The End of a Shopping Era

Once upon a time, going to the mall in December was magical. Festive decorations everywhere, stores overflowing with toys, books, clothing, housewares, furniture, everything you could ever want. Holiday shoppers left with armloads of presents, some already gift wrapped by the store where they were purchased. Shopping malls were glamorous destinations from the 1960s through the early 2000s.

When the Brass Mill mall opened in 1997, it was supposed to revitalize Waterbury. Nearly 3,000 jobs were created at a time when there were more retail jobs than workers in Connecticut. The mall’s developers expected to see more than 2 million shoppers in its first year. Seasonal workers were hired every year to help with the large influx of shoppers during the holidays. 

No Kings Rally

"No Kings" Rally on the Green, June 14, 2025

 

I’m not a big protest person. Gathering in crowds to chant slogans isn’t my thing. But I felt like I had to show my support at today’s rally on the Green. Our country is racing down a dangerous road, and if we want our elected representatives to stand up for us, we have to stand up with them.

 

Mail Theft

Last weekend, I learned some surprising things about the U.S. Postal Service after someone stole a check I put in the mail. Here's the story.

On Friday, May 2, at about 5:25 p.m., I put two checks in the mail using the blue mailbox outside the Post Office on Wigwam Avenue (next to Target). Normally, if I have to mail a check, I'll go inside the Post Office on Grand Street and put the envelope in the mail drop there. This time I was running behind on things and just wanted to get it done. 

The mailbox I used on May 2, 2025.

 

A week later, on Friday, May 9, I was wondering if the checks had cleared yet. I opened up the app for my bank account and was shocked to see that the check I wrote for $200 was processing for $4,900. I pulled out my checkbook to verify that I hadn't lost my mind -- the carbon for the check clearly showed $200.

It was late at night and the check was in process, so there was nothing I could do. 

Waterbury's Oldest Houses

I've been meaning to put together a catalog of Waterbury's oldest houses for some time now. I still haven't finished researching the buildings, but I figured I might as well get what I have posted, since there is interest in this. 

In some cases, the date of the house comes from the City Assessor's Office. In other cases, the date is based on historical records. The Assessor records aren't always accurate for houses built before construction records were kept. For some of the houses, I have done in-depth research. For others, the research remains to be done.

Please note this is a work in progress and I will add more information when possible. 

 

Some photos are new, others are from years ago.

Gaylord-Welton House
3029 North Main Street

c. 1704

This house was built for Joseph Gaylord, Jr. and later became the home of generations of the Welton family; it is quite possibly the oldest house in Waterbury, built sometime in 1703 or 1704.

3029 North Main Street, c. 1704

When "The Clansman" Came to Town

One of the greatest contradictions in United States history is the core belief that “we the people” are created equal, that we are all entitled to equal rights, to fair treatment under the law, that no one person is entitled to more rights than anyone else – and yet throughout our history, people have been denied equal rights, denied due process, and treated unjustly.

The history of our country is one in which people have always had to advocate for their rights, to protest against wrongs being committed by those in power, to protect themselves and those who need protection. Waterbury’s history is no different. There are countless stories of Waterburians standing up for what’s right, making their voices heard in an effort to make the world a better place. One such story involves The Clansman, a theatrical production that came to Waterbury in 1906, based on a book of the same name written by a Baptist minister, Rev. Thomas Dixon, Jr. The Clansman, as the name suggests, glorified the Ku Klux Klan and vilified Black men. In 1915, The Birth of a Nation, a blockbuster movie based on Dixon’s play and book, was released. Both the play and the movie were loudly protested by people in Waterbury who made it clear that racism wasn’t welcome here.

 

The Clansman, with images from the movie
(from archive.org)

  

Union Station

 The most iconic building in Waterbury is about to enter a new era in its history. The Republican-American newspaper has been sold, and now the building is being sold as well (asking price is just under $5 million). Before the sale was announced, it looked like the building was going to be converted into apartments with restaurants or other types of businesses on the first floor. Whether or not that still happens will depend on the new owner. 

The future of the building is unknown, but I can tell you a bit about its past. Although best known now as the Rep-Am building, it was originally Union Station, constructed as a station on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad line. Construction was completed in 1909.

Postcard View of Union Station

When Union Station was built, it was the main entrance to Waterbury. Nearly everyone traveled by train, which meant that the train station was one of the most important and busiest buildings in town.

Reconstruction and Rev. John Scott

In 1871, the Waterbury American published a pair of letters written by Rev. John Scott, a Waterbury man who was working for the American Missionary Association in North Carolina. Scott was a teacher as well as a Congregational minister: he built a small church and school in Dudley, N.C. as part of a larger mission to educate people who had been freed from slavery and to encourage them to join the Congregational Church. The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups were terrorizing freedmen and anyone who helped them. Three days after construction of Rev. Scott’s church and school was completed, the building was destroyed by arson. The fire was started in the school’s library, guaranteeing that none of the books would survive.

Last night our beautiful church was burned to ashes. ... They woke me at two in the morning only to see the building fall. ... By its blazing timbers we knelt down that night, and prayed that God would help us; prayed for the 150 pupils that would come in the morning and find neither house nor books: for the 200 people who, next sabbath, would look for a place to worship and find none. Books, papers, all were lost.
(Excerpts from John Scott’s letter to Rev. Charles C. Painter, published in “Ku-klux Outrages in North Carolina,” Waterbury Daily American, March 9, 1871)

Members of the Ku Klux Klan,
illustrated in Harper's Weekly, December 19, 1868

The destruction of Scott’s church and school happened in February, 1871, one of countless acts of terrorism being perpetrated throughout the South by white supremacists. There were so many incidents that some people in the North, including the editor and publisher of the Waterbury American, started to think it was all fabricated by politicians seeking to pass legislation giving more power to the federal government. They read accounts of atrocities taking place in the South and found them difficult to believe. Some dismissed the news as one-sided, assuming that reports of racist violence were exaggerated or somehow misleading.

