Joe Taylor
	New Haven Historian

How do our pictures build a historical story?

The pictures illustrate what used to be. Some of my earliest are from 1870’s on. So it gives you a time capsule of that time. I have been collecting for 20 years. So you start out with postcards. Photographs, I have been collecting for years. Then Stereo views, another type of photography from Civil War time (1860-1880s).  Photographs, billheads of businesses, you collect to illustrate what used to be. It tells a story of we used to have in Fair Haven and New Haven.

How do people's use of the river change over time?

I have lived in New Haven all my life, which is 57 years. I didn’t start coming to Fair Haven until about 25-30 years ago, so you can see changes. You now have a park on the west side of the river where there were all these industries that used to be there. Schiavone’s was the original location of Joel Schiavone’s father’s junkyard.  It became an industrial area. There were no houses along the river. Even on the east side of the river, below Grand Avenue, it was all industry except for the river along the Fair Haven Heights side was a number of oyster dealers because the river hade oyster beds up until probably the 1930s. So times change.    

How have the towns changed?

Well, you had the main street, which, to me, was Grand Street before it became part of New Haven in the 1870s.  Fair Haven and Fair Haven Heights were separate from New Haven.  Fair Haven Heights wasn’t part of New Haven until the 1880s because of a debt that East Haven had that they couldn’t pay.  New Haven town went to East Haven and said, “We can buy the heights and everything down to Lighthouse Point from you.”  So that’s when that whole section became part of New Haven. The Annex didn’t become part of New Haven until the mid 1950s by a vote of the people in that area.

What meanings do the names of the rivers have, for example, the Mill River?

There were a lot of mills on the Mill River, so maybe the name just stuck. The Quinnipiac River was named after the Native American tribe that was in this area.  But actually they didn’t live in this area, they lived up in North Haven.  I think it’s called Peter’s Rock in North Haven.  They also had small settlements up and down the river, and a burial ground at Fort Wooster.

Can you tell us about Lake Whitney Dam?

James Hillhouses’s son started the first reservoir in New Haven for increased water supply for the city of New Haven.  And that was Lake Whitney. The pipe came down Whitney Avenue. That was in the 1840s.

What changes have you noticed in the rivers over time?

The Mill River changed more than the Quinnipiac.  The first slide that I have for the presentation after shows a much wider river than we have now and it has been changed over the years.  From 1868, there are maps every twenty years and it shows the flow of how it changed.  Quinnipiac River really didn’t change that much because it is so wide below the Grand Avenue Bridge.

What differences are there between the Mill and Quinnipiac Rivers?

So the differences you see in this area, are the Mill River had always been industrial.  One of the pictures I have is the old gas works, which is directly across the river.  Gas was a commodity that was used for heating, this was in the 1800s, and it was used for gaslights.  Because electricity wasn't available until the 1880s.  So you had an industry that had to supply a town with what it needed.  You had other industries up the river.  This worst polluter is no longer there.  It was National Folding Box Company.

Historically, how did people use the rivers?

I talked about the industries that were along both rivers, oystering, tanning, and things related to the river.  There were companies that repaired barges.  It is like any river, you have industries that are related to that river.

Has the wildlife in and around the rivers changed?

You have a built-up town, so there are very few animals that are within Fair Haven or New Haven itself.  So over the years, as people built houses and industries they all moved out.  Except we now have a story of a bear up in East Rock in Hamden, which is extraordinary.  Another thing about East Rock is you had sheep grazing on the land where the baseball fields are now.

Has the lack of predators affected the wildlife populations in any way?

The worst competitor is us.  Because, once we more into an area, the wildlife just goes. They don’t want to deal with us.

Is there anything about New Haven history that makes New Haven special?

There is a boat that was used for the oyster industry that was developed in New Haven.  You had beds of oysters all along the river, not even on the banks, but underneath.  They developed this boat called a sharpie, and it is acknowledged that it was developed in New Haven and the Quinnipiac River.  So there are firsts in New Haven, the first lollipop, the first elevator, and the first hamburger.

Which native peoples lived around the rivers?

Algonquin is a broader name for the tribe that was in this area.  But the name for the local tribe was Quinnipiac.  Quinnipiac would have been a nicer name for New Haven, but the name New Haven was from a town in England where most of the settlers came from, so they kept the name.

How did Fair Haven depend on the rivers? 

Before electricity in the 1880s, you needed water power to turn a water wheel that then turned a belt, a piece of wood that had a belt, to run machinery.  So you needed water to run the mills.  That’s why early industries in this country, late 1700s, were all by rivers. 

When was Fair Haven settled?

Well, Fair Haven was not settled until the late 1700s.  This is a reproduction or a smaller area of a map.  The original map is 1868.  It shows Grand Street before it became Grand Avenue and a railroad bridge that went right through the neighborhood.  The river was mainly oystering and things related to oystering because it was such a profitable business.  But again, the area was not settled until the mid 1700s while New Haven was founded April 24, 1638.

How did the paths of the rivers affect the development of Fair Haven?

The river marks out a boundary. It’s funny how Fair Haven developed. The land in front of us did not really form until the late 1800s. Then it started to be a very industrial area. The Mill River and the Quinnipiac were all industrial. They were all industries relating to the rivers.

Is there anything else you think we should know about Fair Haven rivers?

Well, I think my presentation will show pictures of the area. I think you will get a sense of what the area used to be, more than a hundred years ago.

Learn more about Joe Taylor's Walk through New Haven River History

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