New Canaan Now & Then: Birdsall House

Morse Court

With the arrival of the New Canaan train line in 1868, the quiet farming community of New Canaan opened up to the world.  The idyllic New England town quickly became a hot spot in the summer for seasonal visitors.  These visitors, typically from New York City, could easily spend a few weeks in the country to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and have relief from the heat.  In order to accommodate these tourists New Canaan was able to sustain five different inns.  Largest and grandest of all of these inns was the Birdsall House.

The building that would eventually become the Birdsall House was built around 1823 by Bradley Keeler.  At this point it was a private two story home, but Keeler sometimes let travelers stay with him.  It was not until 1840 that the home officially became a hotel.  Almost twenty years later in 1859, the first extension was added to the building.  Finally on May 4, 1861 Gilbert Birdsall bought the inn for $4,700.

Birdsall himself was a summer resident.  He was originally from New York City where he was a superintendent of the Third Avenue Street Railway Company.  In the summer, he lived on his 200 acre farm that was located on Brushy Ridge.  This farm was used as a retirement home for the horses that could no longer pull the street cars for his company.  Birdsall was not involved with the day to day aspect of running the hotel he had purchased, but instead left that to several different managers over the years.

During Birdsall’s ownership, the inn gained the reputation for having clean, comfortable rooms and good food.   Downstairs there was a bar and a sitting room.  Eventually a billiard table was added to the sitting room and the manager promised “a handsome reward to anyone who can make 13 shots in one.”  Parts of the building were lit with gas lamps.  There was also a ballroom on the second floor, which was advertised in the winter as “the coziest dancing rooms in the state.”  At one point a dance school was conducted there as well.  The livery stable behind the inn also had an excellent reputation with at least one traveller going the extra miles so that their horse would have better fodder and bedding.   Thanks to its reputation, the Birdsall Inn hosted many of the town’s most important events. The annual Fat Man’s Clambake was held there as well as the Democratic Senatorial Convention and the Probate Court Convention of 1870.

With the death of Gilbert Birdsall in 1886 and then the death of his wife in 1907, the hotel was run by their granddaughter and her husband Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Morse.  The building underwent major renovations, adding indoor plumbing and exterior updates  At this point the inn most likely resembled the photo above.  Due to the extensiveness of these alterations, the inn was closed until 1914.  A few years later during World War I, the inn closed once again and was reopened as an apartment building.  There was a coffee shop and restaurant in the building until the 1930s, but the Birdsall Inn slowly faded from town life.  In 1936 the verandas were deemed unsafe and were removed.  Finally in 1950 the entire structure was deemed unsafe and demolished in July of that same year to make way for the Morse Court parking lot.

“New Canaan Now & Then” is presented in partnership with the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society.