This Week in History

1958 Archive

January 1 - May 3

January

Wednesday, January 1, 1958

• DERBY - A girl born at 11:35 AM to McLaughlin Terrace couple becomes first baby born in 1958 at Griffin Hospital.

January 2

• SHELTON - Yale drama students put on a benefit performance at Shelton High School for the rebuilding of the Church of the Good Shepherd, which was swept by fire last week. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut has written all state parishes and missions seeking aid for the church.

January 3

• DERBY & SHELTON - B.F. Goodrich Sponge Rubber Products Division announces it will be laying off 110 due to seasonal drops in the furniture and automobile industry.

• SHELTON - Fire badly damages a Victory Street home undergoing renovation.

January 4

• ANSONIA - A man points a gun at a bus with 4 passengers aboard at a Clifton Avenue bus stop. He then climbs aboard, hesitates, and says he was going to hold them up but "chickened out". He then climbs off the bus. The bus speeds away and flags down an Ansonia police car. A search is conducted, but the gunman is not found.

January 5

• DERBY - Many are ice skating at Pickett's Pond.

• SHELTON - The Church of the Good Shepherd conducts its first Service since the fire last week, at Fowler School.

Tuesday, January 7

• Snow begins falling in the afternoon, coming down heavy at times.

• SHELTON - Developer Frank Kazo buys 51 acres off Ripton Road, with the intention of building a suburban neighborhood.

January 8

• Connecticut experiences its worst snowstorm since 1947. The storm yesterday afternoon, and it snowed all night. Schools and businesses are closed. The storm left 1' of heavy wet snow, with drifts up to 2'. Many cars are stalled, traffic is at a crawl.

• ANSONIA - An Avon Street man has a heart attack while shoveling, and dies later in the day.

• DERBY - A trailer truck jackknifes on the Route 8 expressway near the Farrel-Birmingham factory during the storm, shutting down the highway.

• DERBY - In the evening, after the storm, supervised sledding begins on Fifth Street between Minerva Street and Caroline Street, and on Seventh Street hill.

• DERBY - The first baby born in 1958 at Griffin Hospital, to a McLaughlin Terrace couple, will get a shower hosted by 16 Valley merchants who deal with baby items. A full page ad was taken out in the Evening Sentinel on the last day of 1957, announcing the contest for the first 1958 baby.

• OXFORD - Traffic is at a virtual stop, with many cars stalled and blocking the country roads.

• SEYMOUR - A trailer truck jackknifes after striking a utility pole on South Main Street, and the cab subsequently catches fire. It is quickly put out by a standby crew from Citizen's Engine Co. No. 2.

• SHELTON - Two snowplows blow their engines. As such, there are many accidents.

January 9

• ANSONIA - Christ Episcopal Church will have a special offering every Sunday this month to help rebuild the burned out Church of the Good Shepherd in Shelton.

January 10

• DERBY - B.F. Goodrich donates $250 to Storm Ambulance to purchase a portable incubator.

January 11

• ANSONIA - Because of lack of orders, American Brass Company employees will for now work a 7-hour workday. Employees of the Brass Rod and Hot Press departments will work 4-day workweeks.

• ANSONIA - A fire on the second floor of the A. Hodos & Son feed and grain building on 1 Central Street causes $500 in damages and kills 800 15-week old chickens The first floor, containing a freezer section, had been reconditioned after the Flood of 1955 and was waiting to be rented.

Tuesday, January 14

• 1.76" of freezing rain falls, creating the worst driving conditions of the winter so far. The rain is accompanied by high winds.

• DERBY - Birmingham National Bank holds its annual meeting. The bank's holdings are listed at $9,030,651.

• OXFORD - A 4' long x 3' high snow sculpture of a rabbit is attracting much attention on Wyant Road.

• SEYMOUR - Schools close early due to the storm.

• SHELTON - 510 building permits were issued in 1957, including 241 new homes, 4 industrial buildings, 14 non-resident buildings, 110 additions, 56 garages, 1 church (St. Lawrence), and 84 miscellaneous.

January 15

• ANSONIA - C.E. Eyanson, chair of Gov. Ribicoff's Naugatuck Valley Flood Control Commission, tells the members of the Citizen's Action Committee and city officials that the farther we get from the 1955 Floods, the harder it will be to get Congress to set up funds for flood control. This is especially true with the "new climate" in Washington caused by Soviet Union's Sputnik Program, which is making Congress more defense and economy minded.

• DERBY - The City approves the retirement of William J. Burke, after 36 years of service to the Derby Police Department.

January 16

• ANSONIA - A new government study finds 57.6% of all Ansonia deaths are caused by heart disease, which is above the 53.8% average.

January 17

• ANSONIA - The Salvation Army mobile feeding unit, the world's largest such vehicle, which is capable of feeding 1,800 persons per hour, is on display at the Ansonia Armory tonight. It will be used in "Operation Valley" tomorrow. A 200 bed mobile hospital is also erected there today.

January 18

• A permanent polio vaccine clinic will be set up by the Naugatuck Valley Medical Association.

• OPERATION VALLEY -  1000 volunteers take part in the regional Civil Defense exercise. A highlight of the exercise are dozens of "victims", requiring rescue from buildings, and in some cases from roofs. Rescues are made by fire departments, civil defense units, and ambulance corps. The victims are transported to the field hospital for treatment. 800 hot meals are served by the Salvation Army mobile feeding unit. After the operation is completed, the Captain Mulcahy, the State CD Director, calls it the biggest and best in State history and a model of regional cooperation for responding to large emergencies.
      - Ansonia- 40 casualties are treated at the field hospital at the Armory. The Armory serves as the regional headquarters, and many spectators are present. Explorer Crew 10 rescues a man from the Pierson Building on Main Street.
      - Derby- Smoke bombs are set off at Irving School, and a number of people are trapped inside. Rescues are made here by the fire departments from Derby, Ansonia, Shelton, Oxford, and Woodbridge. The Boy Scouts provide first aid in the field as triage is made. As this is going on, an old Model A Ford is set on fire on Main Street as part of the exercise.
      - Seymour- Casualties are rescued at the Seymour Grain and Coal Company building on Main Street. A stokes basket with a "slide for life" rig is used for the first time in Connecticut at high elevation for this operation.
      - Shelton- 2 casualties are rescued by the ladder truck off the Community Center building at Howe Avenue and Center Street. A total of 8 rescues are made.

