Durham: 1900-1950

By Durham Historical Society

Durham: 1900-1950 presents a unique view into the history of Durham through vintage postcards. A small town of approximately 7,000 people, Durham is located in central Connecticut between New Haven and Hartford. A quintessential New England town, Durham was settled in 1699 and has a vast and exceptional history. During the postcard era, images of historic homes, celebrations, businesses, and other areas of interest in town were sent all across the state and country and brought a little piece of Durham to the recipient. These snapshots of town history illustrate the many changes and transitions that have made Durham what it is today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Aug 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781439623879

Durham Historical Society

The Durham Historical Society presents a fascinating look at Durham�s history through postcards from the society�s collection, as well as from the collections of Bishop R. Atwell Jr., Bishop R. Atwell III, Gail Kennedy Foreman, Francis E. Korn, and Ronald Stannard.

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INTRODUCTION

All of the real photo postcards published in this book were taken by John Frederick Main. Born in Kingston, Ontario, in 1844, Main immigrated to the United States in 1865. Twelve years later, in 1877, he married his wife, Nellie, and by 1900, they were living in Manhattan where John worked as a photographer. However, the pair soon moved to Durham and set up a studio in a building behind what had been the George Davis store, now 85 Main Street. From approximately 1900 to 1927, John photographed and documented rural Durham life. Nellie Main died on October 5th, 1927; her husband followed eight days later. Main’s real photo postcards of rural scenes, houses, parades, people, and the Durham Fair remain the most important pictorial history the area has from this time.

Some of the scenes in this book are easily recognized by residents of Durham; others will prove more difficult since the town has undergone immense change during the last 100 years. Until now, there has never been a published book dedicated to John and Nellie Main’s postcards. In addition to these postcards, postcards made by commercial companies from later decades have been included.

John F. Main’s studio is visible on the right side of this postcard. His photography studio was located behind the George Davis store on Main Street. The studio building was later removed from this site and moved to Gaylord Newton’s farm at 36 Maiden Lane. (Courtesy of RS.)

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ALONG THE MAIN ROAD

Main Street has always been the main thoroughfare through Durham. It was originally laid out in 1703 and has remained in the same location ever since. Known as Broad Street or Great Street, it became the center of commerce very early. Residents were able to visit the gristmill, blacksmith shop, tannery, shoemaker, general store, and later the post office to take care of personal needs. The original cemetery was laid out between Main Street and Maple Avenue, and it was in continuous use until the 1820s when a new cemetery was opened near the Green. The Green was established on Main Street for the purpose of a parade ground to perform military exercises, musters ... and also for building public houses. The first public building erected on the Green was a church in 1710, and the second was a school in 1722. From the beginning, life in Durham centered on Main Street. Residents traveled Main Street to go to school, attend church, participate in military drills, and for their final journey to the cemetery. Most importantly, many residents chose to make Main Street their home. Through the years, many fine homes have been built in a variety of architectural styles. As was said in the introduction to Century of Change, The wide, tree-shaded Main Street ... retains much of its original dignity and charm. Although the colonial homes along the street are interspersed with residences of later architecture, a sense of history and permanence prevails. This chapter highlights Main Street as it was in a distant time.

The intersection shown here still directs residents and passersby towards either Madison or New Haven. The colonial structure on the left of the postcard is located next to the present-day Dunkin Donuts, and the home on the right stands next to Durham Dari Serv. (Courtesy of FEK.)

This view shows the Henry Davis store on the left, which was built in 1878. From 1927 to 2002, it was operated as Ackerman’s General Store. The house in the center was built between 1877 and 1881 for Henry Davis and was sold in 1927 to Austin M. Ackerman. The house on the right was purchased around 1851 by William H. Canfield. William and his father, Henry, were wagon makers. William A. Parsons purchased the property around 1883 and in 1884 established the first W. A. Parsons and Company. (Courtesy of FEK.)

Wedworth Wadsworth (1782–1860) built this house in 1855. Wadsworth was a prosperous farmer who had engaged in land speculation in Michigan. He was also one of the founders of the first temperance society in Durham whose members agreed that we will abstain from the use of distilled spirits except as a medicine in case of bodily infirmity. One son, James, became mayor of Buffalo, New York, from 1851–1852. (Courtesy of FEK.)

The Elizur Goodrich house was built about 1763. Rev. Elizur Goodrich was Durham’s second minister and one of Connecticut’s leading clergymen. He served as minister in Durham from 1756 to 1797 until his death that year. Goodrich also prepared students for college, and one of his pupils was Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. (Courtesy of FEK.)

Two of Rev. Elizur Goodrich’s sons had distinguished careers themselves. Chauncey Goodrich (1759–1815) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1794 and became a member of the U.S. Senate in 1807, serving one term. Elizur Goodrich (1761–1849) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served from 1799 to 1803. Then from 1803 to 1822, he was the mayor of New Haven. Around 1840, the Goodrich house was sold to Zebulon Hale and Enos Rogers. Zebulon’s daughter, Olive, married Watson Davis, and the house remained in the Davis family until 1964. (Both, courtesy of DHS.)

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