Waterbury Democrat., 1901-04-12
.OLD LANDMARKS MUST GO|
Prichard Homestead to Make way for March of Progress.

i The Historic Old Corner Will Undergo
 Many Changes in Short Time The | Democrat Building the Entering Wedge for the Sale of the Most Val uable Corner in Town-The Old, | Blakeslee House ,on South Main
 Street Also to Make Way for Brick Block.
 The announcement that the Prich- ] ard block at the corner of Bank anu Grand streets is for sale has brought out many inquiries as to it's history, and in order to meet the demand for | this kind of information Democrat reporter looked up a few facts on the subject this afternoon.
 The property is part of the three acre lot of Daniel Porter, who formerly 1 lived across the street in q frame Struc- ture, which stood on the site of the Atkins block, now occupied by the
 Waterbury Umbrella Manufacturing company. It was purchased from the Porters by Davld Prichard, Jr, soon after 1SO0, and has been in pos session of the same family ever since. | In 1850 David Prichard deeded it to l his son. Elizur E. Prichard, father Of the Misses Sarah and Catherine Prich- | ard. who sold it to J. H. ,Whlttemore, of Naugatuck, few weeks ago, but still occupy the place. and will not vacate it probably before the middle of May. The price paid for the proper | ty in 1880 was S6o0. At that time 1t included all the land now bounded north on Grand street from Bank to Canal streets; south on Meadow street, east on Canal street and west on Bank street, as far as the depot. 1t was sold off ill lots from time to time, the | Democrat and Mir Whittemore taking the two remaining. pieces during the present year. | When the father of the Misses Prichard bought the property Bank street was little better than an ordi- nary COW path, the place being so nar- row that carriages used to strike the | brushwood at either side. It was GOV cred with white sand and in dry, windy weather the dust was far more dis agreeable than under similar condi-s tions at the present time. or course, | the railroad cars did not bother De- destrians in those days and people go- | ing into what we now call the Brook | lyn district did not cross the Nauga tuck river over a substantial bridge.
 There was q fording place where the bridge now spans the river on Bank street and at times a few blanks aid ed people to get across without wet | ting their feet.
 The house which is offered for sale,
 q two-story frame structure, was built
 in 1S40. The family moved into it a year after and have occupied it con tinuously since. It contains fifteen
 rooms and is ill an excellent state of
 preservation. The frame is of hand
 hewn oak and the timbers, many of
 which are exposed in the attic, would last for centuries. The original coat
 of paint is still on the hallway ana dining room and it would take an ex- pert to tell whether it was put on this
 year or half century ago. During
 that time two births and three deaths
 occurred in the house.
 The surviving members of the fam l fly were born on Grand street in house that stood on the site of the
 First Baptist church, but while the home they now occupy was in process. of construction they resided on what
 Is known as Canal street. In those days there was no house on Bank l street between Grand street and the Naugatuck station.
 The neat woodshed in the rear was
 built soon after the house was erected and the fence that separates the place l from Barlow Bros property is the same one that was put down when
 the family moved there
 1t is needless to add that the place
 holds tender associations flor those who are about to yacate if. 'The room mother died in.' An. we shall not dwell upon that Such a statement Is fraught with tender memories for many of us. Show us the man whose thoughts do no revert at times, to the spot where his mother breathed her last sigh and we'll point you, out an | ingrate, unworthy to be classed as member of the human race.
 There are older houses in Water bury than the Prichard homestead. but, so far as We have been able to learn, | there is no residence in the city which was built by the family and occupied for the same length of time as the one in question.
 In the time of the Misses Prichards girlhood. the whole tract included in the original deed was dotted with beautiful shade trees. delightful shrub
 bery and great variety Of wild flow CTS. and during the spring and summer
 was q favorite resort for the robin and other song birds whose melody lent additional charm to the prospect and it was common practice for the
 youth of the neighborhood to assemble
 under the umbrageous elms and listen
 to the birds twitter and chatter and sing in the branches overhead and
 when tired of this, romp about through the yelvety pastures and hide from each other i'll the brushwood that
 beckoned to them from all directions.
 But a great change has. since come over the place. The trees have been hewn down. the brushwood cleared away. the birds that made 1t joyous
 with their melodious lays. found more congenial retreats, and man, ire pressible man. from almost every quar-
 ter of the globe. surveys the situation,
 few of whom ever bestow q thought
 upon what the neighborhood looko1 like when the Prichard family held house warming i'll their new home in
 the summer of 1S41, just sixty years