Monday, January 20

• ANSONIA - Rev. Aimilanos Tsirpanlis, newly assigned to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, is 23 years old, born on Kos Island, Greece, and speaks 4 languages.

• DERBY - The City has not experienced a single traffic fatality in a year. Prior to a fatal accident on January 18, 1957, Derby went 8 years without one.

• DERBY - Night ice skating, with lights provided by the Fire Department, is enjoyed at Charlie's Pond.

January 21

• ANSONIA - Stockholders of the Ansonia National Bank and the Union & Trust Company of New Haven vote to merge their banks under the latter's name on February 10.

• SHELTON - The Boards of Aldermen, and Apportionment & Taxation accept a preliminary $1 million building plan. It calls for adding 10 rooms to Sunnyside School, and 10 rooms to Shelton High School. Also to buy the Gazy property on Coram Avenue for a new Police Headquarters, renovating and adding to the Echo Hose Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1 firehouse on Howe Avenue, renovating the Municipal building on White Street, and buying additional land around the City for a new elementary school, dump, and parking.

• SHELTON - Laurel Heights Sanitarium has officially changed its name to Laurel Heights Hospital.

• SHELTON - Laurel Heights Hospital participates in the Civil Defense exercise Operation Welfare, along with the local Civil Defense and Police Department. It simulates a train wreck in a nearby town. Twelve displaced and 6 injured people are sent to Shelton as a welfare center.

January 22

• 1.87" of rain falls in 24 hour period ending at 8 AM.

• ANSONIA - The rain floods Wakelee Avenue and Hall Street, staling cars. A cave-in occurs at Sunset Drive where a sewer was being repaired. At least 4 manhole covers blown off.

• DERBY - The Fire Department pumps out 5 flooded cellars, including the Charlton Press.

• DERBY - The New Haven Foundation offers $50,000 for a Permanent War Memorial Community Center providing the local commission raising funds has $200,000 on hand by December 1. It now has $83,000 on hand.

January 23

• ANSONIA - Patrick Reidy, manager of the Ansonia Furniture Company, dies. He was very prominent in Valley veterans' affairs, a past commander of Gordon-Viselli Post American Legion, chair of the Valley Veterans' Council, and a charter member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He served in World War I, where he was wounded and gassed. He lived on 61 Church Street.

• ANSONIA & OXFORD - Rev. Lincoln Bell Hale, Ph.D., dies in New York City at 58. An Ansonia native who graduated from the local High School, Class of 1916, he served as director of US operations mission in Israel from 1954 to 1957. Prior to that, he was the President of Evansville College, Indiana, from 1941 to 1954. He also served as pastor of Oxford Congregational Church from 1930 to 1934, and the church plans a memorial service in his honor.

• DERBY - Capt. Mulcahy, The State Director of Civil Defense, presents a $7500 check to Griffin Hospital to cover the government's contribution to a 150 KW emergency generator installed at the hospital.

• SHELTON - The key to first US Army Capehart house presented to Master Sergeant Donald Dietle, on the Palemetto Circle in Huntington. 16 houses are now open to military personnel from the Nike Site.

January 25

• ANSONIA - Aaron Y. Hodos, 88, dies in New Haven. Until 1953 he conducted the A. Hodos Feed and Grain Company on 1-3 Central Street. Prior to that he operated a grocery store on 397 Main Street. Born in Russia, he immigrated to the USA 60 years ago, and had lived on Lester Street for many decades, where he was a member of Beth El synagogue.

• DERBY - The six families living on Osborndale State Park must move, as the structures are to be razed. These include 506, 508, and 510 Hawthorne Avenue (the first 2 are vacant), 3 Silver Hill Road, 74-76 Chatfield Street, and a 3 family house at 369-373 Hawthorne Avenue.

• SEYMOUR - The Town's Grand List is $26,397,717, and increase of $1,776,947 over last year.

Monday, January 27

• A total of 1.72" of rain falls over the weekend.

• ANSONIA - Ensign Richard Edward Irwin, 22, United States Naval Reserve, whose father lives on Cottage Avenue, is killed when 2 Navy helicopters collide on the ground and explode at Quonset Point, RI.

• DERBY - The new Hotchkiss Hose Co. No. 1 dress uniforms include bowties.

January 28

• OXFORD - A 100 year old house sustains $18,000 in damage when it is gutted by a fire on Route 67 in Oxford. The Seymour and Beacon Falls fire departments are called to assist. The fire was started by a defective chimney. Water for fighting it was drafted from the Little River behind the house.

• SHELTON - The members of Boy Scout Troop 2 of the Church of the Good Shepherd is commended for their work at the recent fire. The boys assisted in removing equipment, furniture, and other items from the church on the day of the fire which gutted it late last year.

January 29

• The total rainfall in January up to this time is 7.5", which is the highest since 7.64" was reported in January 1936. Prior to that, 7.8" fell in 1923.

