Historic property identities and maritime neighborhood context. The 1940 document pages concern Henry H. Richards and his lumber business; they are not house photographs. No unverified photograph is assigned to Hedgehurst or Harborview.
Executive history
Hedgehurst stood at 141 Main Street, at Second Avenue. Local historian Dan Shine identifies it as Captain John M. Richards’ ornate home and distinguishes him from the nearby Richards lumber family. The house was demolished; the 2022 account records a surviving curbside stone sill. [WHSC-003]
Harborview, 65 Main Street at First Avenue, was built for Benjamin F. Richards and his bride in 1892. Its fine interior woodwork reflected the resources of a prosperous lumber household. The West Haven Historical Society recognized the house as a local historical treasure in 2018. [WHSC-003]
The house at 81 Main Street belonged to Henry H. Richards. His widow Esther and painter Edward Wheeler lived there in 1913. Later transfers recorded in the local history include a sale to Mettie B. Platt in 1936 and to William and Sophie Greenhouse in 1944. [WHSC-003]
The 1940 town history supplies a different kind of evidence about the Richards household: before 1868, Methodist preachers and laypeople from New Haven held services locally, and interdenominational weekly meetings took place in Henry H. Richards’ home. The passage identifies him as a Congregational church member. It does not give that meeting house an address, so it supports the household’s civic role without independently proving the modern street number. [WHSC-002]
The same period history describes H. H. Richards Lumber Company at 37 Water Street, with dock facilities on the West River channel. It records especially strong business during the apartment-building boom of 1923–1927, when the yard employed 45 workers, followed by liquidation in early 1939 and sale of assets to Batter Building Materials Company. These details show the commercial setting behind the Main Street lumber-family houses. [WHSC-001]
The sources disagree about the company’s early management and end. The 1940 history names Edward A., George O., and Benjamin F. Richards as founders in 1849, records a major fire on April 16, 1909, and separately describes the 1939 liquidation. The 2022 column attributes the original business to Henry and describes a fire in 1939. Those accounts should remain distinguishable until business records and contemporary newspapers resolve the discrepancy. [WHSC-004][WHSC-003]
Key dates
Before 1868 — Religious meetings at Henry H. Richards’ home recorded in the 1940 history. WHSC-002
1892 — Harborview constructed at 65 Main Street. WHSC-003
1939 — Lumber company liquidated, according to the 1940 history. WHSC-001
2018 — Harborview recognized as a Historical Treasure of West Haven. WHSC-003
A closer look at the surviving record
A waterfront business behind the houses
The period history places the lumber company on Water Street. It is evidence for the family’s commercial setting, not an illustration of any particular Main Street house.
A home could support civic and religious life as well as family life. This passage records that role for Henry H. Richards while leaving the address unstated.
Includes source text where acquired. Source websites require an internet connection. OCR may contain errors; verify names and dates against the scan.
5 catalog entries
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WHSC-001 · Historical documents · 1940
H. H. Richards Lumber Company in the 1940 town history
Printed page 28 describes the Water Street lumber company, its dockage, employment, and 1939 liquidation.
Public domain in the United States: copyright not renewed, per repository’s Stanford-database check. Authentic printed document, not a photograph of a house. Repository notes photocopied book and irregular pagination. Selected scan leaf visually checked against printed page number; full page retained without synthetic restoration. Original downloaded scan is in originals.
Transcribed excerpt from History of West Haven, Connecticut (1940), printed page 28.
Source: https://archive.org/details/historyofwesthav00unse/page/n97/mode/1up
H. H. Richards Lumber Co.
Oldest of the present-day or recent industries was the H. H. Richards Lumber Co., formerly of 37 Water Street, founded in 1849 by three brothers, Edward A., George O., and Benjamin F. Richards. With large dockage facilities on the West River channel leading into New Haven Harbor, this firm, originally capitalized for $10,000, was continuously under the direct management of the family of the founders, who personally supervised both the executive and operating affairs of the company and employed local labor almost exclusively.
In the building boom, 1923–27, when a large number of apartment houses were erected in New Haven and West Haven, the company reached its most marked prosperity and employed a yard force of 45 men. Early in 1939, the company was forced to liquidate and the assets were purchased by the Batter Building Materials Company of New Haven.
Credit: Writers’ Program (U.S.), Connecticut; Church Press, 1940. Scan: Allen County Public Library / Internet Archive.. Cite SGC SGC-WHSC-032, WHSC-001, source title, page and URL; accessed September 8, 2026.
WHSC-002 · Historical documents · 1940
Religious meetings in Henry H. Richards’ home
Printed page 72 records weekly religious meetings in Henry H. Richards’ home before 1868. It does not specify the address.
Public domain in the United States: copyright not renewed, per repository’s Stanford-database check. Authentic printed document, not a photograph of a house. Repository notes photocopied book and irregular pagination. Selected scan leaf visually checked against printed page number; full page retained without synthetic restoration. Original downloaded scan is in originals.
Transcribed excerpt from History of West Haven, Connecticut (1940), printed page 72.
Source: https://archive.org/details/historyofwesthav00unse/page/n197/mode/1up
Methodist Episcopal Church
Prior to 1868, Methodist preachers and laymen from New Haven held services in West Haven. Weekly “class meetings”, at which members of several denominations united in worship, were held at the home of Henry H. Richards, a member of the Congregational church.
The first meeting to consider the organization of a Methodist Episcopal Society, and the erection of a church in West Haven, was called on July 5, 1868, by W. A. Cross. Eight persons were present: Messrs. Bassett, Chapman, Eames, Smith, William and Charles Armstrong, Thomas, and Cross.
[Excerpt ends here; the account continues on the following printed page.]
Credit: Writers’ Program (U.S.), Connecticut; Church Press, 1940. Scan: Allen County Public Library / Internet Archive.. Cite SGC SGC-WHSC-032, WHSC-002, source title, page and URL; accessed September 8, 2026.
WHSC-003 · Sources & research leads · 2022-08-17
H. H. Richards homes and waterfront businesses
Address-level identification and a photograph of 81 Main Street.
Dan Shine, August 17, 2022. Modern photograph has no reuse license displayed; link only. Gives the clearest distinction among the three properties. External source reference; the complete source is not reproduced in this download.
Credit: Original publisher or holding institution, linked at source. Cite SGC SGC-WHSC-032, WHSC-003, source title, page and URL; accessed September 8, 2026.
WHSC-004 · Sources & research leads · 1940
History of West Haven, Connecticut
1940 town history with commercial and household context.
Internet Archive / Allen County Public Library metadata states copyright was not renewed, citing the Stanford database. See printed pages 28, 58, and 72. Scan pagination differs from printed numbering. External source reference; the complete source is not reproduced in this download.
Credit: Original publisher or holding institution, linked at source. Cite SGC SGC-WHSC-032, WHSC-004, source title, page and URL; accessed September 8, 2026.
WHSC-005 · Sources & research leads · 2017-07-19
The old sawmill and the Richards lumber yard
Local account of the supply of wood for houses and shipbuilding.
Useful contextual research; not a photograph or independent identification of any of the three houses. External source reference; the complete source is not reproduced in this download.
Credit: Original publisher or holding institution, linked at source. Cite SGC SGC-WHSC-032, WHSC-005, source title, page and URL; accessed September 8, 2026.
