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
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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]
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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.
Bela Carter · portrait published 1906COLLECTION 001Cemeteries
Meriden
Recovering the names, family connections and burial references of a historic Meriden cemetery.
Opening date under research
St. Mary’s Church · Catholic community context · 1900COLLECTION 002Cemeteries
New Haven
Burial references and surviving sources within the history of New Haven’s Catholic community.
Historical origins · 1851 / 1854
A directory entry for Mary E. Hart · 1872COLLECTION 003People & families
Evergreen Cemetery · New Haven
A life behind a local legend: the monument, burial-index evidence, historical pages and published grave photographs.
Monument life dates · 1824–1872
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
Cottage D · photograph published in the school’s 1900 reportCOLLECTION 005Schools & care
Meriden, Connecticut
Historic campus photographs, physicians’ mortality reports and cemetery research bring the surviving institutional record into view.
Opening / first recorded · March 1, 1854
First home on Grove Street · engraving published in 1887COLLECTION 006Orphanages and Children’s Homes
New Haven & Hamden, Connecticut
Expansion of the existing New Haven Orphan Asylum collection to follow its 1916 Hamden plans, 1925 relocation and successor Children’s Center.
Opening / first recorded · First week of May 1833 in New Haven; Hamden campus in 1925
Gold & Silver Plate at the Columbian Exposition · 1893COLLECTION 007Businesses
Meriden, Connecticut
A founders’ photograph, factory views and original advertisements trace a Meriden manufacturer from metalworking to international silverware sales.
Opening / first recorded · 1852 organization; expansion in 1854–1856
Factory A: Meriden Silver Plate Company · 1906COLLECTION 008Businesses
Meriden, Connecticut
Factory images and an illustrated 1883 trade catalog reveal the products, ordering systems and separate companies behind the Silver City.
Opening / first recorded · Meriden Silver Plate: 1869–1870 formation and operation
Factory panorama, dated 1920 · Original publication unidentified; rendering dated 1920 by Walk New HavenCOLLECTION 009Businesses
New Haven, Connecticut
Original advertisements, illustrated products and contemporary records trace the company’s work and changing identity.
Opening / first recorded · Jerome case works: 1844; movement works: 1845
Fine Light Carriages advertisement, 1887 · 1887COLLECTION 010Businesses
New Haven, Connecticut
Original advertisements, illustrated products and contemporary records trace the company’s work and changing identity.
Opening / first recorded · Operating at 5–19 Franklin Street by 1887
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
Campus and surrounding landscape — Fairfield Hills · 2006-04-05COLLECTION 014Hospitals & care
New Haven & Fairfield counties, Connecticut
Explore six documented institutions, their changing names and uses, and the archives that preserve their histories.
Opening / first recorded · Westport Sanitarium: 1891
Service building and floor plans · 1914COLLECTION 015Hospitals & care
Meriden, Connecticut
Early building photographs, floor plans and state reports follow the hillside sanatorium and the development of its children’s program.
Opening / first recorded · Undercliff Association: November 15, 1907
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
A Cruel Husband — Horan household newspaper notice · 1885-09-23 (date supplied by reproducing researcher)COLLECTION 021Cemeteries
New Haven, Connecticut
Blake Street and Woodin Street, the two documented New Haven municipal cemeteries often called paupers’ burial grounds.
Opening / first recorded · 1884 (Blake Street); 1927 (Woodin Street)
Evergreen Cemetery’s founding and first interment · 1887COLLECTION 022Cemeteries
New Haven, Connecticut
The 1848 cemetery association, early interments, enlargement and the craftspeople who made its monuments.
Opening / first recorded · Late 1848; consecrated June 29, 1849
Fair Haven Union Cemetery’s 1885 gateway · 2010-10COLLECTION 023Cemeteries
New Haven, Connecticut
The Grand Avenue burial ground, its maritime neighborhood, brownstone gateway and memorial chapel.