• An AWOL Derby sailor steals a car in Derby. He is chased by the Derby police, who fire a warning shot, into Shelton, where they lose him. The Derby police car pulls over to talk Shelton police officers near Hazel's Stand on Route 8. While the officers are comparing notes, the car is spotted near Armstrong Road. The police cars chase the sailor up Route 8 into Ansonia, then through city streets into Seymour. The Derby police cars break off the chase, but the Shelton police car continues in pursuit. The car blows a right front tire near Rapp's Paradise Inn, but continues on as a Seymour police car joins the chase into Oxford. The car is forcibly pulled over on Seth Den Road, where the sailor is arrested at gunpoint by Shelton and Seymour police officers.

• ANSONIA - The City's Grand List is $38,653,510, which is $633,702 higher than last year, despite a $460,404 loss in industry. The loss is mostly due to the SO&C Company moving to Shelton.

• DERBY - The City's Grand List is $48,746,380, an increase over last year's $46,701,297.

• DERBY - Derby High School graduate Lou Pitney is drafted by the New York Giants.

January 30

• ANSONIA - Canal Street will be paved from Bridge Street to Central Street this spring. The old pavement was washed out in the Flood of 1955, and the temporary surface which replaced it is now terribly rutted.

• ANSONIA - The razing of the Palosky buildings on the corner of Maple Street and High Street has begun. The buildings are making way for an improved abutment and approach to the new Maple Street Bridge. Speaking of the new bridge, the first concrete was poured yesterday, for the pier footing between the railroad tracks and the Naugatuck River.

January 31

• ANSONIA - A 41 year old Water Street man is arrested after he fatally shot a Broad Street 32 year old man. The victim was a World War II veteran, who was trying to break up a fight in a dark alleyway behind 9 Colburn Street. The shooter was in a fight with a Powe Street man, and intended to shoot him, not the victim.

• SHELTON - A 30 year old New Haven man, the father of 7 children, as well as a 13 year old Congress Avenue boy who was riding in the other car, are killed in 2 car accident on Route 8 near Hazel's Stand. Three others critical, including the driver which was carrying the boy. He was planning on marrying the young victim's sister tomorrow, and they were returning from Bridgeport to pick up her wedding gown. The occupants of both cars had to be pried out by rescue crews.

February

Saturday, February 1, 1958

• ANSONIA - Burglars chop a hole in the rear wall of Kasden Fuel Company office at 562 Main Street Ansonia to avoid the burglar alarm. They steal cash and checks worth $2319.25, jewelry valued at $1400, and 2 industrial bonds worth $1800.

• ANSONIA - 226 persons get the Salk vaccine at Lincoln School.

• SHELTON - 309 persons get the Salk vaccine at Shelton Community Center

• SHELTON - A 22 year old US Navy sailor stationed at New London crashes his car about 700' from 689 River Road, and ends up in a 20' gully near Stuttering Jack Brook. The car is not discovered for 12 hours, until 8:30 AM the next day. By this time the car is covered with frost after 12 hours. The sailor is in critical condition at Griffin Hospital.

February 2

• SEYMOUR - 34 year old man who lived on Woonsocket Avenue, Shelton, dies when his car smashed through highway fence near Grasso's sand bank at Route 8, plunged down a steep embankment, and lands upside down in the Naugatuck River.

• SHELTON - A third victim dies of injures from the horrible accident on Route 8 two days ago. A 35 year old New Haven father of 8 succumbs. Both he and the other victim in the car he was riding in were postal workers in Westville.

Monday, February 3

• SHELTON - The Police Department's new patrol car is put in service, bringing the force's number of patrol cars to 3.

February 4

• DERBY - The United Jewish Building Fund of the Associated Communities announces the awarding of a contract to build new Jewish Center on Elizabeth Street. Val Carlson of Shelton will be architect.

• OXFORD - The Board of Education votes to institute a 9th grade at Oxford School next September.

February 5

• ANSONIA - The Federal government says Ansonia has until October 30 to submit downtown redevelopment plans, or the City will lose its urban renewal funds. But they can't be done until United States Army Corps of Engineers complete a survey of flood work needs, and all attempts to get them to start have failed. The fact that the Army Engineers is also a Federal Agency is not lost on the local press, and the hopelessness and absurdity of the situation makes page one headlines.

February 6

• SHELTON - The Echo Hose Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1 votes unanimously to go on record as opposing plans to renovate the Howe Avenue firehouse they have occupied since 1882, favoring instead a new facility.

• SHELTON - Mayor Cicia writes Gov. Ribbicoff, asking for a traffic light at Route 8 (Bridgeport Avenue) and Mill Street after the fatal accident earlier in the week. 2/7-5 2/8-3 Atty. Harold Yudkin writes Gov the only way to stop fatalities is make it 4 lane highway.

February 7

• ANSONIA - The United States Army Corps of Engineers directs its New England Division to contact Mayor Doyle. The Engineers will be in the City to start their survey on February 12.

• SHELTON - The sailor involved in the accident on River Road on February 1 dies of his injuries at Griffin Hospital. He is the fourth victim to die from injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents in Shelton so far this week.

February 8

• SHELTON - Derby's Atty. Harold Yudkin writes Gov. Ribbicoff, saying that the only way to stop the rash of fatal accidents on the Shelton stretch of Route 8 is to make it a four lane limited access highway.

Monday, February 10

• ANSONIA - A fuel oil truck with 500 gallons of range oil, parked on North Prospect Street Extension, rolls down the steep embankment and flips over several times, landing upside down in a ravine. Some oil leaks out.

• OXFORD - Residents vote 86-35 against joining the proposed new Valley Health District.

February 11

• DERBY - A missing 16 year old Derby girl has been found. She is a stowaway on the SS Italia, which is on a 16 day cruise to the West Indies. She was found after she got seasick in a restroom, and is now flying home.

February 12

• ANSONIA - A $50,000 2 alarm fire destroys the Seccombe Monumental Works on 185 Howard Avenue. Much of the firm's machinery is destroyed.

