The Romance of Norwalk

of Health, not a single oyster may be removed from the beds, public or private, within the Norwalk city lines, for the consumer market. Oyster growers are permitted to re¬ move young oysters for sale as seed, or to remove them for transportation to cleaner beds for purification, after which they may be sold to the consumer market, but none may be removed for direct consumption. The insidious damage done by pollution in the harbor is not confined to mere clos¬ ing of beds. It reaches even farther than that, to the very heart of the industry, oyster propagation. During the past years sewage drifting down the Norwalk river into the harbor and from the coastline into the harbor has covered the oyster bottom grounds with material or “sludge’ ’ rendering them unfit for oyster sets, for the tiny oyster likes clean water and cannot exist in slime or when smothered in muck. It is estimated that it is at least seven or eight years since there was a real oyster set in Norwalk. This year, announcements were very discouraging and little was reported anywhere in this section, with the exception of a light set in the Compo district. The State Board of Health visited Norwalk in September of year 1929 to make tests but gave only disheartening re¬ ports. The Board first placed a ban on the local beds in 1925. At that time it was rumored that various upstate interests were concerned with buying up the Norwalk beds at low prices (owing to the pollution element). Norwalk oyster growers announced their grounds were not for sale and nothing came of it. Since 1925 a greater or lesser amount of the Norwalk grounds has been under the state health ban. What is the solution of the probem? A sewage disposal plant is the answer, according to the veteran oystermen of the city who have struggled for years to get Norwalk to see the matter through their eyes. This year 1929, it ap¬ peared that the oystermen would realize their dream, for under the administration of Mayor Anson F. Keeler, the sewage disposal plant idea was adopted by the city fathers. Norwalk Oyster Grounds Under State Jurisdiction Key will be found in Appendix. V OYSTER INDUSTRY 365 The “old timers” in the Norwalk oyster industry are of the opinion that the new sewage disposal plant will have a bene¬ ficial effect on the local oyster beds, shortly after it com¬ mences working, and that within two years after the time when it begins operations, the beds will be in condition to be worked once more. Figuring that the plant will be finished, if present hopes materialize, in about 1931, then Norwalk should see a decided improvement in the local oyster industry in the year 1933. The sewage disposal plant will keep the oyster beds clean. It will relieve the water of sufficient pollution so that the oysters, when it is time to dredge and sell them in the fall, will not rate a high bacteriological count. j VALUES AND TAXES It is estimated that a fair valuation of the natural beds in the Norwalk harbor in prosperous times would be about $250,000. Today, very little. The value of the private beds in the Norwalk harbor in prosperous times is unknown though it might well run into a million. The last assessment on 1929 taxable shell fish grounds under the jurisdiction of the city of Norwalk, according to Tax Commissioner Bal- com’s office was $13,870. This assessment is, of course, for all private grounds under city jurisdiction, because of course there are no assessments and no taxes paid on natural or public beds. Norwalk oyster grounds reach out from the river and harbor 2 and 1-2 and in some cases 3 miles into the sound. Just beyond the Norwalk Islands is the state line. All grounds in Norwalk waters inside the line pay taxes to the city of Norwalk. All grounds in Norwalk waters on the south side of the line pay taxes to the state. Valuation for oyster grounds in Norwalk waters under Norwalk juris¬ diction at the present time is on the following basis: $50 an acre for hard bottom, productive; $10 an acre on hard bottom which is non productive; $5 an acre on mud bottom ROMANCE OF NORWALK 366 which is non productive. No account is taken of mud bot¬ tom which might be productive, it being considered that there isn’t any such. The present rate of taxation on oyster grounds under city jurisdiction is 17.3 mills. The state of Connecticut assesses all its grounds the same, under a flat valuation rate of $10 an acre. The tax on this is two per cent or 20 mills, so that owners of state grounds under state jurisdiction pay a tax of $.20 on every acre. PRESENT OYSTER COMPANIES Norwalk’s present oyster companies include the follow¬ ing: Bluepoints Company, formerly the North Atlantic Oyster Farms, Inc., 144 Water st. This is a holding com¬ pany of which W. H. Raye of