Date: Fri 12-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

Sandy-Hook-Bassett-history

Full Text:

newtown remembered: Decades Have Changed The Face Of Sandy Hook Center

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

Not so long ago, hand painted wagons rolled along the dirt roads of Newtown

past the blanket factory, Newtown Coal and Grain, Crow and Kane Button Shop,

Upton Tea Factory, and the Hawleyville Lace Factory. It was likely that these

wagons had been created by Harold Bassett's father or grandfather in the

blacksmith shop next to H.G. Warner's red brick store on Glen Road in Sandy

Hook.

Mr Bassett, 82, remembers that business was so brisk his father had to hire a

helper named Richard Brophy to keep up with demand. "They had saw tables [at

the shop]. They made the wagons from scratch using iron and wood - and then

hand painted them," said Mr Bassett. "They would also buy horseshoes and fit

them to the hooves of horses." Andirons and fireplace equipment were also

fashioned at and shipped from the blacksmith shop.

The house next to the Ice Cream Shop on Church Hill Road was the birth place

of Harold Bassett. At that time, the building was located close to the road;

it was moved back by the current owners. The family subsequently lived with

Harold's grandfather, Alfred Bassett, in the house next to the blacksmith

shop.

As a boy, Harold attended the one-room Sandy Hook School (now the School House

Deli) on Riverside Road. He was there for three years and had Miss Honan as

his teacher. When he attended Hawley High School there were still remnants on

the property of the race track his parents vividly remembered as part of the

agricultural fairgrounds. The youth played basketball and pitched for the

school's baseball team.

"We'd play in Pine Grove Park - it was on Route 34 next to the old dump," said

Mr Bassett. "We'd have competition of various towns. There were bleachers and

stands where you could buy hot dogs and so forth. It used to be a very active

place. Interstate 84 goes right through there now."

Another favorite pastime was going to the movie house located behind where the

Church Hill Gas Stop station is now situated. "There were silent movies and a

woman played the piano [as accompaniment]," said Mr Bassett. A candy store in

front of the theater was run by Clark Blackman and his wife. When the

youngsters in town wanted ice cream sodas, they visited Corbit and Crow's Drug

Store in Sandy Hook (where Don's Rental was recently located). One side was a

drug store and soda fountain and the other side was a grocery store, and there

was a gas pump out front, according to Mr Bassett.

Mr Bassett, like so many other boys in town, enjoyed exploring the abandoned

castle on Castle Hill Road. "There were no doors - it was all open," he said.

So there was nothing to keep away the curious except tales of hauntings.

Sandy Hook Center

Fires, a flood, tourism, and a gradual shift away from manufacturing has

changed the face of Sandy Hook Center throughout the years. The Pootatuck

River provided energy for the many mills scattered along its banks, but water

power proved fickle at times.

Before World War I, the large factory at the base of Church Hill Road produced

hats, according to Mr Bassett. "There was not enough water [to power the

operation] so it closed. During World War I, the Niantic Woolen Mills moved in

there," he said. When that ceased operation, Fred Harris and Butch McNamara

opened a wire mill at the site. The partners moved the business to the Plastic

and Moldings factory buildling on Glen Road, and later, when John McCarthy

bought Harris' interest, a building was constructed on Church Hill Road near

the railroad tracks. The business continues to be run by the McCarthy family.

The series of dams established along the Pootatuck River included one used by

the button manufacturer on Route 25 (where Newtown Manufacturing is now), one

for the factory at the base of Church Hill Road, one in back of Warner's store

that had a sluice way and supplied water to a gristmill, and two more

downstream that provided water to the Plastic Moldings Company and the US

Rubber Company (later the site of Fabric Fire Hose Company), said Mr Bassett.

The first union in Newtown was established by US Rubber employees, who met on

the second floor of a building near the bridge on the North side of Church

Hill Road. At one time, "all the people went on strike there. [The owners]

said if they ever went on strike again, they'd moved the factory to New

Jersey," said Mr Bassett. And that is exactly what happened.