• ANSONIA - Army Corps of Engineers Brig. Gen. Alden Sibley announces June 1 is the target date for completion of flood protection survey of the Lower Naugatuck Valley area.

February 13

• ANSONIA - The Ansonia Nike Site will soon replace its Ajax missiles with Hercules missiles, which are nuclear capable.

February 15

• ANSONIA - An early morning fire causes $25,000 to Walt's Market on 89 Prospect Street. Webster firemen leave their annual ball, as well as their wives or dates, while wearing their dress uniforms to respond.

• SEYMOUR - The President of the Seymour Public Health Association backs the Valley Health District proposal.

February 16

• The worst blizzard since 1934 strikes the area. 19" of snow falls, blowing into drifts 5-6' deep with the 50mph winds. The storm ends early the next morning, February 17. All schools are closed, factories are shut down, and several churches cancel services. A number of motorists are stranded in drifts and abandon their cars. Most hunker down and ride the storm out at home.

• ANSONIA - The hinges are chiseled off the door of a 1500lb safe at the West Oil Company at 700 Main Street during the blizzard. $212 in cash and 100 three-cent stamps are stolen.

• SEYMOUR - A Second Street home hit by $3,000 fire during the blizzard, leaving a family of 6 is homeless.

• SHELTON - Frederick Sboril, Grand Knight of Bernardo Council, Knights of Columbus, dies shoveling snow in front of his residence at 565 Howe Avenue.

Monday, February 17

• The blizzard continues, ending early this morning. All schools and factories are closed.

• ANSONIA - Mayor Doyle is pressed into service as part of the Ansonia ambulance crew to help a 55yo Buswell Street woman who broke her leg after falling down a flight of stairs.

February 18

• ANSONIA - Huge snow banks are removed from Main Street. 2 plows have broken down.

• DERBY - Downtown snow removal continuing.

• SEYMOUR - Snow piles are being removed from Main Street. The municipal parking lot is cleared today.

• SHELTON - A six year old Hillside Avenue girl suffers a fractured skull when her sled hits a parked milk truck on Crescent Street.

February 19

• ANSONIA - Members of the Ansonia Nike Site are moving into new 16 Capehart houses just off Ford Street.

• DERBY - The new moderate rental project on David Humphreys Road will be named Dirienzo Heights, after the current mayor, Anthony Dirienzo. It is the third such project constructed during his tenure, the first two were Lakeview Terrace and McLaughlin Terrace. The new project will have 25 duplexes for 50 families. 42 of the units are already occupied.

February 20

• ANSONIA - Donald Drapeau, whose parents live on 43 Mary Street, was one of the 5 High Point College, NC, students who fired a 14" aluminum tube 2,000 feet into the air in Kernersville, NC, an event which made national headlines.

• DERBY - The executive secretary to John Santangelo, president of Charlton Press, is assaulted on the Division Street side of plant. He is struck by a revolver handle, and a briefcase containing company mail stolen. A very similar incident occurred there with the same man 3 years before, in which a briefcase containing the company payroll was stolen, and it is believed that his assailants may have thought that the stolen briefcase contained the payroll.

• SHELTON - Gov. Ribicoff notifies Mayor Cicia that the State is conducting a "speed-accident" study on Route 8 (Bridgeport Avenue) in light of the recent crashes on the state road.

February 21

• ANSONIA - A two day event called the "Ansonia Goes Crazy" Sale begins. Prices are slashed all over the city.

• DERBY - Not to be outdone by Ansonia going crazy, Derby begins a similar two day event called the "Wa-Bi-Sa Days" sales - or Washington's Birthday Sales.

• SHELTON - A 3-room trailer home at Sunnyside Trailer Park, on Ann Avenue, is destroyed by fire.

February 22

• DERBY - A 3-car pileup occurs in front of 334 Derby Avenue at 9:37 PM. 4 suffer minor injuries. Just as the accident is cleared, 2 more cars crash into each other at the exact same spot at 10:30 PM. An additional person is injured, who was transported to Griffin Hospital in a police car.

February 23

• SHELTON - Rev. Howard C. Champe, pastor of the Shelton Congregational Church since 1945, submits his resignation, effective June 1.

Monday, February 24

• ANSONIA - The Board of Education goes on record opposing any addition to Ansonia High School. They also say they favor of Junior High School at Nolan Field.

February 25

• ANSONIA - Paul Vivian Tippet, 78, of 125 South Cliff Street, dies only 3 days after recognized for 50 years of service of being on the Board of Directors of the YMCA. He was the organization's president between 1931 to 1944.

• DERBY - The Ideal Manufacturing Company of Beacon Falls will take over the 3-story brick building on lower Caroline Street formerly occupied by Corsetry, Inc. They will use it as a warehouse and for packaging the pins it manufactures. Some manufacturing will eventually occur there too.

• SHELTON - A special referendum is held, to vote yes or no on 6 resolutions. 3 pass - they are: adding 10 rooms each to Sunnyside School & Shelton High School; performing major repairs to Huntington School and Ferry School; and the aquisition of land for school sites, parking, and garbage disposal. The three that failed were - building a new city court and police headquarters; renovate the Echo Hose Hook & Ladder firehouse on Coram Avenue; and renovate the Municipal Building (City Hall) on White Street.

February 27

• OXFORD - The Riverside Fire Company fire chief says he will resign in interest of harmony. He cites "a certain few" who feel social activities should come before the reason the fire company was organized.

February 28

• The US Weather Bureau issues a flood warning for the Naugatuck River Valley, due to heavy rain and melting snow. 2.31" of rain falls in 24 hours. The threat lifts at the end of the day.

• ANSONIA - The Mill Street Connector is under 2' of water in the early morning hours. The Civil Defense on standby, and evacuation centers are posted, though they are not needed. Merchants are glad the tailrace is gone.

