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Moodus: Twine Capital of America

In the 19th and early 20th century, the mills of Moodus produced more cotton twine for cordage and netting than any other place in the country. Walter Cronkite narrates the video.

History remembered, history lost

I grew up in Moodus on Sillimanville Road.  I periodically visit your website and have been meaning to write to you to say thanks for writing the history of Moodus, the way it really was -- the good, the bad and the ugly. Upon reading all the stories and articles over the years I realize I truly grew up at the wrong time to be in Moodus.  I grew up at the end of the Summer Resort heyday, and watched it all slide downhill from there. 

I remember the Soda Shop, and I remember getting groceries from Uncle Albert (Pear) as I used to call him.  I went to Synagogue when it was on North Moodus road, my Bar Mitzvah was there.  I worked for a short time as Pistol Pete's sidekick up at Banner Lodge.  I remember the Weiner Resort, Banner Lodge, Grand View, Klar Crest, all of them.... and I saw each, one by one, close and wither away. 

I remember the old downtown, I was old enough to ride my bicycle there stopping for a soda at Weinstein's and then heading on down to Neptune Avenue to meet up with John Bielot.  I remember the town being leveled too.  Just one day it wasn't there anymore.  

I even remember getting fresh eggs from Simon's farm and being shown how to "candle" eggs. I remember Jack Banner getting so annoyed because Pistol Pete and I couldn't seem to catch who was putting the row boat into the pool at night.

Yes, memories of Moodus are mixed for me.  I had some fun, but even at a young age I could see and recognize the town being destroyed, the history being lost. I remember the arson fires at Wieners and also at the place next door to Debowsky's house.  My dad had his first heart attack while up on our roof with a hose putting out the embers from the two fires that were landing on our house. I think one of the Bungalows across the street also burned (forget the names of the family that owned them). 

I graduated High School in 1976, did some college in Hartford and joined the Navy leaving Moodus in 1977.  I never looked back. Well, I say never, but I visited once or twice and I came back to bury my parents in late 2000 and early 2001.  It's seems like only the cemeteries can be used as landmarks anymore as people don't tend to build or pave over them.... yet.

I do have hopes that the children of those who moved into the area in the 80's and later, to the new Moodus, create new memories -- ones of growth and building up, and maybe adding to the history of the area.  From what I saw in 2001, they pretty much have a clean slate to work with. 

Again, thanks for the website,

 --Miles-Kevin Baron

Bury Brothers part of town history

When Bill and I were first married and lived by the Moodus Green in the old Advertiser building, I had painted a painting for the Bury Brothers to hang in the meat market to pay off a debt we had rung in meat products in the early 70's as payment. They took it gracefully and extinguished our monthly bill. It was of hereford cows. I'm hoping one of the family members still has possession of it. They were great people and "down to earth folk, always helping their neighbors and fellow man. They are truly part of Moodus history and I will always keep them in my heart.

Sincerely,

--Margaret Delehanty alias "Muggs"

Bonita Springs, FL

Moodus connections run deep

I so enjoy this site. I lived on Plains Road, 1951, across from the then Moodus Savings Bank by Dr Berwick. Julian Bury was my Godfather and I was a freshman when Bud was a Jr or Sr. Uncle Julian and Uncle Joe where wonderful-wonderful people and I loved them dearly!! My dad Frank Larsek was born in Moodus in 1925, married my Mom who is still living and my cousins still live there. The Sidell family across from Hale Ray. 

I moved from Moodus in 1986 and now live in South Carolina. My mom is now 84 and Daddy passed at 61. He was best friends with Danny Maus. My name is Christine Larsek Rowland Fusco and thank you for these wonderful memories. My Dad worked at Russell Jennings in Chester, it then went to be known as Stanley Works. Go figure. Then he spent the rest of his work time at Sibleys in Haddam and my Mom worked at the café  at Hale Ray. MY mom is still best friends with Alice Tesar and Genny Bielot. 

Thanks for the memories.

--Chris Fusco

Fond memories of Breslow's

My name is Stan Feinstein and my family stayed at Breslow's each summer from the 40's to the 50's. In 1950, at age 15, I received a call before the season started from the owner Meyer Breslow, who asked me if I'd like to be a busboy in the main dining room. I couldn't wait to get there. That year began the fondest of memories I have of my years ages 15 thru 22.