Opening / first recorded · Early nineteenth century; graves as early as 1803 reported
Bridgeport: Ringling Bros. Circus Headquarters postcard · 1911 reported postmark; view undatedCOLLECTION 024Entertainment and public life
Bridgeport & New Haven, Connecticut
Bridgeport winter quarters and a documented New Haven circus day, told through nineteenth-century engravings, a touring poster, a postcard, and local newspaper evidence from June 1908.
Opening / first recorded · Local winter-quarters opening date not established
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
Strong School and U.S. Post Office · circa 1901–1907 (postcard format; photograph undated)COLLECTION 028Schools
New Haven, Connecticut
The Fair Haven school lineage and its successive buildings at 69 Grand Avenue, illustrated by pre-fire postcards and the surviving Tudor building.
Opening / first recorded · 1915 (replacement building; exact opening day not established)
Welch’s Congress Avenue facade in autumn · October 20, 2008COLLECTION 029Schools
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven’s municipal teacher-training experiment and the Queen Anne school at 495 Congress Avenue.
Opening / first recorded · 1883; formally dedicated February 4, 1884
Hopkins before the hilltop move · Photograph undated; published 1910COLLECTION 030Schools
New Haven, Connecticut
A school founded in 1660, its downtown history, and the later development of its Forest Road hilltop campus.
Opening / first recorded · 1660 (school); 1926 (present campus)
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
Tract K shooting range: northeast exterior · Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service; photographer not identified in source metadata / Public domainCOLLECTION 040Industrial sites
New Haven
Factories, testing facilities and surrounding streets reveal the scale of Winchester’s New Haven operations.
Opening / first recorded · 1870 site; major expansion 1914–1916
Eli Whitney Museum, Hamden · Magicpiano / CC BY-SA 4.0COLLECTION 041Industrial sites
Hamden · New Haven
Water power, manufacturing and the surviving landscape of an early American armory.
Opening / first recorded · 1798 federal musket contract
Scovill: dam on John D’s Pond · Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service; photographer not identified in source metadata / Public domainCOLLECTION 042Industrial sites
Waterbury
Factory interiors and exteriors document the buildings behind Waterbury’s brass industry.
Opening / first recorded · 1802 predecessor firm
Industrial buildings on North Main Street, Ansonia · Milfordwoman / CC BY-SA 3.0COLLECTION 044Industrial sites
Ansonia
Brass works, factories, rail access and the Naugatuck River explain the growth of industrial Ansonia.
Opening / first recorded · 1848 and 1854 predecessor firms
Ball and Socket Manufacturing Co, West Cheshire CT · John Phelan / CC BY 4.0COLLECTION 047Industrial sites
Cheshire
A small manufactured object connects Cheshire to industrial production, work and modern reuse.
Opening / first recorded · 1850 Cheshire Manufacturing Company
Silver Sands State Park (21096) · Rhododendrites / CC BY-SA 4.0COLLECTION 049Historic lands
Milford
A shoreline landscape shaped by storms, homes, recreation and conservation.
Opening / first recorded · 1960 state park designation
Derby Osbornedale house · Polaron / CC BY 3.0COLLECTION 050Historic lands
Derby · Ansonia
Industry, farming and conservation meet in the landscape assembled by Frances Osborne Kellogg.
Opening / first recorded · 1956 gift to Connecticut
New Haven from East Rock cropped · Charles Barneby / Public domainCOLLECTION 051Historic lands
New Haven · Hamden
Designed parkland, monuments and city views reveal how New Haven made public space.
Opening / first recorded · Late nineteenth-century park development
LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL BUILDING, NEW HAVEN, CT · JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD / CC BY-SA 3.0COLLECTION 052Historic lands
New Haven
Maritime navigation and shoreline recreation share the same New Haven landmark.
Opening / first recorded · 1805 first light; 1847 stone tower
SlGiant · Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia / Public domainCOLLECTION 054Historic lands
Hamden
A familiar ridge preserves evidence of quarrying and a campaign to protect its shape.
