The Leisure and Yachting Era and Development of “The Avenue”
1890–1900 TROLLEY'S ARRIVAL SPARKS FAIRFIELD AVENUE DEVELOPMENT
Black Rock's maiden trolley run in 1894 made Fairfield Avenue -- still a dirt road -- an important route to Bridgeport. The trolley also sparked the relocation of Black Rock's commercial area from the harbor to "The Avenue," turning it into a busy commercial street full of local stores and businesses. Buses replaced trolley service in 1937.
[HIGHLIGHT – EDWARD DUHIGG]
In 1900-01 Edward Duhigg, the enterprising, 21-year-old son of the caretaker of Black Rock's Gilma Estate, built a general store on The Avenue at Fox Street. The store was Black Rock's first "modern" emporium, and apparently did so well that after giving up the business in the mid-1920s, Duhigg was able to build most of the houses on Fox, Morehouse and Bennett streets, from The Avenue to Ash Creek. During this time “markets on wheels” -- horse-drawn wagons of greengrocers, butchers and dairy farmers -- made regular deliveries to neighborhood houses. "Even the knife-sharpener came to your door in the days before everyone had refrigeration and cars," according to (Jones p 71)
1893 – ST. MARY’S BY-THE-SEA CHAPEL BUILT
Stockbroker Thomas W. Pearsall, owner of one of the lavish Victorian mansions erected on Black Rock Point, had a picturesque wooden chapel built for his bride where the Sound enters Ash Creek. The Episcopal chapel building of St. Mary's By-the-Sea lasted only 32 years but to this day Black Rockers taking a walk, drive or run along the seawall always say they're "going around Saint's." (Graham says we have several "fantastic, rarely seen" photos of the chapel to use)
1893 – WORST HURRICANE OF 19TH CENTURY HITS BLACK ROCK
The Hurricane of 1893, followed by a second hurricane within days, wreaked havoc around NYC and the New England coast. No hurricane caused more damage to the area until Sandy hit in 2012. The storm was the first in which residents received warnings before it landed; previously the only alerts issued were signal flags planted along the shore as a storm struck. (Graham says we could use Harriet Thorne's groundbreaking photo of the storm surge here if the blurb about Harriet in Panel 8 is deleted for space issues...)
1894 – SIMON LAKE INVENTS THE EVEN KEEL SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT
Simon Lake (for whom Lake Avenue was named) invented the even keel submarine torpedo boat, a submarine salvage vessel and more than one hundred submarine support devices. (Susan Graham says a PATENT ILLUSTRATION is available for an image)
After 1894 – A&P FOUNDER GEORGE GILMAN BUILDS HIS MANSION
George Gilman, a co-founder of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., originally moved to Black Rock for health reasons, settling on Grovers Avenue. When his first home burned to the ground, Gilman built a spectacular estate that included a 28-room mansion near today's Seaside Avenue, stables, carriage houses, an indoor trotting ring and a gymnasium. An eccentric who entertained lavishly thanks to a staff of 60, Gilman refused to have telephones, mirrors or clocks in his home, or any mention of the passing of time. His A&P storefronts and most of his vehicles were fire engine red, his favorite color.
1898 – BRIDGEPORT YACHT CLUB MOVES TO BLACK ROCK HARBOR
Bridgeport Yacht Club moved to Black Rock Harbor in 1898. Members built a clubhouse with its own private swimming beach, and held their first regatta the following year. The Kaiser Cup-winning schooner Atlantic -- whose record 11-day trans-Atlantic crossing in 1905 made world headlines and stood for a century -- was moored at the club; visiting yachts included Cornelius Vanderbilt’s “Rainbow” and August Belmonti’s “Mineola." The club disbanded during WWI when the clubhouse was used as a Naval Reserve barracks and a seaplane was based in the harbor to patrol the coast against possible submarine action. The clubhouse was demolished in 1923, with salvaged sections converted to a private dwelling.
Late 1800s - Early 1900s - PEAK OF OYSTERING AT BLACK ROCK
Pequonnock tribesmen were the first to harvest oysters along Black Rock's shores, using dugout canoes to reach their catch in deeper waters. European settlers emulated the Indians, but their relentless harvesting soon began depleting the beds. Fearing destruction of shoreline oyster stocks, town officials began regulating the harvest. By the late 1600s Fairfield town minutes show that anyone caught taking oysters from the vicinity of the Ash Creek bridge "shall forfeit the sum of twenty shillings lawful money for every such offense." About 1850, a large oyster bed discovered between Fayerweather Island and Stratford Point produced a century of rich harvests, establishing Bridgeport as a leader in the state's oyster industry. By the 1950s pollution and natural predators, like starfish, devastated the beds, but by the 1970s, thanks to cleaner waters in the Sound and careful husbandry of the existing stocks, the industry rebounded. Today shellfish vessels again sail from Black Rock and Bridgeport harbors to ply local beds, helping make Connecticut one of the nation's leading shellfish suppliers.
Early 1900s - FAYERWEATHER COLONY
Fayerweather Island became a popular camping spot for local families, who rowed across the harbor to reach their cabins and tents. The Parks Department removed Fayerweather Colony in 1944. (Graham says we have a good photo of campers and the colony from shore)
AUGUST 14, 1901 – GUSTAVE WHITEHEAD FLIGHT
Gustave Whitehead’s aircraft No. 21 took flight near Fairfield Avenue on Aug. 14, 1901, two years before the Wright Brothers. Later he claimed to have flown another aircraft for more than seven miles, over Long Island Sound, ending with a water landing. (graham says we need exact location of flight on/near on Fairfield Ave; research AND PHOTOS in FMHC library lobby exhibit)
1905 – CURRENT BLACK ROCK SCHOOL BUILT
Black Rock School moved to its present location in 1905, with the construction of a solid red brick building. A first addition was built in 1911, followed by a sizeable modern addition in the early 21st century. (date to come).
1911 – FAYERWEATHER ISLAND JOINS SEASIDE PARK
By 1911, Fayerweather Island was incorporated into Bridgeport's Seaside Park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and which remains one of the only marine parks of its kind in the United States. Designed when the city was still small, the park filled a massive need for open public space when its population ballooned from 15,000 to 80,000 during a 50-year span as immigrants flooded in to fill new factory jobs in a booming economy.
July 11, 1911 – THE GREAT TRAIN WRECK
One of Connecticut's worst 20th century's rail disasters was the crash of a Federal Express train packed with vacationers and the St. Louis baseball team. The locomotive flew off the tracks at the railroad viaduct over Fairfield Avenue, killing 14, leaving scores hospitalized, and a massive pile-up of derailed cars spilled like toys over the roadway. A freight engineer substituting for the regular engineer and trying to make up lost time was clocked going 60 mph -- 45 mph over the speed limit -- as he reached the viaduct. The engineer was decapitated, but the entire St. Louis team survived as its Pullman car, located at the back of the train, remained on the tracks, allowing them to escape without injury and pull numerous others to safety. The mash-up of train cars strewn across The Avenue resulted in iconic photos published nationally.