[Editor’s Note: Filed prior to the start of the school year, this is the final installment of the NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program, sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. Many thanks to NCHS Senior Alex Hutchins!]
While Main Street may not have been around until after New Canaan’s incorporation in 1801, there is no denying that the street is a central part of New Canaan life.
Those who walk down the brick-laden sidewalks of Main Street will find the surrounding buildings filled with shops and restaurants of all different varieties. These shops, as you might expect, have been occupied by a variety of different businesses and people who work hard to make downtown New Canaan what it is today. While their impact may be temporary, the spaces in which they perform their day-to-day tasks have not.
This is part of the reason why NewCanaanite.com took the time to walk down Main Street to get an idea of just what sort of history these buildings have seen in their lifetime.
But, as a twist, we decided to flip the tables and see how well New Canaanites know the age of some of the most iconic buildings on Main Street that some of us pass by everyday. To do this we formulated a matching quiz in which you try to match a picture of a certain building to the year that it was built according to tax records. Let’s see how you do:
Years:
A. 1850 B. 1850 C. 1868 D. 1880 E. 1881 F. 1909 and 1929 G. 1911 H. 1912 I. 1927 J. 1940
Buildings:
126, 128, 130 Main Street
122 Main Street
120 Main Street
112, 114, 118 Main Street **Bonus points rewarded if you can guess what decade the modern facade was added to the front of this building.
102 Main Street
96 Main Street
91, 93, 95, 97 Main Street
87 Main Street(Thali)
88 and 90 Main Street
62 Main Street(Boulevard 18)
Answer Key:
A. 120 or 102 Main Street
B. 120 or 102 Main Street
C. 62 Main Street
D. 112, 114, 118 Main Street **Late 1960’s
E. 88 and 90 Main Street
F. 126, 128, 130 Main Street
G. 87 Main Street
H. 96 Main Street
I. 122 Main Street
J. 91, 93, 95, 97 Main Street