Opening / first recorded · Quarrying preceded the state park
Larkin State Park Trail cut, Middlebury CT · John Phelan / CC BY-SA 4.0COLLECTION 058Railways & transit
Southbury · Oxford · Middlebury · Naugatuck
Cuts, embankments and surviving ballast trace a railroad across four New Haven County towns.
Opening / first recorded · 1881–1939 rail service; 1943 trail gift
Farmington canal lock 12 · Staib (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0COLLECTION 059Railways & transit
New Haven · Hamden · Cheshire
Locks, walls and a later rail route reveal successive solutions to moving people and goods.
Opening / first recorded · 1828–1847 canal service
New Haven Union Station, September 2018 · Pi.1415926535 / CC BY-SA 3.0COLLECTION 060Railways & transit
New Haven
A monumental passenger station connects New Haven’s railroad history with continuing public use.
Opening / first recorded · 1920 present station
New Haven Railroad RDC and Waterbury Union Station clock tower, August 1968 · Roger Puta / Public domainCOLLECTION 061Railways & transit
Waterbury
A landmark tower and 1968 railroad photographs place Waterbury within a regional passenger network.
Opening / first recorded · 1909 station building
Abandoned railroad bridge over Washington Avenue in Waterbury, March 2023 · Pi.1415926535 / CC BY-SA 4.0COLLECTION 062Railways & transit
Waterbury · Meriden · Cheshire
Bridgework in Waterbury preserves traces of a railroad that disappeared in stages.
Opening / first recorded · 1885 opening; 1888 Waterbury extension
Southbury Training School campus · Johnny Hirschauer / CC BY-SA 3.0COLLECTION 066Hospitals & institutions
Southbury
A residential campus provides evidence for the history of disability services and institutional life.
Opening / first recorded · 1930s construction; 1940 opening
Naugatuck Chemical Company with piles of old rubber tires. Naugatuck, Connecticut · 1940-09COLLECTION 069Industrial sites
Naugatuck
A surviving warehouse and historical views trace the rubber businesses that shaped Naugatuck.
Opening / first recorded · Nineteenth-century rubber industry; 1954 warehouse
Chapel Square Mall, New Haven, Conn. — interior postcard · Undated historical postcardCOLLECTION 076Shops & businesses
New Haven
Downtown shopping, redevelopment and the streets that preceded New Haven’s enclosed mall.
Opening / first recorded · Developed in the 1960s
Bruce Springsteen at the New Haven Coliseum · Circa 1977–1978COLLECTION 077Recreation & entertainment
New Haven
Architecture, concerts, public memory and the end of a major downtown arena.
Opening / first recorded · 1972–2002; demolition 2007
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
Yale New Haven Hospital 1911 · Published 1911; capture date unspecifiedCOLLECTION 080Hospitals & care
New Haven
Two hospital traditions, nursing, transport and institutional growth in New Haven.
Opening / first recorded · Founded 1826; first hospital building 1833
COLLECTION 081Hospitals & care
New Haven
A Catholic hospital’s beginnings, expansion and later place within Yale–New Haven.
Opening / first recorded · 1907
1909 Postcard of Griffin Hospital in Derby CT · 1909COLLECTION 084Hospitals & care
Derby
A Valley hospital’s charter, first building, nursing and ambulance service.
Opening / first recorded · 1901 charter; opened December 1909
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
89. East Haven Tunnel, Sec. 4209, MP 77.00 · 1977COLLECTION 086Railways & transport
New Haven · East Haven · Hamden · Woodbridge
Evidence-based histories of East Haven Tunnel, Heroes Tunnel and documented urban connections.
Opening / first recorded · Rail, road and service connections
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
English Station in the neighborhood streetscape · 2011. Dougtone; CC BY-SA 2.0; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 088Industry & working life
New Haven
An island transformed by electricity: brick turbine halls, river channels and the power plant that served New Haven.
Opening / first recorded · 1929 — first generating units
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
Andrew Mellon Library · 2008-10-24. Daderot; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 091Schools, sports & community
Wallingford · Greenwich
Two schools, two towns and one evolving campus: the buildings and daily spaces of Choate Rosemary Hall.
Opening / first recorded · Rosemary Hall: 1890 · Choate School: 1896
New Haven Harbor from the depot tower · Circa 1865–1870. Whitney, Beckwith & Paradice -- Photographer; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 092Transportation & waterfront
New Haven
Sailing vessels, rail connections and a changing shoreline: the people who built New Haven’s working harbor.
Opening / first recorded · 1663 — first wharf grant
New Haven Alcos at New Haven 1957 postcard · 1957. J.W. Swanberg; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 093Transportation & waterfront
New Haven · North Haven · Bridgeport · Waterbury · Greenwich
Beyond the station: locomotives, shops, freight yards and the people who kept southern New England moving.
Opening / first recorded · 1872 — New York, New Haven & Hartford formed
La Amistad off Long Island · 1839. Unknown author Unknown author; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 094People, freedom & civic life
New Haven
Faces, a ship and a city: the Africans who fought enslavement and the New Haven places connected to their freedom struggle.
Opening / first recorded · September 1839 — New Haven imprisonment begins
A photograph of the facade of the New Haven Armory on Goffe Street in New Haven, CT, USA · 2021-06-13. Staib; CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 095Military & civic buildings
New Haven
Drill halls and public gathering places: three armories and the civic life of Goffe Street.
Opening / first recorded · Goffe Street: 1930 · Orange Street: 1906 · Meadow Street: 1883
COLLECTION 096Military & civic buildings
Meriden
A monumental hall on East Main Street: military service and Meriden’s public gathering place.
Opening / first recorded · 1908
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
Broad Street Cemetery in Meriden, CT · 2026-01-24. MConradWard; CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 098Cemeteries & remembrance
Meriden
Weathered stones and remembered names at one of Meriden’s early burial grounds.
Opening / first recorded · Burials documented by 1771
COLLECTION 099People, freedom & civic life
New Haven
Two jail sites and a deadly workshop fire: a history of confinement, work and loss.
Opening / first recorded · 1857 — Whalley Avenue jail occupied
Federal courthouse and post office: a period view · Undated historic postcard. General Services Administration; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 100People, freedom & civic life
New Haven
Marble halls, courtrooms and the Green: the buildings in which New Haven’s public justice took shape.
Opening / first recorded · County courthouse: 1914 · Federal courthouse: 1919
Destruction after Hurricane Diane · August 1955. NOAA; Public domain; Wikimedia CommonsCOLLECTION 101Disasters & community memory
Waterbury · Winsted · New Hartford · Norwalk · Derby · Naugatuck
Streets became rivers, bridges failed and communities rebuilt: a photographic record of Connecticut’s devastating flood year.
Opening / first recorded · August 18–19, 1955 · October 15–17, 1955
COLLECTION 102Parks & historic lands
Wallingford · Durham · New Haven
Roads, taverns and bronze markers: following Washington’s journeys through Wallingford and Durham.
Opening / first recorded · 1932 — commemorative route markers
A Middletown punch service at the Centennial · Published 1876. Souvenir of the Centennial Exhibition (1876), p. 108; public-domain illustration; digital reproduction credited to Design Meriden / art design café.COLLECTION 103Industry & working life
Middletown · Meriden
Tableware, factory skills and a divided company history: the silver-plating businesses of Middletown.
Opening / first recorded · 1863–1864 — predecessor business; separate Silver Co. formed 1899
Holy Land USA photographic postcard — early 1960s · Early 1960sCOLLECTION 162Faith & community
Waterbury
Explore John Greco’s miniature biblical landscape on Pine Hill, its closure and restoration, through an early-1960s photographic postcard and clearly dated later photographs.
1956–1986, with later views through 2022
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Earlier editions: Town history research bundle · Health, transit and recreation bundle. Source links identify material held elsewhere; image credits explain dates and reuse terms.
