A collection of documented history, dated images and original record links. Photographs available only at their publishers are labeled separately from locally included images. Unknown dates and conflicting accounts remain visible.
Read the full history
Collection history
Hallock’s is the furniture and appliance retailer associated with Orange Street and later locations, not the unrelated Hallock castle or every business bearing that surname. Modern reporting places its beginnings in New Haven in the early 1920s and the Fast family’s purchase in 1940. A precise founding day has not been established in a contemporary source. The collection therefore begins with a reported period and follows more securely dated advertisements and property records. [ED078-S01]
A 1949 advertisement in Temple Keser Israel’s anniversary journal places Hallock’s at 75 Orange Street. The ad connects the shop with a specific address and a local publication, but the journal anniversary is not the retailer’s anniversary. Andy Blair’s 1974 street photographs show Hallock’s signage within a row of furniture and appliance shops. These images preserve a commercial streetscape, including neighboring businesses, rather than only a single isolated storefront. [ED078-S02][ED078-S03]
The 1984 historic-district inventory names Hallock’s Furniture at 75 Orange and a Surplus Outlet at 45–51 Orange. The buildings’ earlier construction histories must remain separate from the twentieth-century retailer’s occupancy. Modern reporting describes the later Westville store’s property sale and move to West Haven in 2003, followed by the West Haven outlet/warehouse’s move to Branford in 2017. Those events do not by themselves establish when every Orange Street operation ended. [ED078-S01][ED078-S04]
The resulting story follows retail across changing urban settings. Advertisements explain how a shop presented goods to customers; signs locate its public presence; inventories connect occupancy with older buildings. Business ledgers, catalogs and customer accounts would add detail about prices, delivery and daily work. The street photographs remain linked to their creators where reproduction rights are reserved. [ED078-S02][ED078-S03][ED078-S04]
Key dates
Early 1920s — New Haven beginnings reported in later company-history coverage. ED078-S01
ED-N-hallocks-01 · Sources & research leads · 1949
Hallock's advertisement in Temple Keser Israel Fortieth Anniversary Journal
This 1949 advertisement places Hallock's at 75 Orange Street and shows the retailer supporting a local congregational publication.
Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. PDF page index 49 (viewer page 50). OCR identifies 75 Orange Street and telephone 7-0183. Nearby 96 Congress Avenue belongs to another ad, so must not be attributed to Hallock's. Reuse: undetermined: Original 1949 journal is digitized by the congregation; no image reuse license found.
Credit: Hallock's; Temple Keser Israel journal / Congregation Beth El–Keser Israel historical publications. Cite SGC SGC-ED078, ED-N-hallocks-01, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.
ED-N-hallocks-02 · Photographs · July 4, 1974
Orange Street's furniture and appliance shops
Hallock's belonged to a street of furniture and appliance shops. Store signs let students reconstruct the shopping district from the photograph.
Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. Date from photographer's title; Flickr's 2010 Taken field is inconsistent and likely reflects digitization metadata. Original photo record and rendered image URL inspected. Reuse: all_rights_reserved: Original Flickr record explicitly says All rights reserved.
Credit: Andy Blair / Andy Blair / WAVZ 13 on Flickr. Cite SGC SGC-ED078, ED-N-hallocks-02, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.
ED-N-hallocks-03 · Photographs · December 28, 1974
Orange Street looking north
Hallock's vertical sign appears on the right, opposite Yale furniture signage. Cars and shop fronts show the district in everyday use.
Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. Date from photographer's title; 2010 Taken field is not the historical scene date. Photo visually inspected in browser; Hallock's sign legible. Reuse: all_rights_reserved: Original Flickr record explicitly says All rights reserved.
Credit: Andy Blair / Andy Blair / WAVZ 13 on Flickr. Cite SGC SGC-ED078, ED-N-hallocks-03, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.
ED-N-hallocks-04 · Photographs · July 4, 1974
New Haven's furniture and appliance row
Hallock's and its neighboring shops appear with the Coliseum in the distance, linking everyday commerce with urban renewal.
Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. Photographer's narrative dates the capture to July 4, 1974; upload was June 2020. Original photographer's description names Hallock's and Coliseum; rendered image URL inspected. Compare to hallocks-02 for possible related views before placing both prominently. Reuse: permission_required: No open license established on this item; same photographer's other two inspected items are All rights reserved. Treat as permission required pending specific license check.
Credit: Andy Blair / Andy Blair / WAVZ 13 on Flickr. Cite SGC SGC-ED078, ED-N-hallocks-04, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.
ED-N-hallocks-05 · Sources & research leads · 1984 nomination documentation; building dated circa 1876
75 Orange Street — Hallock's Furniture historic inventory
The inventory identifies Hallock's at 75 Orange Street and dates the building to about 1876. Building age and business founding date are different facts.
Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. PDF page index 22, section 7 page 15. Names former Wooster, Ensign and Son hardware store; references Photograph 19. Reuse: undetermined: Public federal repository, but underlying nomination authorship does not automatically make every image public domain.
Credit: Nomination preparers; see document / National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Ninth Square Historic District. Cite SGC SGC-ED078, ED-N-hallocks-05, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.
ED-N-hallocks-06 · Sources & research leads · 1984 nomination documentation; building dated circa 1886
45–51 Orange Street — Hallock's Surplus Outlet inventory
A second inventory entry records Hallock's Surplus Outlet at the Central Corner Block, evidence that the retailer occupied more than one Orange Street property.
Available at the linked repository; image or full record is not included in this download. PDF page index 20. Inventory references Photograph 19, not directly retrieved. Reuse: undetermined: No item-specific open reproduction license established.
Credit: Nomination preparers; see document / National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Ninth Square Historic District. Cite SGC SGC-ED078, ED-N-hallocks-06, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.