ran south from Goodrich Street to the New Haven line.
Connell Street disappeared about 70 years ago. Probably an unimproved right-of-way, Connell Street ran from Bowen Street to Warner Street, in the area between Arch and Easton Streets.
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