Boston, formerly of Norwalk, is president. Other officers include: Ralph G. Coburn and A. E. Loring, vice presidents. The Producers’ Sales Co., same address, is the selling organ of the above, while the South Norwalk Oyster Farms Co., is a subsidiary of the Bluepoints Co. The North Atlantic Oyster Farms, Inc., was incorporated in 1914 succeeding the Sealshipt Oyster Co. In September, 1929, reorganization again took place and the company became the Bluepoints Co. In addition to the South Norwalk Oyster Farms Co., and the Connecticut Oyster Farms Co., there are several other subsidiary companies, one in Rhode Island, three in Long Island. The company has in Norwalk waters, 1 15 acres under the jurisdiction of the city of Norwalk and 500 acres off the Norwalk islands, leased and held under franchise from the state of Connecticut. In addition the company has 6,800 acres in other parts of Connecticut waters; 8,000 acres in Huntington Bay, Northport Bay, Gardner’s Bay, Peconic Bay on the north and east end of Long Island; 13,- 000 acres in Great South Bay; and 500 acres in Narra- gansett Bay. Tallmadge Brothers, 132 Water st., is more than 50 years old. Willis G. Cavanagh is president and Stanley Tall- — Elve /niL.E__B.ivgTV NOR Norwalk Oyster Grounds Under City Jurisdiction Key will be found in Appendix. . ' ■ « OYSTER INDUSTRY 367 madge manager. Two years ago this company bought up the Peter Decker Oyster Co., at 60 Cove ave. Peter Decker, one of the pioneers in the industry, was the first man in the country to try steam in the oyster business. His son, Sylvester, carried on the business after his death. Tall- madge Brothers have 23 acres in Norwalk waters under the jurisdiction of the city of Norwalk; none in Norwalk waters under state jurisdiction. They also have 10 or 12 acres just over the Westport line and 30 acres in the Westport river. The estate of David B. Decker, (who was one of the most prominent figures for years in the Norwalk oyster business,) is still carrying on his business at 142 Water st. The present shipping house was erected in 1884. Mr. Decker, who started in the business when still a boy, utilized the last years of his life in fighting for a means to clear up the pollution in the harbor which was killing the industry he loved and ruining himself and his friends. Mr. Decker had, and the estate now has, 85 acres in Norwalk waters under the jurisdiction of the city of Norwalk. ' In addition there are 190 acres in Stamford under state jurisdiction and 143 in Westport. The Lowndes Oyster Co., at 120 Water st., has been doing business under that name for the past 24 years. Howard Lowndes is president and treasurer. Previous to that time, Stanley Lowndes, father of Howard, was a prom¬ inent oysterman here with large holdings, the present Lown¬ des Oyster Co., being an outgrowth of his company. The Lowndes Co. has 20 acres of grounds in Norwalk waters under the jurisdiction of the city of Norwalk; and 206 acres in Norwalk waters under the jurisdiction of the state. In addition, the company has 892 acres in Westport. Frederick Lovejoy, 12 Edgewater place, has been a prominent figure in Norwalk’s oyster industry for more than 30 years. Mr. Lovejoy, who has been both a natural grow- ther, (a worker on the public beds) and an oyster grower, has large holdings in Norwalk waters, under city jurisdic- 368 ROMANCE OF NORWALK tion, about 87 1-2 acres. In addition he has six or seven acres in Westport; 50 acres in Bridgeport leased from the state and 1 17 acres off Captain’s Island in Greenwich, leased from the state. The Andrew Radel Oyster Co., 134 Water st., is an “old timer” among the oyster companies, dating back to about 1906. Before the present Andrew Radel took over the company, it was run by his father, also Andrew Radel. The present Mr. Radel is president. This oyster company has 43 acres of grounds in Norwalk waters under city jurisdic¬ tion. In addition it has 11,500 acres in Connecticut under state jurisdiction and 6,500 acres in New York. There are many “old timers” whose names should be recorded and who did their bit to build the oyster industry of Norwalk and they will be found listed in the appendix. LETTERS— LIGHTS Chapter XXXI Norwalk Caught In Blizzard of 1888 — City Delivery Ser¬ vice In Norwalk And South Norwalk Post Offices — Row- ayton Post Office — Electric Light Works In South Nor¬ walk — Old No7’walk Gas Light Company Gives Way To Modern Plant With all factories closed, trains idle, horses refusing to budge, stores blocked and homes buried under veritable mountains of snow, Norwalk lived through the worst bliz¬ zard in its history March 11-14, 1888. The Sentinel pub¬ lished a paper on the second day of the blizzard under severe handicaps and the article then is reprinted below: