Discover the past and present of some of Newtown’s lesser-known historical sites in The Newtown Bee’s series dedicated to retracing the role these places once played in town and what they stand as today.

Formerly: Glover Hall

Currently: Owned by 6 Glen Road Sandy Hook LLC

Location: 6 Glen Road

When was it built or established? Newtown Historical Society’s newsletter, The Rooster’s Crow (volume 46, issue 1, January-March 2019) reported that the building at 6 Glen Road “consists of an older building with its gable end toward the street and a younger ‘annex’ in the form of a garage addition.

“The Tax Assessors card claims that the older section dates back to 1790, but the building that is there now is Neoclassical and more likely dates from the 1840s. The first floor is one room, as is the second floor, which had a small residential apartment in the southeast corner. These open spaces made the building ideal for dances and other entertainment, especially musical performances,” the newsletter essay continued.

What is its historical significance? Glover Hall received its name from being affiliated with the influential Glover family. The Glovers are known to have been pioneers in Newtown, and helped the town’s economic development grow.

The family’s patriarch, Smith P. Glover, was a businessman who owned the 6 Glen Road building — along with the nearby Red Brick Store (now Foundry Kitchen & Tavern, at 1 Glen Road) and The Smith Glover House, at 1 Riverside Road.

Mr Glover passed the building down to his son-in-law, Laurence Glover Warner, who maintained the building until the mid-20th Century.

In Glover Hall’s heyday, it was the place to be for social gatherings in Sandy Hook. People were frequently renting out the space for their dances, parties, and events.

It was also a popular facility for local groups to hold meetings, including Sandy Hook Athletic Club; the local fife, drum, and bugle corps; and Newtown Automobile Club.

With early automobile ownership of the rise, the Newtown Automobile Club formed in 1909 and had its organizational meeting at Glover Hall, where a whopping 20 automobile owners attended.

Glover Hall was also a prime spot to host recreational programs for hobbyists.

The Newtown Bee’s Way We Were column recounted a specific class announcement from October 16, 1914, that said, “The dancing school of Mrs Burt Thrall has opened for the winter in Glover’s hall, Sandy Hook. Lessons every Friday evening, teaching the Fox-Trot, One-Step, and Lullu-Fado; also two-step and waltz.”

About two years later, the column also detailed there was a children’s dancing class, too, at Glover Hall on Saturday afternoons, in October 1916. “Fancy dancing and the latest in modern dance steps,” is said to have been taught.

Most notably, Glover Hall was the first location of Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company when it was established in 1938.

In 1940, with Mr Warner’s approval, the company began renovating the building.

“World War II intervened, however, and building material became scarce, as did the supply of young men available to do construction. So, it was not until 1947, when construction was resumed,” according to The Rooster’s Crow.

It goes on to say, “By that time, Mr Warner had died and the fire company arranged to buy the building and property immediately around it. They had incorporated by that year, so they could buy it as a company and not have to rely on one of their members in whose name to make a purchase. This then cleared the way to build the annex attached to the south side of their building, which was finished by the end of the year.”

Around that era, the Sandy Hook Free Public Library began sharing the building with the fire company.

Prior to its move there, the library — which had been incorporated on June 25, 1906 — was located in a single-story structure on the corner of Washington Avenue and Church Hill Road, along with Sandy Hook Post Office.

When that building was sold in 1947, the library moved into Glover Hall for a handful of years.

In Newtown 1705-1918, written by Newtown’s first historian Ezra Levan Johnson, it says that S.P. Glover generously donated a room there for the Sandy Hook Free Public Library to use.

At the time of the book’s publication, more than 100 years ago, it reported, “[The Sandy Hook Free Public Library] is opened to all inhabitants of the town, free of charge, and money for its support is raised entirely on voluntary subscription and public entertainments. The present number of books in circulation in 2,458, and the number of takers of books is 149.”

Librarians there did not receive a salary.

“By 1952, however, the fire company wanted the hall for other purposes and asked the library to vacate. It was thus forced to move across the street to the old grist mill building, where it languished for another year before disbanding,” according to an essay in A Mosaic of Newtown History by current Town Historian Dan Cruson.

The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company used the extra space in the building to accommodate its growing fleet of firefighting vehicles and equipment.

When the space at 6 Glen Road became too limited for the needs of the fire company, the group began planning for a larger facility in the early-1970s.

The move would take them to Riverside Road, where the company would have more room for its vehicles and have meeting rooms and office space.

“The new fire station was ready to move into in 1977, and Glover Hall was sold that same year to Joseph Loparco of Currituck Road. The new owner set up his business for renting and maintaining coin-operated video games in his newly acquired structure,” The Rooster’s Crow detailed. “…[the] title eventually passed to Kathryn and James McGuire, who turned it into a series of offices.”

What occupies it today? The Rooster’s Crow also mentioned that “Most recently [November 2018] the property had been acquired by a local developer who has been instrumental in developing several other local businesses…”

Newtown records say the former Glover Hall building, 6 Glen Road, is currently owned by 6 Glen Road Sandy Hook LLC. The business was not able to be reached for comment at the time of print.

Interested in learning more about a specific historical place in Newtown? Send suggestions to Features Reporter Alissa Silber at alissa@thebee.com or call 203-426-3141.