The Romance of Norwalk

In the East Norwalk railroad station house, the May¬ flower Hook, Ladder and Hose Co. was organized May 16, 1887, thr^ "h the efforts of Harry Rider, then station agent. It was originally a bucket brigade. September 1, 1887, the building which now' houses the George’s Home bakery at 42 Van Zant st., was the home of the Mayflower. In Febru¬ ary, 1906, the company moved into its present quarters, 56 Van Zant st. At the present time the Mayflower Hook, Ladder and Hose company has four paid men and about 130 volunteers. The equipment includes a La France pump¬ er, a Barker combination chemical. The captain of the Mayflower company is Stephen O’Brien. The formation of the Rowayton Hose company followed a very bad fire in Rowayton. In the winter of 1902, the Charles Thornes store building on the site of the Nehemiah Knox place, Rowayton ave. and North st., was burned to the ground. The fire broke out in the middle of the night. Many remember the mad rush to save the place and also to save the Old John Brundage home across the street. The latter is still standing, the Rowayton bucket brigade having saved it with the assistance of Chief D. William Harford and a group of South Norwalk firemen who rode down to Roway¬ ton on a special trolley at 1 in the morning. They carried with them on the trolley, their fire fighting apparatus. Soon after the fire Benjamin DeKlyn, now deceased, gave to the village the two wheel pumper which was then on his estate and 600 feet of hose. The Rowaytonites then got together and November 9, 1902 the Rowayton Hose Co. was formed. Edwin L. Stevens was the first chief. For a while the pumper was kept in a barn at the rear of the Earl Thornes place on Rowayton ave. Later the Hose Co. took up new quarters in the boat house at the foot of North st., rented from Captain Charles Lowndes for $7 a month. If the quarters were not pretentious, the bell was, for it 3io ROMANCE OF NORWALK stood atop a tower nearly 40 feet high. The bell and tower had previously held forth on the dock at Roton Point, to announce the arrival and departure of excursion boats. In 1905 the Hose Company erected its own building on Rowayton ave. The lot was purchased from Captain E. H. Smith. The two wheel pumper gave way to a supply wagon transformed from a grocery wagon. In 1910 another ap¬ paratus replaced the supply wagon. In 1922 a Ford truck was secured. Two years ago the present pumper was ac¬ quired. Moses Rackett is the present captain of the Roway¬ ton Hose Co. Just as a joke, the Reliance Hook and Ladder Co. was organized in Rowayton, April 27, 1903, a few months after the Rowayton Hose Co., by a group of the “boys” who found the town dull. A year later, March 23, 1904, when the company was incorporated, it took the name of the Reliance Fire Co. In 1905, the company built itself a house. The Rowayton Library at present occupies this building. April 13, 1924, after 21 years, the members of the Re¬ liance Fire Co. met and decided that the village of Roway¬ ton was not large enough for two fire companies. Since the Rowayton Hose Co., showed every disposition of desiring to continue in service, the Reliance decided to leave the field clear and forthwith disbanded. Upon disbanding, the hose carriage and hose was presented to Neville Bayley at Roton Point, he being in need of some sort of fire protection at the time. It is still in his possession. The rest of the Re¬ liance equipment was given to the Rowayton Hose Co. One might well wonder what Rowayton ever did with two fire companies, and how they functioned. As a matter of fact, when the bell tolled a fire, both companies rushed to horse, mounted and dashed off to the blaze, fought side by side, and returned together when the fire was over. The Hope Hose Co., which is one of the oldest companies in the city has always occupied the building in which it is now housed, 20 Commerce, or Water st., as it was once called. The building was erected shortly after the organi- PEACE AND PROGRESS 3i i zation of the Phoenix Engine Co., December 15, 1858. When a new steamer arrived for the company, April 5, 1859, the engine house on Commerce st., later occupied by the Hope Hose, was built. At the present time the Hope Hose Co., has a La France Pumper No. 1, five paid men and about 130 volunteers. Sylvester Brotherton is captain of the company. HORSE CARS Dashing up and down the railroad tracks between Nor¬ walk and South Norwalk, the first horse drawn street car operated in this city in the year 1862 gave the Norwalkers real thrills. The early cars were much smaller than the pres¬ ent ones, were none too steady “on their pins” jerked the passengers along on grinding wheels and offered none of the comforts of the present day electric trolley riding. Tales of reckless racing between horse cars on the railroad tracks; of bitter enmity between two local street car lines, The White and the Red; of gallant conductors who did