Let's start by identifying the Breslow family. Until the early 60's, the resort was owned by Meyer and Morris Breslow. Their wives were Clara and Bella. Each Breslow brother had 4 children: Meyer and Clara had Stanley, Jay, Paul and Abie. As a side comment, Abie's son Craig is a relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics (as of 2010). Morris and Bella had Charlie, Herbie, Yetta and Harold.
 

Perhaps some member of their families will see these comments -- the guests most memorable to me were: Saul and Frances Feinstein (my parents), Jerry and Jeanette Firtel, Morris and Janet Genzer, Bernie and Dorothy Keiler, Kelly and Bea Keller, Barney and Mary Kissel, Sol and Pauline Kleinfeld, Marty and Ann Lerner, Mike and Tilley Melnick, Harry and Ida Nadel, Harry and Gladys Orfuss, Max and Roz Polinsky, Pete and Gladys Solomon, Joe and Flo Wasserman, Bennie Weber
Morris and Anne Wertkin, 

The highlight of these years is that I met my future wife Helene Call who was niece of Meyer and Clara. We have now been married for 50 years.

I'll always remember:

-The mile walk to Miller's restaurant for grinders,
-The 4 mile WALK into Moodus just for the fun of it,
-Visiting Bill's soda shop and Weinstein's pharmacy to buy sodas and baseball cards,
-On rainy days, Meyer driving the old bus to the Moodus movie house, his head barely visible over the steering wheel,
-Meyer driving the bus to Bashan Lake for swimming. In later years he put in a new pool,
-Morris lugging bedding on his back between rooms,
-The weekend softball games with the guests and the Breslow boys,
-The softball games against the other Moodus resorts. The Breslow boys were all good ballplayers and we were unbeatable. We challenged Banner Lodge multiple times but they wouldn't play us. For the record, the softball field was moved 3 times, from in front of the old casino, to the corner near the arch and finally to beyond the new pool,

-The 1/4 mile walk DOWN to the OLD pool,
-The conversion of the old casino into guest rooms and the building of the new casino,
-As a waiter, hiding the apple pie deserts from the guests on Sunday,
-Sleeping with the other help in the barn attic,
-Getting investment tips from the guests (all tips went down),
-Breaking into the freezer at night to get extra food for the guests,
-Getting caught by Clara when backing out thru the freezer door,
-Playing 3 handed cut-throat pinochle with 2 seniors,
-and My weekend payday from tips for being a waiter.
 

All summers went too fast and now the Breslow's resort is a horse farm. Even the impressive arch has been removed. My wife and I visit Breslow's twice each summer and are dismayed to see the former Moodus center. Unlike Brigadoon, Moodus never returns.

THANK YOU BRESLOWs for a lifetime of memories.

--Stan Feinstein

Fond memories of 1950s Moodus

I came across your site and saw a picture I recognized. On the Moodus-center-pix page, there is a picture labeled ‘First National, Bill's Soda Shop, Weinstein's and Lou's Package’, which also seems to have been used for the ‘Greetings from Moodus’ card. I’d love to get a good copy of it.

My grandmother, Evelyn Levine, lived in the house whose porch partially appears on the left of the picture. There she raised her sons (Nathan, George, Bill, Barney, Saul, Jack, and Dave). The picture was taken in 1960, I think, despite the heading and the name ‘moodus_center_east_1940s.’ In any case, I think the car parked in the 2-car lot to the side of the house is a 1959 Rambler that belonged to my uncle Nathan (whom we called ‘Manny’), and it looks like there is a 1956 Chevy parked in front.

I have fond memories of exploring that house, and I still remember the floor-plan, my dad’s childhood room up-stairs, and the incredible antiques (treadle sewing machines, hand-carved sandstone pottery, my grandfather’s old butchering tools) I found exploring in the attic and basement.

One of my early memories (I was all of 4 years old) is from Memorial Day, 1959. My family drove down to Moodus from Massachusetts for the Memorial Day Parade, which became an annual event for us in the early 1960’s. We saw the parade (replete with Fife and Crum Corps) and then went to Billy’s store where my dad let us buy penny candy. We usually stayed in one of the cabins at Banner Lodge (Pop Banner was my godfather) over the weekend. None of the pictures I saw show it, but there was a covered and raised outdoor stage at the end of the lodge pool on which instructors would lead dance and exercise classes. The memory is that my dad (George) would take me to that stage in the evening, and we would sit, the two of us, while he told me about being a kid growing up in Moodus, working for Banner Lodge during his teen summers, and other recollections.

