Community Corner

SOS Installs its 16th Stepney Heritage Trail Marker

By Lee Hossler

The Save Our Stepney Task Force, with support of the Town of Monroe Highway Department, installed their 16th Stepney Heritage Trail marker at the David Booth two-story farmhouse homestead, circa 1912, located at One Old Newtown Road, Stepney, CT, owned by Russell and Barbara Hartz. This homestead also includes two resorted barns featuring billboard advertising.

The marker reads: “David booth purchased this farmhouse and land from the Hawley homestead in the mid-1800s. The structure is of post and beam construction. The Booth family farmers planted seasonal produce that would be shipped by rail and later “trucked” to market. On the barn’s west wall are painted vintage ads for Bridgeport’s Foster and Besse Company and G.H. Bennett boots, shoes and rubbers for travelers to see on the Bridgeport/Newtown Turnpike, now Route 25. Barn wall ads offered another source of income for farmers.”

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In 1907, the farm would be handed down to Carrie Booth, daughter of David Booth who married Nicholas Winblad. In 1912, the one room house was expanded to the size of the home we see today. In 1984, Barbara and Russell Hartz purchased the property from Edward Winblad as a result of their search to find a restoration project and a barn to house Russell’s furniture restoration business. The Booth House has been meticulously restored along with the barns containing a piece of Americana — billboard advertising.

If a barn stood on a main road or near a railroad, farmers could get a free paint job or earn extra cash by renting the sides of their barns for advertising.  “Farmers were frugal in those days, yet still needed to paint their barns to keep them up. The merchants saw the sides of these barns as an opportunity to advertise their wares to the people traveling along Route 25. They both got what they wanted – the farmers, a free paint job and the stores, almost free advertising.” Hartz said. The barn’s billboard advertising was restored with the help of Christopher Naples, a Stratford fine arts restorer, and faux finishing painter Michael Dzujna of Shelton. At one time travelers along Route 25 could see the sides of these barns; today trees and buildings now obscure the view.

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Russell Hartz is partial to old barns. “These barns go by the wayside if you don’t use them. They are an important part of our history and are vanishing rapidly across the country.” said Hartz.  And use the barns he did. For years many pieces of furniture were given new life with Russell’s refinishing expertise in these barns.  “This farm would not appeal to the wealthy, this is a poor mans farm. We wanted to restore a poor mans farm because they are every bit as important as plantation farms, for it’s the common or poor man who has been largely responsible for the building of America.” Hartz added.

The Booth House and farm today is well cared for, on a tour of the property you will find Barbara’s vegetable and flower garden bursting with the colors of zinnias, morning glories, sunflowers, and gladiolas along side zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, blueberries and asparagus. Meadows that once were used for haying now are surrounded by mature varieties of evergreens. Evergreen trees that were once decorated as Christmas trees and later planted along the perimeter of the property have grown to tall heights. Native huckleberry, quince, crabapple, pear, primrose, trumpet vines and ring ferns along with a small marsh can be found throughout the property.  A rose garden planted by Carrie Booth Winblad still blooms in early summer. The west branch of the Pequonnock River runs through the property and a small dam can still be seen that was built by Edward Winblad, to create a swimming hole in the early 1900s.

And then you encounter two magnificent trees, a sugar maple and a Norwegian spruce tree.

Russell pointed out that farmers would plant evergreen trees on the North and West sides of their houses to serve as windbreaks from the cold winds and on the South and East sides plant deciduous trees for summer shade and in the winter, when the leaves were gone, the sun would help heat the house. And that’s what was done at the Booth house.

The Booth House and barns today are reminders of the Stepney farmer’s ingenuity with a unique approach to preservation by bartering advertising space for barn maintenance. And thanks to Russell and Barbara Hartz for their desire to restore the house and keeping the barns in use.

The Stepney Heritage trail was created in 2005 by the Save Our Stepney Task Force and includes 18 significant architectural or landscape sites in Stepney. The goal of the Stepney heritage trail is to increase awareness and appreciation among residents, visitors, and tourists, of the more than 250-year-old heritage of the village of Stepney, located in the town of Monroe. The project seeks to achieve this by producing accurate and interesting written text that will appear on heritage trail signs. Heritage trail donors include: Connecticut Humanities Council–Cultural Heritage Development Fund, Monroe Historical Society, Monroe Rotary Club, Bernard Sippin, Sippin Energy Products, the Werth Family Foundation, Town of Monroe Highway Department and citizens of Monroe.

About SOS

The Save Our Stepney Task Force, Inc., is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, more specifically to preserve and enhance the character of the village of Stepney, Connecticut, incorporated within the Town of Monroe.  The organization’s scope of concern includes identifying, documenting, improving and/or preserving historic, cultural and natural properties and features of Stepney.  Activities include public events, education, beautification and cultural enrichment.  Community involvement and cooperation with other civic groups and the Town of Monroe are encouraged.

Meetings are held the third Tuesday of every month at 7:00pm in Stepney Baptist Church education building, on Main Street in Stepney.  All are invited to attend. For more information about the Save Our Stepney Task Force, call Joel Leneker at 268-0247 or go to: www.stepneyct.org.


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