Morningside Carriage Barn (115 Ridgewood Drive, Milford ())

Barn Record Milford

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Building Name (Common)

Morningside Carriage Barn

Building Name (Historic)

Morningside Carriage Barn

Address

115 Ridgewood Drive, Milford

Typology

Carriage House

Overview

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

n/a

Field Notes

This was the Morningside carriage house and is on our (Milford) Historic Resources Inventory (Platt). See also 96 Terrace Road for the Morningside barn. Excerpts from "History of Morningside" - http://morningsidemilford.com/history.html The hundred-odd acres comprising Morningside was part of the land purchased for the Town of Milford from the Indians by the Town's first settlers in 1639, and it was included in the "plantation" of Miles Merwin, who settled in this area in 1645. Like other parcels of land in Milford, it was secured by a patent granted in 1685 by the Governor of the Colony, Robert Treat, in the name of King Charles II of England, and by a later patent granted in 1713 by Gurdon Saltonstall, Governor, in the name of Queen Anne of England. "Merwin's Farm" at Pond Point, as the platation was known, has been the home of sixteen generations of the Merwin family. The Morningside section was known as the "Rock Farm" because it was divided off into fields and sections by stone walls built from the rocks which had been cleared from the land and cultivated. Not until the mid-1860's was it separated from the Merwin holdings when Henry G. Thompson, a New England industrialist, purchased it from descendants of Miles Merwin. After sailing along the North Shore of Long Island from New London to New Yorkl in search of a suitable homesite, Mr. Thompson was attracted by this high bluff overlooking the Sound. On March 27, 1865 he acquired 43 acres from Benedict Merwin for $8,000. On May 19, 1866 he secured an additional 35 acres from Mark Merwin and WIlliam M. Merwin for $2,000. And on October 15, 1866 he bought 3 acres from Anson Merwin for $450, thereby brining his holdings to 81 acres at a total cost of $10,450. High on the bluff, looking out over the water, between what is now Thompson Hill Road and Manor Drive, Mr. Thompson built a manor house of twenty-two rooms. Two men from Milford were largely responsible for the construction of the estate: Miles B. Plumb, a skilled carpenter, and James L. Miles, a master mason. The estate manufactured its own supply of illuminating gas in a small building located near the big rock off Thompson Hill Road. It had its own ice pond and ice house just below the Recreation Field. In the basement of the "Big House" was a milk room, a laundry room, an ice room, a furnace room, an engine and pump room and a room for storing wine, mineral waters, cider, vinegar and other beverages. In addition to the manor house, there were, on the Thompson Estate, a large carriage house, a barn and tool house, and the home of the superintendent. The black walnut paneling and woodwork were carried over into many of the buildings, especially in the superintendent's home and the carriage house, where there were housed several work and riding horses and two fine white ones used to pull the fancy carriage which was driven by a liveried coachman. Below the carriage house itself were the piggery and large vaults for the storage of grains and fodder. In the barn were facilities for cattle, oxen, chickens and ducks. Adjoining this was the tool house which has since been detached from the barn and moved to Ridgewood Drive where is is the home of the C. Holden Family. When Mr. Thompson moved here, he engaged Thomas and John Hadden as his gardener and farmer. The Hadden brothers were natives of Ireland, but Thomas had learned his profession in England working on a large estate. In 1876 Thomas F. Maher of Milford came to work under Mr. Hadden, and when the latter accepted a post on a New Haven Estate, Mr. Maher was named head gardener and superintendent of Morningside. He lived in the house still standing at the corner of Little Pond Road and Ridgewood Drive, until his death. This then was Morningside, the estate of Henry G. Thompson, his wife, their three daughters and two sons. Mr. Thompson, who was born in Enfield on October 18, 1818, came from the carpet-making family for whom Thompsonville, Connecticut was named. He was in business himself for a time, but in later years he had many business interests including the Thompson Saw Company of New Haven, of which he was president, as well as others in New York City. He is remembered as having a happy disposition and was habitually humming and whistling. Following Mr. Thompsons death in June of 1903, the family used Morningside as a summer home, after which it passed through several owners. Finally, in 1912, the property was offered for sale in the New York papers where it was noted by Milton T. Yale, who ,with his two sons, Fred and Will, operated Yale Land Company of Flushing, Long Island. The Yale family converted the old manor house into a private club/inn called "The Morningside Club" that was managed by Mrs.M.E.Terrel, an aunt of William T. Bissell. The barn was remodeled by its owners, the William T. Bissells, equipped with extra sleeping rooms for guests and with a large private garage for residents or guests of Morningside. By 1921, many of the lots had been sold and about seventy homes had been built. It was then that the Yale Land Company gradually withdrew its policy of active maintenance. The Morningside property owners decided to form an association, apply for a charter from the state and thereby assure the continuance of the standards and conditions which had made Morningside such a desirable location in which to live. The Thompson mansion was demolished in the early 1930s. Morningside has been historic farmland, a gentleman's estate and a land company development. Today it is a carefully managed community of desirable homes for almost two hundred families. In 1970 the Morningside Directory was revised by what was then the Women's Club of Morningside. Much of the historic information contained in this writing, which was originally written by Ellen Brown, was obtained from personal recollections of a number of people identified with Morningside over many years including Mr. and Mrs. John Maher, Mrs. Alanson B. Walker, Mrs. Paul Erlacher, Mr. and Mrs. Frederic H.B. Fowler and Mrs. Frances LaDue Thompson and members of the Thompson family.

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