Test your knowledge of West Hartford history with this ‘Thursday Throwback,’ courtesy of the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society.
By Ronni Newton
It’s Throwback Thursday (#tbt), and 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!
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
Even though I have been to and driven by this location hundreds of times, last week’s photo (at right and in larger size below) would have stumped me if I hadn’t had the inside scoop on the address. The same building remains on the site now, and houses the eye doctor’s office (Dr. Peter Pegolo, Optometric Specialty Group) that my entire family uses.
Many of our readers have much sharper vision than I do, and quickly recognized this spot!
“This is a hard one. [Editor’s note: Thank you!] The building is on South Quaker land just north of its intersection with Flatbush across from the new medical building. The former drug store is now a package store. Goodson became Kansas City Meat. This photo probably dates back to the 1950s,” commented Rob Rowlson, the first to weigh in.
“Yes, that location is now The Wise Old Dog package store (the best in town for wine, beer and spirits, by the way! Owner Jacob and staff are funny, friendly and hugely knowledgeable; I learn something new every time I shop there),” added Connie Reder.
Photo credit: Shirley Redman
Thanks to Shirley Redman for snapping this up-to-date photo of the building!
Dianne Rechel added a few more details: “Hmmm … think it’s the location of a laundromat next to a liquor store that used to be a real estate office, and before that ??? The building has had some turnover. It’s next to a vacant lot where a gas station was torn down methinks. Love these pictures!”
The gas station must have been at the corner where there’s now a gravel lot where people sometimes park for soccer games at Goodrich. Does anyone recall it?
Some great firsthand memories from Dave Gabriele: “It’s Quaker Lane Pharmacy at the corner of Hampton Avenue and S. Quaker Lane. It was a stop on our walk to and from Charter Oak school. It had a high stool lunch counter with the old style soda fountain. (Because we are old !) It was owned by two guys named Bill. The lady who worked the counter was named Fay. The grocery store next door was Glenn Smither’s Food Town. We lived just a few blocks away and this was the store my mother shopped at weekly. I bagged groceries there as a kid.”
A few people commented on Facebook before the comments about the correct location were posted directly on the article, and although a few thought this was the site at the corner of Farmington and Prospect where the Walgreen’s is currently being rebuilt and someone else thought the corner of Mayflower and New Britain, others correctly identified it.
“Drug store and Glenn Smither’s Food Town on the corner of So. Quaker and Hampton. Laundry in Smither’s space,” wrote Joy Ferguson.
“Wise Old Dog/laundromat/ophthalmologists on South Quaker?” answered Rachel Granquist.
“Corner of South Quaker and Hampton Avenue! My grandmother lived just a few blocks away on South Quaker and we would take a walk so we could get a 5 cent root beer ice pop on a hot summer afternoon!” commented Michele Confessore.
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
Here’s a great throwback photo for this week (shown at right and in larger size below).
Do you know where this photo was taken? Who else thinks it would be fun if the bowling alley was still in this spot?
Who remembers these businesses, and can you correctly identify what is now in all of these spaces?
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
610 South Quaker Lane, now home to businesses such as the Wise Old Dog and Optometric Specialty Group. Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
Southwest side of LaSalle Rd. looking south. Might have been an A+P there 40 years ago. Across from, say, Herb’s Sporting Goods.
Yes, LaSalle where Starbucks is! Kevin Galvin and Colonial Hardware were there before. Legend has it that the lanes, which were in the basement, are still there. They have been used as storage for the shops above for many, many years, but they are still there. I seem to remember bowling there, duckpin balls. We did most of our Sat afternoon bowling in Bishop’s Corner, but I do remember these lanes.
I also remember the A&P where Beckers is now. The Garden Center was next door. It was a treat to go there and pick out plants for terrariums that were all the rage in the early 60s. I don’t personally remember any of the business’s shown in the block. Interesting how they appear to be “household” type businesses as opposed to straight-up retail or restaurants.
This is on Lasalle Road where Starbucks is located now. I remember bowling in those lanes as part of the St. James’s YPF group. We’d walk from the church.
Last I looked the lanes were removed or being removed. Served as storage space for the WH Chambers/Centers holiday pole decorations for years. the lanes had 2 or 3 pinball machines (sure I would know that) an the place was a great hangout for teens as long as there were no “problems” Yes, Starbucks, Colonial and A&P Grocery…also, A&P Package Store, separate building….bet you forgot that!!!
They had trivia machines there too (lost a lot of quarters there…).
Rob, oh no! Another bit of mystery dashed! Just don’t tell me that the bloody handprints in Hueblein Tower are also gone……
My father when he was in high school in the 50s briefly worked at the food store on Quaker Lane before it was Kansas City Meat Market. He told me he lost the job when the manager realized he was sorting through the aging fruits and veggies which the manager would put to the front and top and not selling them to the customers. I remember walking past the meat market en route to Charter Oak Elementary as a young boy. One day I found some money in the parking lot, and went into the pharmacy (which I’d never been inside before) to tell them. Though it seemed a fortune to me, it was just a couple dollars in change, so they let me keep it, but I remember something else about that visit, which must have been in the early to mid 70s: The pharmacy was probably shutting down, as they were taking apart what had been a display case for cigars, and I also caught a glimpse of the counter, with some old-school stools, and what must have been the soda fountain. Lastly, where the Pro-Health Physicians property now is, there used to be a very run-down three or possibly even four story tenement building that had a not nice nickname. I think it was gone by the late 70s.