Balch grocery store, Harwinton.
PhotographerPhotographed by
Northern Survey Company
Date1880-1890
MediumPhotography; albumen print on paper on cardboard mount
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 6 5/16 x 8 11/16in. (16 x 22cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection
Object number2000.191.269
DescriptionWalter S. Balch grocery store in Harwinton, near the center of town, east of the old cemetery. The two-story, three-bay federal style building with a broken fan light was once a residence. Sign over center door says "Groceries"; double windows flank door with solid wood shutters. Poster on right shutter advertising "popular excursions to Coney Island via the Naugatuck Railroad, steamer "Waterbury" and NY and Sea Beach Railways on Sat. Aug 14; tickets $1.50. Also features the [?] Rock Grove Band." Wood frame house to right with large corner pilaster on high stone foundation and picket fence in front. Outbuildings to rear. Stone retaining wall between street and buildings. Three men and three boys in front of store; man carrying wicker basket, two boys carry a pail. Outside the store are agricultural tools, including a steel plow, wheelbarrow and wood rakes.
NotesConstituent Note: Some photographs in this collection bear the imprint of the Northern Survey Company. Subject Note: In 1888, W. S. Balch is listed as a grocer and from 1891 is listed in the business directory as a butcher. W. S. Balch also had a meat market in a building southeast of the store and further southeast was a slaughterhouse. He purchased animals from local people for slaughter and sale. He also sold groceries door to door by wagon on weekly routes. Balch was the town undertaker, kept the horse drawn hearse in the rear of the store where his father, Jonathan B., also an undertaker, had built coffins.
Status
Not on view
2022 May 31
