SILENT GROUNDS COLLECTIVE · THE CONNECTICUT ARCHIVE
Familiar streets. Forgotten places. The people who made them.
Explore local history, one photograph at a time.
1,180 images · 162 collections · All 8 counties
Browse all collections ↓THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER STORY
Windham County · September 1998
A nineteenth-century iron bridge, a church, an academy and historic houses connect transportation with the everyday landscape of Plainfield.
Explore the story
![Mark Twain’s Hartford house, c.1900–1910 — [between 1900 and 1910]](/county-images/e2b0a9568f38e01933103c3512736a0a3e25c70b47e4ad792d8736b3205f6065.jpg)
Hartford County · [between 1900 and 1910]
Browse images, enlarge the details, follow the credits.
Explore collections by county, town and subject.
Explore mapped markers and the burial register.
MORE OF CONNECTICUT IN PICTURES
Hartford · Windsor
Waterbury
Groton
Windham
Mansfield
WinstedTHE COLLECTION CATALOG
Counties follow the historical geographic boundaries used in these records.
Center Church crypt · Marty Aligata · CC BY-SA 4.0COLLECTION 004Churches
New Haven & West Haven
Follow a name through church death lists, early burial entries and the pages of local histories.
Center Church organized · 1639
West Haven Buckle Company advertises buckles for clothing and suspenders, repeating its 1853 establishment date · 1911COLLECTION 011Businesses
West Haven & Allingtown, Connecticut
Original company advertisements, directory entries and contemporary histories recover the identity and products of a local manufacturer.
Opening / first recorded · 1853, reported by company ads
Beach Street at night, Savin Rock, Conn. · circa 1930–1945COLLECTION 012Recreation & landscapes
West Haven, Connecticut
Historic postcards, a stereoscopic photograph and an 1861 hotel menu follow the shoreline from resort grounds to crowded amusement streets.
Opening / first recorded · Memorial Day 1925 corporate park opening
Advertisement locates the company’s office and works on Front Avenue, Allingtown, and names beef scraps, tallow and glue as manufactured products · 1911COLLECTION 013Businesses
West Haven & Allingtown, Connecticut
Original company advertisements, directory entries and contemporary histories recover the identity and products of a local manufacturer.
Opening / first recorded · 1902 incorporation; ads acquired from 1908
Chapel Street looking west, New Haven · Circa 1930–1945, catalog rangeCOLLECTION 019Transport
New Haven & West Haven, Connecticut · connecting towns
Follow trolley tracks from city streets to Savin Rock through five maps, historic postcards, a federal photograph and a 1904 passenger guide.
Opening / first recorded · 1861 — horsecar service · 1892 — electric service
1886 New Haven directory, classified business section · 1886COLLECTION 020Recreation & landscapes
New Haven & West Haven, Connecticut
Original directory entries and a WPA town history recover rink names, locations and the places of skating in local recreation.
Opening / first recorded · New Haven Roller Skating Rink documented in 1884
West River Memorial Park toward West Rock · 2014-07-09COLLECTION 026Landscapes & defense
West Haven & New Haven, Connecticut
A former river-edge motor road in West Haven, its New Haven park setting, and the changing tidal landscape around it.
Opening / first recorded · Unknown; first paving documented in 1963
Federal inventory entry for Nike BR-15 · 1996-11COLLECTION 027Landscapes & defense
West Haven, Connecticut
The identifiable Nike battery component in the requested towns: BR-15’s Bull Hill Lane launcher in West Haven, paired with a separate control site in Orange.
Opening / first recorded · 1956
Center Church, documented in 1967 · June 1967COLLECTION 031Churches
New Haven & West Haven, Connecticut
A sourced directory connecting congregations, buildings, dated photographs and period church publications in two towns.
Opening / first recorded · Multiple buildings; see institution profiles
H. H. Richards Lumber Company in the 1940 town history · 1940COLLECTION 032Historic homes
West Haven, Connecticut
Three distinct Richards properties on Main Street: a captain’s lost home and two houses associated with the waterfront lumber family.
