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The Shippan peninsula and Shippan Point in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were a popular summer resort, both for Stamford residents who had summer cottages there, and for others to rent cottages or to stay at the Ocean House Hotel. When Michael McDevitt bought it, he renamed it “Shippan House.” By 1890, he had added a pavilion, bath houses, a casino, and a carousel from Asbury Park, N.J. It was situated at the spot where later the Woodway Beach Club was built. The Hotel was renovated in 1911 by Leonard Barsaghi. We do not know when the hotel was torn down. Information is greatly appreciated.
William Ennis had a bathing pavilion in the water which was wrecked by a storm in 1894. In 1890, the Stamford Yacht Club was founded, and the Halloween Yacht Club near Cummings Park in 1923. Halloween Park, later called Cummings Park, was developed in 1906, when Mayor Homer Cummings cast the deciding vote on Halloween Night. The Stamford Street Railroad Company operated the Shippan Trolley. Gradually, real estate was developed by James Jenkins of the Shippan Land Company, with landfills, and the summer resort places disappeared. But we still have some of the beaches… …and remembrances, such as the one by Philip Kleinert in 1991. |
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undated This postcard has a cancellation stamp of April 26, with no year given.
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This inscription is from the back of the above postcard, |
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| View from Ocean House Pier, undated | This postcard is undated. However, from the bathing costumes, it seems to be of the 1930s. |
All four postcards are undated. They appear to be of the 1930s and 1940s from the look of the bathing costumes.
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| Postcard cancelled 1908 | Postcard cancelled 1903 |
| The postcard below, cancelled August 1908, shows a preprinted order confirmation (see at right) by the Globe Art Company of Stamford to a customer from New Haven.
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Two “Scenes near Shippan Point” from the same sender to the same recipient, cancelled 1975 and 1976, commenting on the age of the postcard: |
| The 1975 postcard has an 8¢ stamp, the 1976 one, is cancelled with 9¢. 1¢ rates lasted through 1951. History of Postcard Rates. |
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A postcard sent from Stamford to Stamford, apparently after a late snow storm March 7 of an unknown year: "The snow cannot last. No mail yesterday!"
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Postscript: Originally, we posted this card up on top with the cottages, but during routine archival work,
we discovered
that we were mislead by the text and file location. The insert may well be a beach at Shippan,
but the "Sound View" is of the Skiddy house on Pound Rock, at 348 Weed Avenue, Cove Pond.
Personal Postcards
Postcards from another age
Portrait Postcards, Early 20th Century
A Brief History of Postcard Types
© 1999-2005 Stamford Historical Society
Selections 2003 Month Title January 2003 The Wardwell Homes on Elm Street February 2003 The Old Town Hall II March 2003 The Portable Typewriter and its Uses, 1913 June 2003 Wardwell Family Photos
Selections 2007 Month Title May 2007 The League of Women Voters and Harold I June, June 26, 1930 June 2007 Brownstones on Bell Street July 2007 The Nature Studies and Recreations of a Business Man
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