By the mid 1960’s, the ravine (Moodus River) behind my grandmother’s house was so polluted that the house began to smell horrible. She moved to a house in Middletown, and we ceased to spend Memorial Days in Moodus. Toward the end of the 1960’s, the family would still get together in the area with the brothers and my many cousins, either visiting Bashun Lake, Gillette Castle, or the Goodspeed, but by the early 1970’s, Moodus was essentially gone.

--Hal Franklin

I loved old Moodus

About once a year, I visit the Moodus Web pages and remember those days in the early 1930's when we drove to Gramma's house in Moodus for Sunday dinner. They lived at the top of the hill, across from the cemetery on the road to Banner Lodge. The driveway to their house was between St. Bridgets and the Synagogue. It's still there.

Now, at 84, I remember all the stores and the tavern where Grampa wet his whistle. He died in 1941 while walking home from the tavern. I also remember the visitors to the camps (Banner Lodge, etc) walking up and down the hill in droves. I fished with Barney Smith and his brothers in the pond behind their house and popped corn over a campfire with them. I loved the "Old" Moodus. What remains today is awful.

Urban Renewal was also a disaster in my home town of New Britain. I was on their Common Council when it was decided to tear down millions of square feet of manufacturing space, thinking that the owners would rush back in and rebuild with cheap Government money. Not one of them rebuilt, but chose to leave town and go to the surrounding suburbs. The only buildings there are government-owned. Not one pays taxes.

Your web page is outstanding. Please keep it up.

--Richard Harris
Avon, CT

Visiting downtown Moodus

As an 80 year old who used to spend summers visiting my grandparents who lived at the top of Methodist Hill and visiting the "downtown" area of Moodus I enjoyed reading your web site.

The entrance to my grandparents house was between the old St. Bridgets and the Jewish Community center opposite the Methodist cemetery.

Jack Banner and Lanny Ross used to stop by and visit with my Uncle Raymond Harris.

I played on the dam behind the house with the Smith boys. Barney, Tom and Henry. The Turczeks lived between the Smiths and the Harries and there was an old man, retarded I think, who sat on their porch all day long.

The mills were standing in those days and the mill next to the Smiths was still operating as the Cone Mill.

My grandparents and great grandparents are buried in the Methodist cemetery at the top of the hill along with a lot of familiar names. We used to collect walnuts from the trees that grew on the south side and dry them over the winter.

I have fond memories of it all.

--Richard Harris, Avon, CT

A way of life destroyed

The article in today's Hartford Courant (May 9, 2005) was read with a great deal of interest and it got me to my computer to Google Cave Hill Camp, which lead me to your website. Instead of working in the garden, I spent about 2 hours browsing your articles about the old summer resorts, looking at the old postcard pictures of Moodus as it once was and reading the history of what happened to "downtown."

I grew up in the village of East Haddam - but remember Moodus with much fondness - and every time I pass through that area now on my way to visit my parents' graves at St. Bridget's Cemetery, I have a pang of regret for what once was.

I no longer live in East Haddam - but remember well what used to be downtown Moodus. My uncle, Tommy Sipples, was the owner of Tommy's Barber Shop. I remember how every teenager wanted to have a job as a soda jerk at Bill's. Everyone knew Sam Pear and exchanged local news at Ray McMullen's Drug Store or just on the "street." It is so sad that all of that is gone and all that Moodus has is that horrible strip mall. More than buildings were lost -- the sense of community and a way of life in a small town was also destroyed

Yes, there were problems in the center that needed to be addressed but what happened to Moodus is so sad, especially when you see what has happened in Chester, which was even more run down.

I plan to download your articles so that I can save them for my children to read and just to reread and remember what once was. I especially love the pictures from the old post cards -- it is a walk down memory lane for me.

The article in today's Courant just barely touched on what was a major industry in town. It never mentioned Banner Lodge - where oddly enough, my son as a teenager worked in the kitchen for two summers. I remember Ceil Banner from when she was my fifth grade teacher at Nathan Hale.