A History of the Miller & Peck Buildings

Two of the oldest buildings in downtown Waterbury are about to be demolished. Previous owners allowed the buildings to decay so badly that they can't be saved and are no longer safe to enter. The buildings have long been called Miller & Peck, since they were home to the Miller & Peck store for decades. I was recently asked about the history of the buildings and found far more than I expected.

The Miller & Peck buildings in 2023: north on the left, south on the right

 

The Miller & Peck buildings stand side-by-side on South Main Street. The building to the north (on the left when facing them) is white, with ornate Greek Revival columns flanking two-story windows. The building to the south (on the right when facing them) is blue and resembles a typical New England Greek Revival house, only bigger, with three floors under the pediment. (For ease of reference, I will call them "north" and "south" in the rest of this article.)

Both buildings were constructed out of wood almost two hundred years ago, with several additions built behind them over the course of a century. The National Historic Register nomination form for the Downtown Historic District lists the two buildings as having been constructed sometime around 1830.

I've spent the past few weeks poring through the Waterbury Land Records and various other sources tracing the history of the two buildings. A precise date of construction for either building has proven to be elusive, but what I have found is fascinating. There is undoubtedly more to find: this is merely a starting point.

My research here is focused on the history of the buildings. The history of Miller & Peck as a business is a story for another day.

George Washington Ate Here

During the Revolutionary War, Waterbury was far removed from any battles, but still saw hundreds of soldiers as they marched through Connecticut. Long before the construction of I-84, West Main Street and East Main Street served as major thoroughfares for travelers passing through town on their way to or from Hartford. In September, 1780, General George Washington was one of those travelers. He stopped in Waterbury to dine with a friend, Joseph Hopkins, on his way to Hartford.

George Washington, 1780-82, by Charles Willson Peale
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Mapping Inequality

I haven't been posting here as often as usual, partly because I've been working on several writing projects for publication elsewhere. The first of those projects is completed: a short essay about Waterbury for the University of Richmond's website, Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America.

 

"Redlining" is the term used to describe the work of the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation which, during the 1930s, rated residential neighborhoods in cities throughout the country based on their opinion of whether or not they were good investment areas for banks. A home in a green-rated neighborhood was considered low risk for mortgages. Red-rated neighborhoods were considered high risk, discouraging banks from issuing mortgages in those neighborhoods. Residents of green neighborhoods were white; residents of red neighborhoods were Black or "a low class of foreigners."

Old Houses at Bucks Hill, Part Two

Here are a few of the great houses in the Bucks Hill neighborhood. To see more, visit Old Houses at Bucks Hill, Part One.


Feodore Liebreich House
2658 North Main Street

Feodore Liebreich was a German immigrant who lived in Waterbury at Bucks Hill from about 1873 until his death in 1897. Liebreich was a successful farmer who slowly acquired several parcels of land to expand his farm.

Built in 1900 on the site of an early 1700s house, this house may retain some of the original colonial-era structure. It is now a two-family house with vinyl siding and fake shutters hiding the original wood siding.

2658 North Main Street

Naugatuck River Greenway and Park

I finally made time to visit the new park and greenway in the South End. The park is small, but delightful. The greenway is a work in progress, a 2.2 mile stretch of roadway now marked for bicycles which will eventually become part of a 44 mile greenway trail running from Derby to Litchfield. The new greenway in Waterbury runs from Bristol Street on Platts Mill Road, then up South Main Street to Eagle Street.

 

Camp or Platt Park

While some information about the park during its development referred to it as Camp Park, and the trail map at the park refers to it as Camp Park, it looks like the City has decided to name it Platt Park. The land for the park was donated by Miriam Camp Niederman. The Camp family married into the Platt family during the late 1800s. The Platt Brothers and Company, which has been in operation since 1797, is just down the road from the park.

The seven-acre park is designed for a variety of uses. There are picnic tables, bike racks, a mini outdoor theater, a short nature trail, and a spot to put your canoe in the river.

 

Pritchard Family Farm Houses

A few years ago, I noticed a gorgeous house for sale in Waterbury's Hopeville neighborhood and wondered about its age and history. I have finally gotten around to researching its history and discovered that it was part of the Pritchard family's farm two hundred years ago. A second old house, about a block away, was built for the same family.

Pritchard Family house on Piedmont Street, built in 1815
Photograph from Realtor.com in 2019

 

The houses were built for Isaiah Pritchard (1755-1833), a Revolutionary War veteran. Pritchard was married twice. His first wife, Olive Upson, died sometime after 1792. Pritchard then married Sylvia Scovill (1773-1838). Isaiah Pritchard had a total of six children.

The original Isaiah Pritchard homestead is on Piedmont Street, where Pritchard owned farmland that included Pritchard's Pond. The family's total real estate holdings included close to two hundred acres of land near Smug Brook (now Hopeville Pond Brook) and on East Mountain.

The Pritchard House on Piedmont Street is actually two houses. The original house is in the back and was built during the 1700s in what we now call the Cape Cod style. The house in front, which you see from the street, was built in 1815.

Election Guide 2022

It's that time again! Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. On the local level, this has been an unusually quiet election cycle, possibly because many of our elected officials are running unopposed for re-election.

 

Democratic Get Out the Vote Rally in Waterbury, October 2, 2022

 

There are three ballot measures this year, and some potentially confusing changes to two polling locations. I've put together the information that I have, to hopefully increase voter education and voter turnout.