• DERBY - Charlton Press is flooded off Division Street. The ice goes out on Housatonic.

• DERBY - A car strikes the side of a passenger train on Derby's side of the Division Street railroad crossing. The driver was unhurt, and the train continued as the engineer was unaware of the accident.

• OXFORD - Riveriera Terrace is flooded.

• SEYMOUR - 10 homes on Sunset Terrace have flooded cellars, the street is under 2' of water.

March

Sunday, March 1, 1958

• ANSONIA - The Ansonia Elks burn the mortgage of their Main Street home, at a celebration attended by 200. The clubhouse was acquired in 1951 - the other half of the building is Seccombe's Men Shop.

Monday, March 2, 1958

• SHELTON - A 3-room house on Hurd Street is gutted by fire.

March 3

• DERBY - The home of Judge and Mrs. John O'Connell on Mason Street is broken into - $1200 in cash, furs, and jewelry stolen.

March 5

• A hearing is held on dredging the Housatonic River at Stratford Town Hall, sponsored by the Army Corps of Engineers. The mayors of Ansonia, Derby, Shelton all speak in favor of the project. All 200 at the meeting agree they'd like to see the river dredged from its mouth to Derby and Shelton, forming a channel 18' deep, 200' wide, 5 miles long. The last time the river was dredged was 1944, and silt on the riverbed was a contributing factor to the devastation of the 1955 Floods.

• ANSONIA - The Board of Aldermen goes on record favoring an addition to Ansonia High School to act as a Junior High School. This is in direct conflict with the Board of Education, which wants new Junior High School building, not an addition.

• DERBY - The Lombardi Motor Car Company officially opens its new sales and display rooms at 304 Seymour Avenue. The company will retain the garage at 69-71 Minerva Street, which it constructed in 1902. It is the oldest dealer in the area, organized in 1896.

• DERBY & SHELTON - The P. Francini and Co. of Derby is given contract to build the new Elim Park Baptist Home, which is moving from Shelton to a 22 acre site in Cheshire.

• SHELTON - A picture in the Sentinel shows the arches rising for the new St. Lawrence Church in Huntington.

• SHELTON - The well that supplied water for the Nike Site on North Street, including the Army housing on Palmetto Circle, runs dry. The Huntington Fire Company is up all night pumping 24,000 gallons of water into a storage tank.

March 6

• SHELTON - The 1957 Grand List shows a net increase of $3,956,900 over the previous  year. It includes 3,955 houses, 163 factory buildings, 6,874 automobiles, 8,218 lots, 2,722 garages or barns, 282 commercial buildings, 18 horses, and 1,057 cattle.

March 7

• ANSONIA - Traffic lights have been installed on Main Street and Bank Street, and they will begin operating tonight.

• ANSONIA & DERBY - Farrel-Birmingham set a net sales record of $50,878,485 last year.

• DERBY - Griffin Hospital formally opens a recovery room for patients coming out of surgery. It was constructed with a $10,000 grant from the New Haven Foundation.

March 8

• ANSONIA - A body found in the Naugatuck River, 50 yards south of the Bailey Bridge, is identified as a 65 year old North Fourth Street man.

• ANSONIA - Frank Cushner, founder of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, is nominated for the Ansonia Board of Police Commissioners.

Monday, March 10

• DERBY - Harold Beard, 71, dies in Milford. He founded Beard Sand & Gravel, Inc., and the Beard Concrete Company, Both are headquartered in Milford, though the concrete company has a plant in Derby.

March 11

• ANSONIA - A two-alarm fire breaks out in a three story brick building on 5 Colburn Street, in the same second floor apartment where a man was shot and killed on January 31 of this year. The blaze causes $4000 in damage, and spreads to a room in the building next door. But the fire is prevented from spreading further by asbestos brick. The fire started when a space heater exploded, burning the apartment's occupant. An Eagle Hose, H&L fireman is overcome by smoke.

• ANSONIA - The Willis School PTA is opposed to the relocation of Big Jim's Tavern to 13 Murray Street, near the school.

March 13

• ANSONIA - Air Force Captain Tavers Lindgren, is given a Commendation Ribbon for Meritorious Service for repairing several aircraft damaged by crashes or fires in interior and remote regions of the Arctic.

• DERBY - Boxing Champion Mickey Walker is the guest speaker at the Derby Elks Club Irish Night.

March 14

• DERBY - As of now, the Boy Scouts of the Housatonic Council are prohibited from swimming in West Side Pond in at Scout Reservation, which is under construction, in Goshen, CT. This is due to an 1894 law, that states no one can bathe in reservoir watershed. Water from West Side Pond eventually drains into the Shepaug Reservoir in Waterbury. The Council is seeking amendments to the law through the General Assembly.

• DERBY - The Sentinel reports that Sister Mary Elizabeth, who once taught at St. Mary's, has died. The funeral will be in Hartford.

• SHELTON - Pvt. John J. Brennan Jr., of 27 Cliff Street, is named "Soldier of the Month" at Camp Jackson, SC.

March 15

• The weather goes back and forth between snow, rain, and slush.

• DERBY - In a shocking event which is still remembered by many to this day, three nuns from St. Mary's convent are killed in a four-car accident on the Berlin Turnpike in Berlin, CT. The Sisters of Mercy were driving to Hartford, to attend the funeral of Sister Mary Elizabeth. The convent's Mother Superior, Sister Maria Denise, 55, was driving the parish station wagon, when she made contact with an oil truck she was trying to pass, resulting in a four-car chain reaction . Both she and Sister Mary Marcian, 66, were killed at the scene, while Sister Mary Celestine, 68, died en route to the hospital. The oil truck overturned, though the driver's injuries were non-life threatening. Sisters Mary Marcian, Mary Celestine, and Mary Elizabeth were all classmates at Laurelton. St. Mary's Parish, the City of Derby, and the Roman Catholic community are thrown into a state of shock.

