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| Photos by John Mongillo Sr. |
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Just two days before Christmas 1957, a two-alarm fire of unknown origin started in a rear storage area of an Eli Moore store at the Hamden Plaza. The fire department was notified at 5:25 pm. and the fire was out about a half-hour after the first apparatus arrived. Losses were estimated at more than $100,000.
A New Haven Evening Register article the next day stated, "Virtually all of the damage was in the store occupied by Eli Moore, Inc., children's wear and toy retailers."
Actually, there were two Eli Moore stores at the Plaza. Sandwiched between both Eli Moore stores was Morrison's, a women's clothing store. The fire started in the Eli Moore store to the left of Morrison's in the photo above. The Eli Moore Prep Shop, to the right of Morrison's, specialized in clothing for young men.
Smoke from the blaze spread into Morrison's, the Eli Moore Prep Shop, Besse-Richey and the W.T. Grant Co., one of several national chain department stores at the Plaza in its earliest days. The Register article continued, "At the height of the fire, the adjoining W.T. Grant Co. store and Morrisons, a women's apparel shop, were ordered evacuated."
Three firefighters were briefly overcome by carbon monoide fumes from a gasoline powered portable pump operating in an enclosed area. They were treated at the scene with oxygen. Engines 1, 2, 3, and 4, Ladder 1, and the Emergency Squad responded. The Register reported that two ambulances stood by. "Most off duty firemen, officers and volunteer firemen also reported for duty."
The buildings that once housed all of the affected stores were torn down several years ago to make way for the new Shaw's (now Shop-Rite) supermarket.
The Hamden Plaza opened in November 1955. Johnson's Bowling Lanes, originally Hamden Plaza Bowling, is the only original tenant.
Posted 11/30/10
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