Opening / first recorded · Not a single property or public attraction
The Wood Building after Silver’s, 2012 · 2012-04-28COLLECTION 033Businesses
West Haven, Connecticut
The family pharmacy and soda-fountain landmark that served downtown West Haven from 1919 to 2006.
Opening / first recorded · 1919
COLLECTION 034Businesses
West Haven, Connecticut
Campbell Avenue’s family pastry shop, remembered for Italian breads, holiday pastries, and support of local baseball.
Opening / first recorded · 1946, according to the owner’s 2013 interview
Chick’s entrance after closure, 2017 · 2017-05-29COLLECTION 035Businesses
West Haven, Connecticut
Beach Street’s hot-dog and seafood landmark, a shoreline gathering place from 1950 to 2015.
Opening / first recorded · October 1950
Washington and Stiles schools in the 1940 town history · 1940COLLECTION 036Schools
West Haven, Connecticut
Washington Avenue school life, the 1909 building, and the 2025 replacement, with a separate note on an earlier school using the Washington name.
Opening / first recorded · 1909; replacement opened to students August 27, 2025
West Haven High School on Main Street, published in 1940 · 1927–1940; published 1940COLLECTION 037Schools
West Haven, Connecticut
The Main Street building opened as West Haven High School in 1927 and later served as Dr. Carl C. Giannotti Junior High School.
Opening / first recorded · February 7, 1927 as West Haven High School
Edgar C. Stiles School in the 1940 school directory · 1940COLLECTION 038Schools
West Haven, Connecticut
A school named for West Haven’s long-serving superintendent, opened in September 1931 and later considered for reuse.
Opening / first recorded · September 1931
Union School’s early buildings and school life · 1940COLLECTION 039Schools
West Haven, Connecticut
The district’s earlier wooden schools, the 1890 brick Union School, and the building’s combined grammar- and high-school role.
Opening / first recorded · 1890 for the surviving brick building
COLLECTION 078Shops & businesses
New Haven · West Haven · Branford
Advertisements and storefront photographs trace a retailer through downtown and later locations.
Opening / first recorded · Early 1920s origins reported
COLLECTION 079Shops & businesses
West Haven · New Haven
Allingtown’s furniture landmark, its earlier manufacturing life and the redevelopment that followed.
Opening / first recorded · Perfume business 1926; furniture from 1952
Winchester Hospital and its grounds, published 1919.COLLECTION 085Hospitals & care
West Haven
The hospital and the people who kept it running, seen through nine photographs and plates published in 1919.
Opening / first recorded · Early twentieth century; VA transfer 1948
North toward West Rock along memorial canal · 2021-09-13COLLECTION 087Parks & historic lands
West Haven · New Haven
Excavation, recreation, drainage and restoration beside Marginal Drive.
Opening / first recorded · Twentieth-century park landscape
Yale Bowl in 1936 · 1936. Carl Van Vechten; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 089Schools, sports & community
New Haven · West Haven
From opening-season players to packed stands: a stadium built into the landscape and a century of Saturdays.
Opening / first recorded · November 21, 1914
UNH June 2011 · 2011-06-01. Zrosen88; CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 090Schools, sports & community
West Haven · New Haven
From YMCA classrooms to a West Haven campus: students, buildings and the making of a university.
Opening / first recorded · 1920 — institution founded; 1960 — West Haven campus
COLLECTION 097Military & civic buildings
West Haven
An Art Deco armory on Main Street, later adapted to a different kind of daily life.
Opening / first recorded · 1933 — recorded military service begins
KEEP LOCAL HISTORY ACCESSIBLE
Your donation supports preservation and public education.
Earlier editions: Town history research bundle · Health, transit and recreation bundle. Source links identify material held elsewhere; image credits explain dates and reuse terms.