• SEYMOUR - A 2 year old Seymour boy drowns in 18" of water in an uncompleted cellar being excavated near his Mountain Road home.

Sunday, March 16

• DERBY - Masses at St. Mary's Church are very somber in the wake of yesterday's deaths of 3 Sisters of Mercy from the parish convent. The St. Mary's schools are closed until further notice.

• DERBY - Over 400 attend the ground breaking ceremony of the new Beth-Israel Synagogue Center at 294 Elizabeth Street.

March 17

• DERBY - Mayor Anthony Dirienzo calls the loss of the three Sisters of Mercy from St. Mary's Church "a tragic loss and a great shock". Thousands attend their wake this evening at the convent.

• SEYMOUR - At a special town meeting, voters refer a $1,970,000 bond issue for a 1,000 pupil high school to a March 28 referendum.

• SHELTON - The Board of Aldermen approves a 40 hour work week for the Police Department, and creates a Bureau of Purchases.

March 18

• DERBY - Thousands attend the funeral for the three Sisters of Mercy at St. Mary's Church. Surrounding streets are closed. The triple funeral is presided Archbishop Henry J. O'Brien, assisted by Auxiliary Bishop John F. Hackett, as well as Bishop Lawrence Sheehan of the Bridgeport Diocese. Dozens of priests and deacons assist, and the church is packed, with the crowd spilling outside. All three are buried Mt. St. Peters. All City schools, both pubic and parochial, are closed out of respect.

• DERBY - The Woman's Club of the Second Congregational Church changes its name to the Woman's Fellowship.

March 20

• The first day of spring brings a snowstorm. Much of the snow initially melts on contact with ground, but it starts to stick as the night goes on. Much of the Valley sees 4". But in the hills it is a different story, with 10" or more falling, and high winds whipping the snow into deep drifts. All schools are cancelled.

• ANSONIA - The Williams Temple Church of God in Christ, on 57 High Street, has purchased a bus for use by church school pupils.

• ANSONIA - Residents of Woodbridge Avenue have made a very large Easter rabbit out of snow.

• DERBY - St. Mary's schools were supposed to reopen today for the first time since the three Sisters of Mercy were killed five days ago, but the snow puts a stop to that.

• SEYMOUR - The snow has blown into 8' to 12' drifts on Great Hill.

• SHELTON - Snowplow drivers report 7' drifts in White Hills.

March 21

• SHELTON - Former mayor Ralph Booth dies in North Carolina, where he lived with his daughter for almost 2 years following the death of his wife. A Democrat, he served as mayor from 1941 to 1946. He was born in Shelton on July 20, 1895, graduated from Shelton High School in 1914, and was a veteran of World War I.

Monday, March 24

• ANSONIA - A purse containing $150 snatched from a woman walking on New Street.

March 25

• ANSONIA - The Ansonia Housing Authority applied to the Federal Housing Administration for approval of a site south of Central Street, and east of Powe Street. A 50 unit low rental housing project to accommodate some of those who have been or will be displaced in the Broad Street area, is planned.

• ANSONIA - It is reported that 400 dynamite caps were stolen over the weekend from a shed behind Paradise Inn on the new Route 8 expressway. The police warns of the dangers from them.

• DERBY - John Santangelo, president of the Charlton Press, signs a 20-year lease with a 10-year option with Stop & Shop. They will build a 135'x150' cinder block building on the Mill Street Connector behind Atwater Avenue. Blasting begins 4 days later.

• SHELTON - Mayor Cicia receives word that the State will recommend blinker lights be installed at Route 8 (Bridgeport Avenue) at Mill Street and Armstrong Road.

March 26

• ANSONIA - Ansonia residents had 449 births (2 actually in the city) in 1957, 40 more than 1956. Ansonia's population had 244 deaths (80 in the city itself) in 1957, 29 more than 1956. The number of marriages was 216 (134 in the city), 33 less than 1956.

• DERBY - Burglars are unsuccessful in trying to rip open a large safe at the business office of the Housatonic Lumber Company on 100 Main Street.

• SHELTON - The Board of Education goes on record at a special meeting, asking Mayor Cicia to explain his remarks made four days ago in the Evening Sentinel, in which he said "through my efforts, discrimination against trailer park children in our schools was eliminated". No one seems to know what he is talking about.

March 27

• ANSONIA - The Connecticut National Bank seeks permission to open a branch on the corner Mill Street and Division Street, across from Charlton Press, and south of the new First National Supermarket now under construction.

• ANSONIA - The Army Corps of Engineers tells Mayor Doyle that if the 4 planned flood control reservoirs were completed, in addition to Thomaston Dam, the flooding from the August 1955 Flood would have been 8'-9' less, and Ansonia would have experienced $3 million instead of $30 million in damage. He is also told that flood walls and dikes on the east side of the Naugatuck River is 'economically doubtful'.

March 28

• ANSONIA - A federal judge rules that Deerfield Road should not be replaced by the Army since it was abandoned a very long time before it was taken over for the NIKE site. To make his ruling, the judge has to cite a law dating all the way back to 1795. Ansonia is awarded $1. Three days later, it is announced that the Army will take 1.06 acres off Ford Street.

• SEYMOUR - Voters defeat planned new $1,970,000 Seymour High School, which would have housed 1,000 students, in a referendum by a vote of 933-706.

• SHELTON - Mayor Cicia accuses 2 Board of Education members of "trying to make a political football of this matter" of discrimination against trailer park children at the schools He further claims that there is still discrimination.

• SHELTON - The Sunnyside Drive Moderate Rental Housing Project Association is formed. They will join with the Geissler Drive Housing Project Association in opposing $6 rent increases and higher electric and gas bills.

