The Roger Sherman house — New Haven, guided by history.
A New Haven history blog exploring the past of the old Roger Sherman house, at approximately 1032 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut. Inhabited for millenia by Native Americans, planted by Puritans in 1638, this ground has been home to: a house built by Roger Sherman for his family; the Gaius Fenn Warner mansion, (with double-bow front!) by architect Henry Austin; Carll's Opera House; a radical Republican League club; the Hyperion theatre; a less radical Union League club, (there was bowling!) by architect Richard Williams; a succession of French fine dining restaurants; and much more. While the Roger Sherman house is no longer standing, it continues to stand for New Haven, guided by history.
"The Yale man, from the primeval days of the College up to the present time... has waxed so much more important, so much more interesting in these last few years... Yea, verily, he is a creature of fads and fancies, yet not, as a rule, feminine... He is not, however, the absolutely independent creature he was in the good old days of life-at-Yale."
"The atmosphere of a university is the subtle creation of its history, traditions, and surroundings, and is an element as vital as its more tangible properties. If, as Syrus says, 'Discipulus est priori posterior dies,' antiquity is a factor in its influence which neither wealth nor equipment nor even a high order of instruction can supersede. If we wish to take a true estimate of the genius of the institution, we must consider the character of the men who attended its birth and impressed themselves upon its youth, the molding force of the events through which it has passed, and the ideals toward which it has always striven."
"Although New Haven has about 100,000 inhabitants, a six-story building is quite a novelty here. The Chicago 'sky scrapers' are heard of the world over, and have aroused our conservative real estate proprietors, and several new structures in modern style are contemplated. Mr. H. Warner's new six-story building next to the Republican League is attracting much attention."
"Ground was broken for the new Vanderbilt dormitory early in June, and, since the first sod was turned, the obstacles in the way of the erection of the building have been speedily torn away and the foundations laid for the most expensive dormitory in the United States."
"Across the street Vanderbilt Hall loomed indistinctly. To the ignorant it may be necessary to explain that its courtyard is open to Chapel Street, but that an iron grill stretches from wing to wing and keeps out the town. This grill is high enough for Hagenbeck, and it used to be a favorite game with us to play animal behind it for the street's amusement. At the hour when the crowd issued from the matinée at the Hyperion Theatre, our wittiest students paced on all fours up and down behind this grill and roared for raw beef."
