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New Canaan Now & Then: The Clock Tower House

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Six minutes from the heart of town is the Clock Tower house on Sunset Hill Road. 

This unique home was one of the auxiliary buildings from the former country estate of railroad executive, Lewis Peck Child. The Clock Tower of Sunset Hill is a gambrel-roofed brick structure that was built in 1900. The Childs (formerly of New Jersey) purchased the 71 acres of land in 1893 with its barn-like features. 

The ground floor housed sheep and the estate’s German diesel generator, and the second floor was Child’s office. In a step up from the barn space below, the office featured a fireplace flanked by stained glass windows. The clock was made by E. Howard Watch and Clock Company and uses gravity to operate its mechanisms. The clock was wound by ascending a small ladder to the sizable mechanisms which allowed the operator to wind the 100 counterweight up by hand.

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New Canaan Now & Then: Rock School

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In 1650, the Connecticut Colonial Legislature enacted the first compulsory school law but it wasn’t until 1795 that the state began supplying state funds for education. 
New Canaan’s first one-room schoolhouse was built circa 1799 by residents of New Canaan’s School District 2.  The Rock School, as it was called, was located originally at Canoe Hill and Laurel Roads on a rocky outcropping donated by David Lockwood.  It was built from repurposed beams and boards, served grades 1-12, and was in continuous use until 1933. Education was very different than it is today.  The year was divided into summer and winter terms.  The teacher was paid approximately $5 a month, and so was forced to take lodging with the students.  At the time it was built, the school curriculum involved the “4Rs” – reading writing, arithmetic and religion.  New Canaan was a parish of the Congregational Church until 1801, and much of the learning focused on scripture and religious teachings.  Boys went to school from October through mid-March; they helped on the farms the rest of the year.  Girls attended when they could be spared from household work.  
Students had chores at school.  They might be required to bring in firewood for the stove that heated the classroom, or water from the well.  They all drank out of the same bucket of water using the same ladle.  Books were extremely rare because paper was very expensive.  Instead, students had “hornbooks” – small, wooden paddles with one sheet of paper protected by a thin piece of cow’s horn.  The paper usually held the alphabet, pairs of letters to help with reading, and the Lord’s Prayer.    
Sometime after it closed in 1933, the Town wanted to widen the intersection, which would mean demolishing the school.  Charles Stevens purchased the building for $35, and had it moved across the road.  With some slight modifications, it served as a residence for Mrs. Herbert Richdale from 1942-1970.  When a portion of her property was sold to a developer, the building was threatened for a second time. 
On November 13 and 14, 1972, students in Miss Eleanor Smith’s U.S History Class visited the Historical Society.  During that trip, they were asked if they wanted to help save the Rock School from demolition.  The students were excited by the idea, set up a steering committee, and began promoting the effort in the elementary schools.  All grades participated in bake sales, candy sales, fundraising plays and movies, a potluck supper and auction, and even a walkathon.  With the help of Don Hersam, publisher of the Advertiser, they had raised enough funds by the spring.  
On May 1, 1973, the Rock School was moved to the Historical Society’s campus at 13 Oenoke Ridge Road.  High school students escorted it along its route, which took three hours.  The third and fourth grades of Center School greeted the little building at its new location, along with a 1902 student from the school.  Over the next summer, students and other volunteers worked to restore it.  It was formally dedicated to the children of New Canaan as part of the bicentennial celebration in 1976.

Now & Then

New Canaan Now & Then: James Howard Bailey House

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The first known structure built where 17 St. John Place now stands was, of all things, an observatory. 

This structure was built sometime in the mid 1800s by Dr. Samuel St. John, who used the space not only to gaze at the stars but also as a library and a classroom.  Circa 1900, the observatory was converted into a photography studio by William Weed.  (This history was covered in a previous Now & Then article on the Second Congregational House.) The observatory was still standing in 1916, when the property was sold to Katherine Warren, who seems to have lived in the building. Finally the property was sold to James Howard Bailey of Norwalk in 1925.  Bailey was the president of Hatch & Bailey Co. in Norwalk, which his father, James, helped to found in 1872 and is still in business today.  Bailey constructed the current house at 17 St.

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New Canaan Now & Then: Johnson’s Garage

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Johnson’s Garage, pictured here in 1944 on the corner of Forest Street and East Avenue, was reported to be the oldest continuous business operating under one family name in the village proper. 

The Johnsons, Elias and Henry, started the business in 1876 as farriers, shodding horses and oxen.  After they purchased the land, they quickly mortgaged it in order to build a wooden barn to work from.  Eventually in 1878, the brothers bought out John Fancher’s carriage building business and also started a general blacksmithing shop.  

The big door on Forest Street was a popular viewing spot for children to watch the three forges at work. The second generation of Johnsons—Howard, Herbert and Horace—continued the tradition of excellence along with their cousins, Henry and Edwin, who were the sons of Henry senior.  Their reputation for custom built carriages became known statewide and business was so good that they tore down the original wooden barn and built the current brick building in 1908.  The Johnsons continued to keep up with technology by offering motor cars starting in 1909.  

The Johnsons seem to have been somewhat mercenary in what cars they sold over the years.  From just a brief survey of ads in the Advertiser, they were at least at one point agents for EMF, Studebaker, Flanders, Cadillac, Ford, Overland, Dodge, and Plymouth.  In 1929, a Shell gas station was built behind the garage in what is now the parking lot on East Ave.  This addition must be the explanation for the Shell gas pump that is in the lower left of the picture directly on the curb of Forest Street. Unfortunately, the good times could not last, and in 1953 the Johnson Garage went out of business.  The building remained empty until 1955, when the space was leased to New Canaan Motor Sales, a Ford dealership.  In 1959 the Johnsons sold their garage to the Silliman Farm Store which was located directly next to the garage.  The driving force behind the purchase was the parking lot located on East Avenue, but the Farm Store also expanded into the garage.   

When Silliman’s closed in February 1981, the property was purchased for $700,000 and the interior was remodeled for office space.  However, plans to use the building as an office fell through when it was pointed out to the town that the building would not have enough parking for this change of use. In the 1980s, 3 Forest St. became home to the Forest Street Center, a “gallery of distinctive shops” and the first shopping mall in New Canaan.

Now & Then

New Canaan Now & Then: Bob’s Sports

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The holidays are a perfect time to remember the quintessential small town store, Bob’s Sports, which occupied 91 Park Street for decades. Bob’s Sports opened in New Canaan in 1951, taking over the former home of Harry Groher. The property was modified to include a black top driveway that could accommodate twenty cars. The original store sold sporting goods and “country wear” for the whole family. Robert E. Mallozzi hosted an open house for his new patrons on September 5th, cementing the store’s place in the community with its merchandise and genial sales staff.