nothin New Haven Independent | Summers Past In Stony Creek

Summers Past In Stony Creek

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Let’s roll back the shoreline clock to those who summered in Branford, those who lived on either side of the turn of the last century. For many the best part of summer was Stony Creek, a place that represented weeks of fresh air and sunshine, good food – and no mosquitoes.

During that time Branford was a mecca for families looking to escape the grimy, polluted industrialized cities like Hartford and Waterbury. Dotted along its shoreline were large rambling hotels that offered verandas where summer breezes (remember, this was before air conditioning) could be enjoyed, along with local produce and fresh seafood. It just didn’t get any better. The expansion of trains to the shoreline in 1852 made access easier. Trolleys came through in 1907, bringing even more people to the area.

Town historian Jane Bouley profiled nine of Stony Creek’s seaside hotels at a packed gathering last month at the Willoughby Wallace Library. The popularity of the topic had drawn her back for a return visit.

The fact that there were nine hotels in Stony Creek alone is amazing, given that today we’re hard pressed to find that many in the entire town of Branford. Bouley has also contributed an article to Branford’s summer hotels on the town’s website.

Bouley said guests were met at the train stations – the trains made 10 trips a day. Their luggage was picked up and transported to their respective hotels separately. She emphasized that point, acknowledging the special attention given to hotel guests.

She profiled each of the hotels and provided old photographs that captured the spirit of those long, leisurely summers where guests played lawn games and tennis in a setting that’s hard to imagine today.

Bouley began her tour with the Brainerd House ( see photo above) on Main Street (now Thimble Islands Road). It was owned by John W. and Esther Brainerd, who were originally from Haddam; they started the business in 1866, adding wings and a veranda to the existing structure. Esther was a fine cook, Bouley said, and was known to serve 100 people for Sunday dinner.

The Brainerd House was open from May 1 to Oct. 1. Guests paid the staggering sum of $2 per day or $8 per week.

The business was taken over by the Brainerd’s son, who added tennis courts, and then sold it to James McLeod in 1922. He renamed it The Willows, after the trees in front. The hotel because a casualty of the Depression, and it was foreclosed on by the Foote family, Branford’s prominent banking family. However, another Brainerd, John Elmer Brainerd, bought it back and remodeled it. Today, it’s a private residence.

Started in 1866, the Bay View Inn, (pictured) also known as the Barnes Inn, was mostly a tavern for quarry workers at Benjamin Green’s quarry. It was one of the few establishments that were open year round. When it went bankrupt in 1932, the Stony Creek Association took it over.

The Stony Creek House was run by William Foote and James Doyle. It burned in 1877, and the Stony Creek Church was built on the site.

The Three Elms House (pictured) was built 1835 and became a hotel in 1854. It was run by Ebenezer Coe and his wife Phoebe Birdsey for 50 years; Coe also ran the Indian Point House. The family hotel tradition continued until 1916 with their daughter, Martha Maynard, and granddaughter, Alice Madiera and husband Charles.

Perhaps reflective of the hotel’s various financial problems, the elms came down and the place was nicknamed The Three Stubs.” It was also a restaurant in the middle of the last century and survived three fires – in the 1930s, 1944, and 1977. Today it’s an apartment house at the corner of – what else? – Three Elms Road.

Bouley said not much is known about the Linden Point House, which originated in 1928 and was damaged in 1938 hurricane.

With Permission

The Flying Point Hotel, (pictured) also known as the Island Hotel or the Northrup Hotel, was the largest, accommodating 128 guests. It was accessible via steamer ship from New Haven. Like most of the era’s hotels it had sweeping verandas, which doubled as sleeping porches. Rooms were $2.50 a day. Nathan Frink operated the hotel from the 1920s to 1933, but like many of these hotels, a pattern of financial troubles emerged.

The Stony Creek Parish Players used the hotel as their base for summer stock theater in the 1930s and 1940s with cast members and directors staying there. It was torn down in 1942.

Then there were the Thimble Islands, home to three different hotels. The New Haven steamer Richard Peck” transported guests to Money Island House, Harbor View and Pot Island House on Pot Island. Pot Island is now for sale, hotel and all for $2.85 million. 

Money Island was owned by Chauncy Dickerson. Its hotel, Money Island House, also known as Sachem, was open from June 1 to Nov. 1. There were 34 rooms and 25 bedrooms, and guests were charged $2 a day.

When Leo Spitzer bought the place, he renamed it the Shoshone Inn. In a newspaper ad, Spitzer billed it as the healthiest place in the world,” touting piety and temperance, along with clambakes, picnics, and no mosquitoes.

Spitzer’s establishment, however, was raided in 1896. So much for piety and temperance.

The house exists today, although it was cut in half in the 1920s.

Money Island was also home to the Harbor View (pictured) during the 1870s; it accommodated 50 guests. Spitzer was also involved there, and built the annex, Rudder Station, which carried supplies for boaters and islanders. 

The oldest house on the islands, Pot Island House (also known as the Treasure House due to its supposed connection with Captain Kidd) was built in 1846 and had 20 rooms. It became the Thimble Island House in 1881, run by William Brien, who also ran the well-known Montowese House on the mainland in Branford.

The hotel was sold to Billy Barnes, who built a bridge and tower. Bouley explained that the tower was subsequently used to take aerial” photographs of the Thimble Islands. Barnes sold the property to a New York church in 1912, which used it for retreats until 1936. In 1947, it was bought by an artist and wife. It was up for sale in 1962, and has been for sale on and off since then. In fact, Pot Island Is currently for sale. 

Finally, Bouley returned to the mainland to describe her favorite hotel, the Indian Point House,(pictured) built in 1854. Ebenezer Coe also owned this hotel and Nathan Frink ran it along with Martha Maynard and her family until 1940. It was sold in 1942 to Donald Smith and burned in 1964 after 90 years as a hotel.

The property was then split. The Indian Point Beach Club was built in 1965, and residents might remember the America’s Cup Restaurant associated with it. A private residence built in 1996 is now on the site.

While these hotels appeared to thrive in their day, they were difficult to run. The big wooden buildings were hard to maintain and there was a common thread of financial problems, especially as the Depression closed in.

Once the general population had access to automobiles, they realized they could drive to almost any destination. No longer would they be met by hotel representatives who carefully transported them – and their luggage separately, of course – to the rambling hotels with their summer breezes.

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