Sunday, March 30

• SEYMOUR - A well known, 15 year old Elm Street boy dies. A freshman at Seymour High School, he had been fighting muscular dystrophy since early childhood, and appeared on the controversial Strike It Rich television show a few years ago.

• SHELTON - The Sunnyside Drive Moderate Rental Housing Project Association and the Geissler Drive Housing Project Association form the Moderate Rental Housing Association at the War Memorial, at a joint meeting attended by 60 families.

March 31

• ANSONIA - The Ansonia Parking Authority agrees to purchase the entire "Railroad Property", from Bridge Street to a point 200' north of Railroad Avenue, for $195,000. The original price was $250,000.

April

Tuesday, April 1

• DERBY - The grandson of Mayor Anthony Dirienzo is seriously injured when he is hit by a car in front of the new Jewish Community Center on Elizabeth Street.

• DERBY - Derby High School announces Rosalind Cafasso of Minerva Street will be the Class of 1958 valedictorian. Anne Fitzmaurice of Laurel Avenue will be salutatorian.

April 2

• ANSONIA - Two piers are in position on the east side of the new Maple Street Bridge, and a third is currently being worked on.

• ANSONIA - Local 3571, United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, has donated an electric scoreboard to Lincoln School for Biddy Basketball and public school use.

• SEYMOUR - The west end of the new Broad Street Bridge is almost ready for paving

Easter Sunday, April 6

• Rain dampens the late morning. 1.89" falls in a 24 hour period starting 8 AM today. The churches are packed.

• SHELTON - Several hundred attend sunrise Easter Sunday services at Highland Golf Course.

April 7

• The Housatonic rises to 3' above normal, but there is no danger.

• ANSONIA - The Naugatuck River swells to within 3' of flooding. The contractor building the new Maple Street Bridge has to move his heavy equipment away from the riverbank as a precaution.

• DERBY - It is discovered that $6,000 in cash and $8,000 in checks have been taken from a safe at the Housatonic Public Service Company at 33 Elizabeth Street sometime between Saturday afternoon and this morning. The police are investigating.

• SEYMOUR - The contractor building the new Broad Street Bridge has to move his heavy equipment away from the riverbank as a precaution.

April 8

• ANSONIA - A 1,000 gallon water tank truck has been donated to the Hilltop Hose Company No. 5.

• SEYMOUR - A fire in the basement of Klarides Supermarket at 271 Bank Street causes minor damage.

April 9

• DERBY - A small one room guest cottage is destroyed by fire just north of McConney Flats on Roosevelt Drive.

April 10

• Rain turns to snow in the evening, leaving 2-3".

• SEYMOUR - A $10,000 fire guts a one story addition of the Valley Garage on North Main Street. 2 families, totaling 7 people, flee the upstairs apartments in the 3 story section. A family dog dies in the blaze.

April 12

• DERBY - City firemen burn down a house near Hawthrone Avenue in a "controlled burn". The house was located on the new Osbornedale State Park.

• DERBY - State and local police raid a billiard parlor on Bank Street, and arrest the owner and 4 other men on gambling charges.

• SEYMOUR - Harold Moore Donovan, 55, dies at Griffin Hospital, on what would have been his 24th wedding anniversary. Born in Ansonia, he lived in Seymour 47 years and was the owner and manager of the Strand Theater.

Sunday, April 13

• DERBY - 20 to 30 New Haven youths invade a sweet sixteen party for an Orange girl at Falcon Hall. A general melee breaks out, in which Coke bottles, chairs, and fists are freely thrown. As the boys try to escape, one throws an Army practice grenade into the crowd, causing a flash that lights up the neighborhood for two blocks. Alerted by the flash and screaming, a supernumerary police officer chases the boys, firing shots after them, but they make it to their car and all but one escapes. The one remaining may have been the one who threw the grenade - he is injured with a broken nose. The hall is completely trashed, with makeshift weapons including boards, pipes, and clubs everywhere. The grenade is Army-issue, the arrested boy admitting it was stolen from the New Haven armory. It is just like a regular hand grenade in every way, except it does not have the explosive charge or fragmentation of the standard issue. The grenade fortunately bounced off the front door of the hall, instead of into the crowd, which is fortunate because as it was the suspect and at least one male party chaperone were badly injured from being too close to the explosion. The suspect is at Griffin Hospital, where he is allegedly naming his co-conspirators. They were "looking for trouble" that night, and knew about the party in advance.

April 14

• DERBY - New Haven police have begun rounding up boys named by the suspect captured from yesterday's attack at Falcon Hall.

• SEYMOUR - A Pine Street house unoccupied since the August 1955 flood, across from Seymour High School burns down. The house had been slated for demolition anyway, but the flames are so intense many in town think the high school is on fire.

• SHELTON - The Shelton Teachers Association president says the City is in an "education crisis". City teachers' pay ranks 152nd in the State, which is why 45 teachers have left in the last 5 years. New teachers tend to move on before long to communities that pay more.

April 15

• ANSONIA - A drum explosion kills a 38 year old New Haven man, employed by the Levine Scrap Metal Company on 90 Central Street. The owner is burned trying to rescue him. The drum shot 30' into the air, spreading fire everywhere.

• DERBY - William Reilly of 8 Cottage Street, a retired police officer, dies at St. Raphael's. Appointed a supernumerary in 1907, he was promoted to patrolman in 1911 and assigned to guard the Sterling Opera House during performances. He was appointed a regular full time patrolman in 1923, and retired January 10, 1955 after 47 years of service. City flags are at half staff.

• DERBY & SHELTON - Ferdinand Weimann dies at Griffin Hospital at age 74. A Shelton resident who had immigrated from Germany, he helped found the Weimann Brothers Manufacturing Company in Derby in 1917, which made special tools and stampings. He was the company's Chairman of the Board at the time of his death.