shopping and errands of all kinds for the patrons along their route, pro¬ vide fine color for the early history of our Norwalk street cars. Superintendent Thomas MacLean of the Norwalk office of the Connecticut company offers some interesting side¬ lights on the first horse drawn vehicles in this community. In a talk given before the local Kiwanis, some time ago, he said : “The first car in Norwalk was in the year 1862 and was operated from Water st. (now Commerce) by two horses over the Norwalk-Danbury Steam road tracks to the South Norwalk Station, which was then at South Main and Wash¬ ington sts. While the steam road train was making a trip to the hat city, this car, by means of a spur track ran onto and over the steam road tracks down past the Pine Island cemetery to the South Norwalk station. This continued for about a year, when a single track was constructed on ROMANCE OF NORWALK 312 West ave., with a switch located near the armory and horse cars operated on W est ave., until the advent of the electri¬ cally driven car about the year 1892. “This line was known as the Red Line, and later another company constructed and operated another line from Broad River over East ave., to South Main st., South Norwalk, known as the White Line. There was great rivalry between these two companies, especially as both had to use the same piece of single track on Wall st., and on several occasions when a passenger alighted from a train at South Norwalk station and inquired for a Red Line car, the crew on the White Line would tell him they never heard of such a line. “Later the Red Line extended its tracks to Winnipauk and the White Line extended its tracks to Roton Point. In those days, service on West ave. was every 20 to 25 minutes and about half an hour was consumed for the half trip. Some of the cars in those days had oil lamps inside for light, and straw on the floor to keep the passengers’ feet warm. A strap extended along the floor of the car with one end around the driver’s ankle, so that a passenger wish¬ ing to have the car stop, would reach down and pull this strap.’’ It seems that not for long did the street cars run on the railroad tracks for under date of July 18, 1862, there appears in the town records, a vote to the effect “that the town will allow the Norwalk Horse Railway Co. to construct a railway over and upon the public highways of this town agreeable to their Act of Incorporation.” For many years the Norwalk Horse Railway, later known as the “Red Line’ ’had everything all to itself, enjoyed a fine reputation and earned good profits. In 1889, June 13, the Norwalk Tramway Co., later known as the “White Line,” applied for permission to run a street car line into East Norwalk from South Norwalk. E. J. Hill was president of the company. The line was to run from the west side of Washington st. bridge, along “Fort Point road, Van Zant * ave., East ave., to the borough line.” No sooner had the White Line been inaugurated than there was trouble for PEACE AND PROGRESS 3i3 the intense jealousy between the White and the Red fostered continual battles over rights of way, city privileges, per¬ mits and leases. Following the introduction of electricity into the street railway systems in Norwalk in 1892, service improved, cars ran oftener, made better time and served a far larger territory. Today, the Connecticut Company efficiently serves the city. In the Norwalk branch of the company there is a staff of 66 employes, Thomas MacLean being superintend¬ ent. There is a total of 20 cars on the road, including those on the Norwalk to Stamford line and two on the Bridgeport line. Norwalk, South Norwalk, Broad River, Cranbury, Winnipauk, East Norwalk, Rowayton are all serviced from the Norwalk branch of the Connecticut Co. LOCKWOOD ESTATE Prosperity smiled, in the spring of 1869 on one of Nor¬ walk’s best known and most influential citizens, Le Grand Lockwood, whose estate, midway between Norwalk and South Norwalk, was the showplace of the community. But the smile had changed to a hollow laugh by the fall of the year, when Wall street’s “Black Friday” September 24, 1869, brought to Mr. Lockwood, sudden ruin and ulti¬ mately, death. Long since has the Norwalker lain in his grave, but the property which still houses his palatial home, remains as beautiful as when he and his well loved wife trod the velvet grounds many years ago. Today, the property is generally known as the Mathews’ estate, and is that en¬ trancing section of ground, some 32 acres in size, which lies on West ave., directly opposite the Norwalk Fligh school and the Armory. The tale of Le Grand Lockwood’s rise and fall and the story which centers around the mysterious looking stone mansion which may be just discerned through the trees from West ave., is one of the most fascinating in the his¬ tory of the town. Many a stranger and resident, too, has asked why the city never acquired the property. To this ROMANCE OF NORWALK 3i4