Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago —
November 1924

West Cornwall was visited by a very disastrous fire last Sunday morning at about 7 o’clock, at which time the hotel, Judge Nickerson’s law office, which building also houses the post office, and three or four barns and sheds went up in smoke and flames. The fire is thought to have started from the explosion of an oil heater, which had been left burning in a room in the hotel, and as everything was unusually dry, owing to the prolonged drought, the fire spread with amazing rapidity. West Cornwall has no means of fighting fire, but calls were sent to surrounding towns for aid. Chemical trucks from Torrington, Canaan, Sharon and Lakeville were rushed to West Cornwall and all made good time. The Torrington, Canaan and Sharon companies had pumping outfits on their trucks, and Lakeville aided with hose and chemicals. Soon streams of water were being drawn from the Housatonic river and the flames were gradually beaten. A considerable part of the village was thus saved from destruction through the effective work of the firemen. It is rumored that Judge Nickerson does not expect to rebuild, and thus West Cornwall sustains a permanent loss in many respects.

SALISBURY — Last week Tuesday, Nov. 4th, William Conklin cast his eighteenth presidential vote. His first vote was for John C. Fremont, first candidate of the then newly organized Republican party. Since that time he has voted at every presidential and state election in this town.

Mr. Samuel F. Holman, formerly a member of New York Republican County Committee, but now a resident of Salisbury, made a special trip to New York city election day to cast his last republican ballot in New York state. Mr. Holman is a dyed-in-the-wool republican, having cast his first vote in 1896.

Tuesday morning was the coldest of the season, the mercury registered about 25. The ground was frozen for the first time.

From the New York Tribune — Announcement has been made that Julian K. Sprague, twenty-one-year-old son of Frank J. Sprague, one of the foremost electrical engineers and inventors of the country, pioneer trolley road builder and past president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, had eloped on Saturday night with Miss Delemar Palmer, seventeen years old, daughter of Ray Palmer, president of the New York and Queens Electric Light and Power Company. According to an announcement made by a friend of Mr. Sprague, the couple went by automobile from the Sprague country estate at Sharon, Conn., to Brewster, N.Y., and were married by the Rev. Herbert Hazard, pastor of the Brewster Presbyterian Church. Neither Miss Palmer nor Mr. Sprague told their parents of their plans nor had any engagement been announced.

Mr. Peter C. Wick, who spent last summer here, being employed as chauffeur by Mr. C.F. Rogers, writes as follows from Santa Barbara, California: “We are now all out here, but somehow we all miss Lakeville. More so the boys. Expect to be back in the spring. We also miss the Lakeville Journal, so please send it along. I wish to be remembered to the boys in Lakeville.”

Mrs. Wm. Fenn of Lime Rock is visiting her daughter in Torrington.

Mr. M.B. and Edward Richardson with party of men are camping at Cornwall pond.

50 years ago —
November 1974

State conservation officer Peter Begley of Canaan suffered two fractured ribs and bruises Saturday afternoon when a hunter scuffled with him after being stopped for a routine check. The incident occurred on private land on Canaan Mountain after Begley and another officer were investigating a complaint of possible illegal hunting on state-owned land on Canaan Mountain. Stanley Civco, the other officer, said “It’s unbelievable what a guy will do to bag a deer.”

Volunteer firemen from Lakeville and Millerton responded to a fire Friday evening in a converted barn owned by John and Barbara Niles on Selleck Hill Road in Salisbury. State fire marshals inspected the remains of the building Wednesday after local officials ruled the origin of the fire “suspicious.” The blaze apparently started in an upstairs section of the one and one-half story building.

A quitclaim deed was filed last week for the strip of land which the town has purchased from the state in connection with the site for the proposed solid waste transfer station. The price was $750.

A teacher at Housatonic Valley Regional High School extinguished a small fire in a book room Tuesday. Principal Edward Kirby termed the fire of suspicious origin and said that the State Police had been informed. The fire caused no damage and the school was not evacuated.

CORNWALL — Harriet Clark’s 80th birthday was noted by radio personality Bob Steele on his radio program on Monday morning of this week.

The Winsted Mini-Mall, 368 Main St., will hold its official Grand Opening Friday at 6:30 p.m. The mall is located in the former W.T. Grant store which had been empty for some 24 months. The mall’s three owners, Al Nicosia, William Martin and E. John Ducci, have turned the abandoned 12,000 square foot structure into an attractive honeycomb of small specialty stores, completely housed within its walls, and accessible to the public from one main corridor.

Stan Rivard of Wells Hill, Lakeville, has produced more than $1 million of new life insurance business in 1974, it was announced by Sales Manager Richard M. Dings of Prudential’s Torrington office. This is the third year Rivard has surpassed the million mark.

25 years ago —
November 1999

FALLS VILLAGE — At a town meeting that was short, but not always sweet, voters agreed unanimously to accept once and for all the gift of the National Iron Bank building at 108 Main St. Activity at the bank branch had decreased to the point where it no longer made sense to maintain it and bank directors chose to close that office and donate the building. That location contained the original offices of the bank, which was founded in 1847.

WEST CORNWALL — The bid opening for the repair of the covered bridge over the Housatonic River on Route 128 has twice been postponed. Initially the bids were to be opened Oct. 27, but the date was pushed back to Nov. 3 and was again postponed. The project is expected to cost between $300,000 and $400,000 and will be done by an independent contractor rather than by the state Department of Transportation crew due to the scope of the project. Due to a problem with state funding the starting date for the project was pushed back to the spring of 2000.

SHARON — After a lapse of nearly a decade since the town last named a road scenic, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously at a meeting Tuesday to give Modley Road such a designation. The road, located in the Ellsworth section of town close to the border of Kent, is unpaved and is bordered by scenic views, trees and stone walls, according to the application for scenic designation.

For the first time in history, the Sharon Hospital Auxiliary Bargain Barn has reached $100,000 in annual gross sales.

Items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.