47 Acres
On May 17, 1886, Archibald W. Comstock sold 47 acres of land with a Pavilion thereon to George Blake & his father, Hervey Blake. The Blakes had recently arrived in the village of Ivoryton and were in the process of establishing a livery and trucking business. This property had come to "A. W." from the estate of his father, Samuel Merritt Comstock, in 1879 (see Essex Probate Records 3/310). It was described in the inventory of Samuel's, as being "the farm on the hill, north of the Boarding House (current Ivoryton Inn) and west of Frederick B. Savage's (Playhouse property) and the highway to Deep River" (North Main Street). It was valued at $1,600.00 and included 47 acres of land only. Samuel Comstock was the founder of Comstock, Cheney & Co., the important ivory and piano keyboard/action manufacturer. He was the son of Samuel Comstock, a farmer and mariner, and the grandson of another Samuel, a veteran of both the French-Indian and Revolutionary Wars. This entire area had been the Comstock farm for many years, once being much larger than the 47 acres. The Comstock homestead was at the south end of this farm, overlooking the Falls River. It exists today, just past the Ivoryton Inn, under the ownership of Jane Fuller. This property currently encompasses Oak, Chestnut, Summit, and Blake Streets.
Two immediate questions arise, when viewing this sale from the perspective of 117 years. Initially, what was the "Pavilion" that was mentioned and where was it located on this rather large tract? It was obviously erected after Archibald received the land, for it was not described in his father's estate. Since "A. W." was an executive with Comstock, Cheney & Co., it was entirely logical that the company might have built a structure for musical events, speeches, etc. here. This would have been replaced in subsequent years by the "Wheel Club" and Comstock, Cheney Hall (current Playhouse). Whatever the case, this building was never again referred to in the "development" of this land. The second question is very economic: why did Mr. Comstock sell this land, when, within three years, his company would start buying it from the Blakes in a "piece-meal" manner. The $1,200.00 "A. W." received for this land was far less than what the Blakes would resell it for over the next 17 years. Possibly, the money from the sale was required to build "A. W."s new home, which was completed in 1890, and is now known as "The Copper Beech Inn."
The importance of this parcel is underscored by the number of dwelling houses and businesses that were soon constructed on it. George Blake sold a small parcel to Comstock, Cheney & Co. in 1889 (ELR 9/93) and the company immediately put up 2 "single' tenements and one double tenement. These were on what is today the corner of Blake and Summit Streets. However, in 1889, there were no roads in this area at all, and a part of this sale required the grantors (George/Hervey Blake) build a road "not less than 40' in width on the eastern boundary" of the land purchased. This became Blake Street, named of course, for the family that was developing this section of Ivoryton. By March, 1900, E. P. Auger, a surveyor from Middletown, CT, had laid out streets and lots, most of the land parcels being 100' (on a highway) by 200' deep. The streets were Summit Street, Oak Street, Chestnut Street and Blake Street, as previously indicated.
Comstock, Cheney & Co. purchased most of the lots, but broke apart the strict layout done by Mr. Auger. This firm built tenement houses for its greatly enlarging immigrant workforce with approximately 60' frontage on the highways. This, of course, meant more houses could be built in a given area, keeping in mind that local zoning was not even a wild concept at the turn of the 20th century. By 1929, 51 homes had been built on these streets, 36 by the factory alone. Notably, the period of 1900 to 1904 was the most intense in the erection of homes by Comstock, Cheney & Co., when 27 were put up in this area alone. Most of the factory homes remained in its ownership, until December 31, 1936, when Comstock, Cheney & Co. merged with Pratt, Read & Co. of Deep River. At that time, the Ivoryton Realty Co. was established to sell all the non-factory assets of Comstock, Cheney & Co. This included the vast majority of the dwellings on the 47 acres, plus many others located throughout the village. Interestingly, the President of the Ivoryton Realty Co. was A. W. Comstock.
It has been stated that artifacts often give us a better picture of the past than archives. Such is the situation here, for by viewing all these wonderful factory houses, we can more fully appreciate what life was like in Ivoryton 100 years ago. It was a world far removed from the culture of today.