Next to the Bassett's home were three houses set close together. Each had

apartments on the second floor and a business on ground level - barber shop,

jeweler, and clothing store. After these burned down, the property was sold,

basements filled, and a Dodge dealership and gas station was established at

the location by Austin Hurd and Jack Lillis.

US Rubber had three company-owned houses for employees on Glen Road, about ‹

of a mile from the center of Sandy Hook, which also burned down, according to

Mr Bassett.

Below that was Gallagher's Hotel - a mecca for business travelers who arrived

by train at the nearby Sandy Hook Railroad Station. The hotel had a bar,

served lunch, and sold "odds and ends, and groceries" at one end of the

building. Years later, when Mr Bassett was fire commissioner, Gallagher's

Hotel burned to the ground.

Another building claimed by fire was Dr Corrigan's house. The Corrigan's owned

the Sandy Hook Diner, which they brought to the Church Hill Road property on a

flatbed truck. Their house was set back off the street behind the diner. "It

was a beautiful old house. I'll never forget that night. It was frigid weather

and the river water froze in the pump so we couldn't get enough water to put

it out," said Mr Bassett.

The creamery behind the Newtown Railroad station on the other side of town,

was also destroyed by fire, according to Mr Bassett. This had been the place

where the local farmers would sell their milk. The Yankee Drover, formerly the

Parker House, located next to the Newtown Meeting House at the flagpole, also

burned down, he recalled.

"Years ago, some of the street names were changed," said Mr Bassett. "They

weren't fancy enough for some people."

"Gas Street" was renamed Riverside Road, "Chicken Street" became Washington

Avenue, and "Cemetery Street" was changed to Cherry Street. Originally named

for the slaughterhouse at the end of the road, "Carcass Lane" was changed to

Wendover Road.

Sandy Hook Businessmen

When Harold Bassett graduated from high school he cashed an insurance policy

his father had bought for him. It was worth $400, "a lot of money in those

days" and enough to open a liquor store in Sandy Hook Center. He went into

business for himself because he said, "You couldn't buy a job in those days."

The old wire factory building had been purchased by Austin Hurd, who tore it

down and built a tavern, according to Mr Bassett. Tommy Thomlinson operated a

luncheonette there and sold gas from the two pumps in front. In 1947, Mr

Bassett bought the tavern, razed it, and built the shopping plaza that exists

today. He asked a reasonable rent and got good tenants - a realtor, baker,

beautician, and five and dime - to occupy the space.

He well remembered the flood of 1950, when the dam above the Sandy Hook bridge

broke up and water rushed onto the streets of the business center. "I had to

move $7,000 worth of liquor out in one hour," he said. "I put it in a truck

and drove up Riverside."

He decided to expand his liquor store, which at that time was located across

the street from his block of real estate, so he added on to the shopping plaza

and moved in there. Mr Bassett was also proprietor of the Riverside Lodger, a

14-room inn that was filled every night before the interstate was built.

Tourism dropped off, but he was able to continue a steady business by offering

rooms to visiting relatives of friends.

In the 1950s, the blacksmith shop (then making truck bodies) closed, and the

machinery and equipment was sold to Louie Lovell who operated Lovell's Garage

at the intersection of routes 302 and 25. Mr Bassett sold the family home in

1981. A short time later sold his own brick home across the street, and moved

with his wife, Irene, and their family to Juniper Road. In 1984 his wife

passed away.

Mr Bassett has been very active in the community as a charter member of the

Sandy Hook Fire Department, a fire commissioner, a member of the Borough

Zoning Board of Appeals as well as the Newtown Charter Commission. He was also

a driver and secretary for the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association, a life

member of Hiram Lodge No. 18, 32nd Degree Mason, and a member of the Pyramid

Temple.

"I remember when the population in Newtown was about 3,500; it's well over

20,000 now," said Mr Bassett. "Life carries on. Everyday it's something

different."