• SHELTON - Ground is broken for additions to Shelton High School and Sunnyside School.

• SHELTON - A house under construction on Oronoque Trail in Pine Rock Park is destroyed by fire, burning to the ground before the fire department arrives.

April 16

• SEYMOUR - Residents vote 124-23 against joining a proposed new Valley Health District, at a special town meeting

Sunday, April 20

• DERBY - The Derby Historical Society plants about 300 pine and spruce trees in and around the Uptown Cemetery. They also plant an oak tree to replace the ancient one that was blown down in the Hurricane of 1938.

• OXFORD - The Oxford Congregational Church building committee is authorized to construct a new $60,000 addition to the parish house.

• SEYMOUR - A 38 year old Ansonia man is in critical condition after being hit by a train.

April 21

• ANSONIA - The Board of Aldermen unanimously adopts a resolution directing Redevelopment Agency to apply for a $2.7 million loan, and for project capital grants and relocation grants to the full amount available, to redevelop Broad Street for public housing.

• ANSONIA - The Board of Education adopts changing from 6 to 4 semesters, each 6 weeks long, and awarding letter grades, on a trial basis for Ansonia High School.

• SHELTON - St. Joseph's School will add 8 new classrooms for 320 more students. The addition will be 2 stories, with 4 classrooms on each side of the auditorium. The school will then have a total of 16 classrooms. Enrollment right now is 360.

April 22

• ANSONIA - The first steel arrives for the new Maple Street Bridge. Within an hour workers started mounting it on the piers.

• DERBY - Rev. Olszowka, pastor of St. Michael's Church appeals to the State Highway Department to change the plans for the proposed new bridge over Naugatuck River, saying it will create a serious traffic condition in front of the church and school.

• OXFORD - Plans are unveiled for new addition to the Oxford Congregational Church parish house, which will be "L" shaped and connect the present parish house to the church, for $60,000. It will measure 96' east and south, 20' wide, and include a pastor's study, offices, 4 classrooms, a kitchen, a Fellowship Hall that can hold 100 people, and restrooms.

April 23

• DERBY - A coroner places some of the blame for the accident which killed 3 St. Mary's nuns last month on the headdress worn by the driver, which restricted her vision, as well as her inexperience driving. Three days later the Sisters of Mercy nuns announce they will now push their habits back when driving.

• SEYMOUR - The Seymour Manufacturing Company announces it will go to a 32-hour week due to sluggish sales, and top salaries will be reduced.

April 24

• ANSONIA - It is revealed that Mayor Doyle is being considered for nomination to Lt. Governor in the upcoming state election. He's reportedly "pleased and interested".

• ANSONIA - A 36 year old Shelton worker is killed at the site of the new Maple Street Bridge, after a boom strikes a 8" tree branch. The branch falls to the ground, knocking him off a 10' wall onto a pile of rocks.

• SEYMOUR - The Board of Selectmen vote to borrow $70,000 from the Connecticut National Bank and Trust Company to buy property for the proposed new Seymour High School.

April 25

• DERBY - State Engineers meet with Rev. Olszowka regarding the proposed new Naugatuck River bridge in front of St. Michael's Church.

• SEYMOUR - The Seymour Redevelopment Agency receives approval to apply for grants up to $375,000 in federal & $70,000 in state grants to redevelop Pine Street in a town referendum, by a vote of 325-292.

April 26

• ANSONIA - A Washington hand press owned by the Evening Sentinel since at least 1878 is donated to University of Utah, where it will be permanently exhibited in the typography museum in the school of journalism. The press is interesting to them because it was portable, and fit in a covered wagon, which is why many western newspapers used these presses when they first started.

Monday, April 28

• ANSONIA - Mayor Doyle suggests that the US Army name the Ansonia NIKE site after Joseph C. Hines, an Ansonia native killed in Europe on February 21, 1945. Hines was with the 459th Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Battery B, at the time of his death, while the the 967th Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Battery B is based in Ansonia.

April 29

• 1.33" of rain has fallen in the 24 hours ending at 8 AM today. A total of 6.32" has fallen in April so far, which is well above the normal level of 4" of rain.

• ANSONIA - A granite honor roll bearing about 200 names of Woodbridge Avenue area veterans of World War II and Korea will be erected at Woodbridge Avenue and Prospect Street, replacing a temporary one erected there in 1943.

• SEYMOUR - Two young men, a 21year old from Seymour and his 20 year old friend from Ansonia, have constructed a gyrocopter in the Seymour boy's Buckingham Road house. The craft has glided 4' in the air in high winds, though the boys have not been able to afford a motor yet.

April 30

• ANSONIA - City Hall driveway will be extended to East Main Street.

Thursday, May 1

• ANSONIA & DERBY - Today is the 70th anniversary of the first electric street car running between Ansonia and Derby, the first use of an electric streetcar in New England.

• DERBY - The Howard & Barber Department Store marks its 150th anniversary. All Main Street stores will stay open until 9 PM in tribute, normally stores only do that on Fridays in 1958. The store is decorated to look like 1858. Impressive ceremonies are held in the morning, broadcast live over the Valley's AM radio station WADS. It is interesting to note that the anniversary of the streetcars received much attention in the newspaper in 1933, while the Howard & Barber anniversary received no coverage at all, probably due to the Great Depression. 25 years later, the streetcar anniversary was barely more than a photo and caption, while the Howard & Barber anniversary was a huge event.

• SEYMOUR - The police department has received a new Ford station wagon.

May 3

• SHELTON - Joseph Michael Fitzgerald, son of Mr. & Mrs. John Fitzgerald of 38 Elm Street, is ordained at St. Augustine's cathedral in Bridgeport. Rev. Fitzgerald would serve as pastor of St. Lawrence Church from 1974 to 2004.

Green links go to the Valley History Definitions Page