West Hartford’s ‘Monday Memory’
Audio By Carbonatix
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford HIstorical Society
Test your knowledge of West Hartford history with this ‘Monday Memory,’ courtesy of the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society.
By Ronni Newton
It’s time to take a look back into West Hartford’s past to either stir up some memories, reflect on how much things have changed, or both. And if you have no idea, we love the photo captions, too!
We published a Monday Memory last week, and because everyone seems to be on a bit of a crazy schedule because of the holidays, we’re going to stick with the Monday Memory format for the next few weeks. In January we will return to our regularly scheduled Throwback Thursday programming.
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
We weren’t sure how easy it would be to figure out what is now located where a field of cows once grazed, so we provided a little hint to go with last Monday’s image (at right and in larger size below)
The first person to comment was “Mom” who guessed: “Wolcott Farm? Corbin’s Corner?” [Editor’s note: “Mom” is my mother-in-law and I won’t reveal her real name unless she says it’s okay. Many of you probably already know!]
“Westfarms Mall??” guessed Devi Mathur.
Liz Gillette added, “I’ll jump in on the Corbin farm. Would never have thought that without the hint, thanks Ronni. My husband remembers when they had a miniature golf place there when he was a kid living on Vine Hill Rd.”
Rob Rowlson was also thankful for the hint and shared some more information about the area: “Torza mini golf was nearby and across the street was the Long View farm … current location of Chatfield.”
John Hogan, who commented on Facebook, had the exact answer:” The Gerth Farm from South Main and New Britian Ave. out towards West Farm Mall.”
A few other Facebook commenters guessed Westfarms or Corbin’s corner. Mark Ferreira said, “Sears and the condos.”
There was one vote for Bishops Corner and a few for Nielson’s Dairy Farm (which appears to have been in the Bishop’s Corner area), but my favorite comment was from John Hardy: “We’ll be waiting to get out of the Westfarms parking lot on the Saturday before Christmas until the cows come home.” Did anyone have that experience this weekend?
The actual answer is that this image is of the Gerth Dairy Farm, which according to “Images of West Hartford” occupied the mostly flat land from the area of South Main Street and New Britain Avenue west to South Road, including the Corbin’s Corner/Westfarms area. When it opened in 1961, what we now call the Corbin’s Corner Shopping Center – then called the Corbin’s Corner Parkade – was named for Philip Corbin, whose home was located where Westfarms stands today. So what’s a little bit confusing, and please correct me if I get this wrong, is that it appears that Corbin’s Corner was built on the former Gerth Dairy Farm land, and Westfarms was built on the former Corbin Farm land.
Anyone who said Westfarms or Corbin’s Corner got the answer right in my book!
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford HIstorical Society
For this week, because it’s just about Christmas, we bring you a seasonally-appropriate image (at right and in larger size below).
It’s probably not too difficult to figure out where this is, but how about the details?
When was this photo taken?
What happened to the large tree?
Was there a formal tree-lighting ceremony at this location?
Please share your memories below.
Thank you to the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society for providing us with the images. For more information about the organization, visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org.
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Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford HIstorical Society
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
I didn’t get a chance to ring in last week, but in addition to mini-golf, they used to offer pony rides there. No cow rides though.
This week’s photo of the town green was taken- my guess- in December at night!
I seem to remember singing carols for a tree ceremony in front of the Congregational Church somewhere in the distant past- maybe with someone playing the carillon?
I remember something about carol sings, too. Does anyone else remember the Hartford Times sings? I still have an old, small, songbook that was handed out. Wow, how many of us are left that remember that “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” has about ten thousand verses?
There used to be a crèche scene in the Veterans’ park across the street, corner of Farmington and N. Main. Forty years ago my sister decided it was time to start Sunday School for her then three year old when she called out (in seasonal wonder? lol) “Hey Mom! Lookit the kids in the box!”