New Canaan Now & Then—Main Street
Main Street, looking out from the front lawn of Town Hall, in 1987. Photo from the archives of the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society
Pictured here is Main Street from 1987. The Town Sign, which still hangs in front of Town Hall, is one of 18 forged by Clifton Meek at the Silvermine Forge in 1936. Rosen Bros. was a grocery store located at 80 Main Street that opened in 1930 and closed in 1986.
Michael Murphy, librarian and archivist at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, with one of the art deco light fixtures from Rosen Bros. grocery store on Main Street. Credit: Michael Dinan
The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society has a pair of art deco light fixtures that once hung in the market, each made from a single piece of glass, along with an early GE Mazda light bulb. These items are three of the thousands of objects and documents kept in the Museum’s climate controlled vault.
[Editor: This is the debut installment of “New Canaan Now & Then,” a new standing feature presented in partnership with the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society.]
This is so cool. Thanks Mike, and everyone at the Historical Society, for pulling together this series.
Great idea for a series! Those lights look really cool-would love to see them working.
YES! Love this idea. Maybe it will bring back some appreciation for what this town used to be….:we are here since 1977…loved the “old New Canaan” and all of its history which is why we moved here. So much is being torn down and replaced with
“modern” – like structures… no soul😣
I couldn’t agree more. I have such fond childhood memories of going to Rosen’s. Mr. and Mrs. Lapen were the most kind and always had a big smile at the ready. This was one of those shops that gave New Canaan it’s historical small-town New England charm…something I miss dearly every day.
Love this new feature!
Love this! We are so lucky to have such a rich history – and what a wonderful day it will be when we build new things that honor that history in part because stories like this brought it to life. Looking forward to the next article.
Love seeing pictures of the town I grew up in.
That’s when Pagy’s was there to the left of Rosen’s a few stores down and the Nights of Columbus to…remember the Nights when we had that ice storm,a bunch of us friends would go downstairs and play pool or watch tv most of the day or until we got thrown out…was good for me and a few friends not having electricity home for about a week…the times we had being in there and what we did…
I agree. This is a series that I enjoy reading! I have lived in NC all my life as did my parents and grandparents. I miss so much of how NC used to be.
To bad everything can’t stay the way they used to be,at least we have memories of how they were…I know and remember both of your parents Rachel,very nice people…
So happy this new segment to the paper will be weekly.