We locals would complain every summer about the influx of cars as the New Yorkers invaded our town. But I think those that still live in East Haddam/Moodus have lost something that can never be regained. I only hope the people that still live in town think of this when they complain about the Goodspeed Opera House. It is the one link to the past that the town has that is also providing it with a place in the present -- and hopefully the future. To quote: "Don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg." While Essex and Chester grow and prosper, East Haddam is trying to kill its one chance. We are supposed to learn from history. Unfortunately, that is not always true.

--Dorothy DeGiorgi

Summer crowds in Moodus

I have just spent at least two hours going through page after page of your website, reliving old memories of Moodus.

I am now 79 years old and remember the frequent visits to my grand-parents home located across the street from the Methodist Hill Cemetery and next to the Old St. Bridgets Church. They and my great grand-parents are buried in the southwest corner of the cemetery.

I remember the 1930s and the stream of people who walked back and forth from the camps to the center of town, all summer long. How they mamaged the steep hilll is beyond me. They never walked in the dirt path but chose to walk on the pavement.

My uncle, Raymond Harris, was a good friend of Jack Banner so I remember stopping at the Lodge several times. There was a famous singer named Lanny Ross who would visit us from time to time when he was at the Lodge.

I too am deeply saddened by the destruction of Moodus as I can vividly picture the Town as it was. My great-grandfather, Asa Harris, was a Dancing Master who gave lessons at the Music Hall and the Machamoodus House in the late 1800's. There was an article about him in the Deep River paper back in the 30's, which I gave to the Amasa Day Museum.

Thank you for your fine efforts.

--Richard D. Harris, Avon, CT

Loss of Moodus Center heartbreaking

Your Web site on East Haddam is very interesting.

Having grown up in East Haddam, I remember talk of "redevelopment" in Moodus. It's nice to read a history on what took place. The lost of the Moodus village was a tragedy. I suppose if it had worked out properly the players would be considered visionaries instead of dupes.

Whenever I visit the town and drive through Moodus, I try not to think about what was once there. It's too heartbreaking.

School kids would go to Sam Pear's dry goods store to buy their gym clothes. It was just a short walk from school to the dentist. There was something there and it had character, and the buildings housed characters!

-- Sharon Havranek

Pleasurable summers spent in Moodus

It was a result of a late-at-night whim that I entered a search into Google for Moodus. And boy was I surprised to have located your site!

Moodus was a family affair for us. I spent most of my childhood summers at various resorts in town from 1948 to approximately 1959, but my parents vacationed there slightly longer. As my parents were both teachers, we were able to spend the full ten weeks of vacations away, and we did so each year. We stayed for many years at Karas Rest Farm (unmentioned in your site), Klar Crest Resort and Willow Manor. As I got into my teen years, I spent more time away at camps and teen travel tours, but even then I would still spend several weeks in Moodus.

After spending at least one summer at Karas, my grandparents and my uncle rented a bungalow at Elkin’s and subsequently at Richard’s bungalows. As I recall, they vacationed in Moodus for at least a year or two more than my parents, and this brought me back to town as well as I frequently visited with them for a period of time. Another aunt and uncle took their annual two-week vacations at Orchard Mansion. In summary, our years in Moodus probably spanned from 1948 to 1961.

My days in Moodus were pleasurable, and I was lucky to be able to spend them away from the hot streets in Brooklyn. I was always impressed by the rural character of the area, and the vast differences there compared to back in the city. I can still remember our first arrival day in town with utmost clarity and I believe I still retain a tremendous wealth of information about the area during all of those years. My parents were quite knowledgeable about the affairs of the village, and they knew many of the merchants in town. My father would like to spend some of his spare time analyzing the personalities of each of the different proprietors of Levine’s and Weinstein’s soda shops, and had a number of actual incidents and original jokes to share about each one.

Even though my folks were only summer residents, they held a library card and were quite friendly with one or two librarians whose mutual friendship they enjoyed on their weekly visits for all of those years. In various ways, we also became friendly with a number of local families, and even though we were only summer visitors, we very much felt a part of Moodus ourselves.

Moodus was a part of our lives, and as a child I thought it would go on forever the way it was. I recall the decline of most of the hotels and bungalow colonies, and everyone knew that the demise of the area as a vacation area was soon at hand. A number of years later, I read an article about the destruction of the commercial district, and was even more shocked a few years later; whereupon, I made my first return to the area to have driven by the original location of the village without even being able to spot any vestiges of the past at all. It was just like An Outer Limits TV show. That former main street, an eclectic mixture of a tourist spot with a unique small farm-town flavor, was the basis for making that entire area a community, and what a loss it must have been.

My last visit to the area, about four to five years ago, was with my wife and teen-age children to attempt to show them what it was like for me. Sadly, there was no way to recreate for them the wonderful summers that I spent growing up with my family in this very special place. Obviously, it was a different day and age for me, and others, who spent time there as I did, will probably agree that they really felt a darn lot happier, with a whole lot less, than our kids today.

On my last visit, I was unable to visit the public library to inquire about anyone trying to record the history of the resort period in Moodus. So, it is with a great deal of pleasure that I discovered the existence of your site. Thank you for your efforts.

Sincerely,
--G. Shapiro

Visits to grandma were a treat

At age 77, I look back with fondness at Moodus. My grandparents lived on the hill behind the Synagogue (Axelrods?). It was accessed by a narrow driveway between the buildings. The Synagogue was formerly a Congregational Church, built on land donated by my Great-grandfather, Asa Hyde Harris who was a Dancemaster in Moodus.

A visit to Grandma's (Mrs. Edwin Hazen Harris) was always a treat and to stay a week was even better. My uncle Raymond Harris was friendly with a lot of the camp owners so I got to see some of them at the height of summer.

Three generations of Harrises are buried at the Southwest corner of The Methodist Hill Cemetery across the street.

I remember the Cone Mill at the bottom of the hill and all the houses near it. The Smiths and the Turczyks.

Redevelopment wiped out most of what I remember, but I suppose it was inevitable.

Thanks for the memories.

--Richard D. Harris, Avon, CT

Soapy baths in Bashan Lake

My Czech grandparents owned property in the Rocky Hill Road/Lake Bashan area of Moodus from 1930s onward. A relative still owns the property. Sent there as a child from Michigan in the 1940s (w/o parents).

I remember Weinstein's drug store in Moodus Center (where fireworks were purchased) as well as the Grand Union store in the village, a local doctor (could his name have been Dr. Horsefeathers?) who came up one day to examine me thoroughly in what much have been a concern about polio.

Czech relatives owned a boardinghouse (possibly Julia Budka's from your photos) where my older cousin & friends went to help prepare meals, including plucking feathers from the place's freshly killed chickens. Also remember that the evening's activity frequently was a walk to Mr. Bailey's ice cream store at a reservoir. Day events including swimming & soapy baths in Lake Bashan as our farmhouse had an unreliable water supply.

--Rhona Neuwirth

An incredible site

What an incredible site. I was born in Middletown. My mother and father are from East Haddam. I went to Nathan Hale-Ray School, from which both my parents graduated. Although we moved from town years ago, we still have attachments there and I found your series of articles to be great. It was a shame what happened with "redevelopment," with some of my family bearing some responsibility. I look forward to more material, now that I have located your site. Keep up the great work.

-Sincerely, Ronald Polstein

Keep Moodus/East Haddam green!

As a former Moodus resident now living in South Carolina, I was surprised to see your article on the Internet. I was one of the minority who spoke against the renewal and was told that I didn't know what I was talking about. It was like archaeology, once you dig it up there is no putting it back the way it was. Moodus has nothing on what is going on in this county with development. Keep Moodus/East Haddam green. Thank you for the article.

--Gaspar J Ingui, Murrells Inlet, SC

Thanks for the greetings from Moodus

I checked out the website today for the first time and I'm really impressed. Reading your story on "redevelopment" transported me instantly back to old main street during my growing up years in town. I can still identify every store from Bernstein's to the Cabin Grill, and can visualize the interiors of those that I visited often. Man, the hours I spent hanging in Weinstein's reading comic books!

I remember while in high school I was president of FFA (Future Farmers of America) and our chapter voted to raise and plant flowers for the new shopping center as part of the beautification process. I remember we made plans to help beautify the park that was supposed to replace the old stores. Anyway, thanks for the "Greetings from Moodus" and keep up the good work, Ken.

-Bruce Sievers