51-53 Elm Street

On the corner of Elm and Orange streets, we see a remarkable cut-stone-and-brick structure presiding over the intersection. The decorated, almost opulent facade represents a prime example of New Haven’s Eastlake-style of architecture, a nineteenth-century spin on popular Victorian architecture. Behind the window bays of the building’s four-stories has occurred a diverse and unique mix of advertising, manufacturing, government, retail, wholesale, and even legal and illegal activities. 51-53 Elm Street, beyond being a gorgeous example of a unique architectural style, represents a strong cross-section of downtown New Haven’s tumultuous economic and mercantile history.

1881: Harlan Hubbard’s Advertising Agency

1882: International News Agency, H. Hubbard

1913: County Courthouse (Clerk, Sheriff, Law Library, State Attorney, Superior Court, Supreme Court), Pyramid Building Co.

1915: New Haven Morris Plan Co.

1916: Cunningham J & Sons Inc. Awnings; Kelsey D J Mechanical Engineer—both in 51

1918: Four Ladies Tailor & Furriers moves into 53

1919:  Four Ladies leaves; 53 is vacant

1933: Brockelschen printer; Goldbecker barber; Hoggan real estate; New Haven Costuming Co., Singer Sewing Machines

1943: Brockelschen printer; New Haven Costuming Co; Hoggan real estate; Wadsworth Howland Co. Inc. paints

1953: New Haven Costuming Co, Hoggan real estate, Selcon Thompson Studios, commercial artists; New Haven Mill End Shops Inc. dry goods

1961: Selcon Thompson studios, Mill End Shops, New England Dress Co., Spear William Co. neckwear

1966: 1st floor vacant. 2nd floor: National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 3rd floor: GSS Design. 4th floor: Selcon Thompson Art & Photo Service.

1967: 51 vacant; Del Monico Hatter in 53

1972: 51 vacant; Del Monico in 53

1983: 51 vacant; Del Monico in 53

1984: Del Monico in 53, Ball (attorney) in 51

1986: Del Monico moves to 47; 13 attorneys in 51, 53 is vacant

1989: Ferrucci’s in 53, attorneys in 51

The building is first mentioned in 1881 as belonging to Harlan Hubbard, advertising agent and resident of the Elm City. Hubbard starts the International News Agency in 1882 and moves into the building then; he publishes an advertisement that year touting his agency as “the only authorized agent in America for all the leading newspapers of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America;” the INA claims to employ correspondents and translators in “all modern languages” (Dana). Sometime in the first decade of the 20th century, the INA and Hubbard are replaced by the County Courthouse, which occupies the first three floors of the building and houses the County Clerk, Sheriff, Law Library, State Attorney and Supreme Court; Pyramid Building Company rents out the fourth floor. Over the next 50-odd years, the courthouse is replaced by a parade of trades flaunting wares and services as diverse as awnings, mechanical engineering, printing, tailored clothing, furs, real estate, haircutting, costumes, sewing machines, art and design, dry goods, dresses, neckwear, photography. In 1967, Del Monico Hatters moves into the building, displacing this colorful variety of previous tenants and establishing itself as the premier purveyor of hats in New Haven. It remains in the building until 1986, at which point it closes shop in 51–53 and shifts to 47 Elm, to the Imperial Granum building. 51-53’s tenants are as follows:

1881: Harlan Hubbard’s Advertising Agency

1882: International News Agency, H. Hubbard

1913: County Courthouse (Clerk, Sheriff, Law Library, State Attorney, Superior Court, Supreme Court), Pyramid Building Co.

1915: New Haven Morris Plan Co.

1916: Cunningham J & Sons Inc. Awnings; Kelsey D J Mechanical Engineer—both in 51

1918: Four Ladies Tailor & Furriers moves into 53

1919:  Four Ladies leaves; 53 is vacant

1933: Brockelschen printer; Goldbecker barber; Hoggan real estate; New Haven Costuming Co., Singer Sewing Machines

1943: Brockelschen printer; New Haven Costuming Co; Hoggan real estate; Wadsworth Howland Co. Inc. paints

1953: New Haven Costuming Co, Hoggan real estate, Selcon Thompson Studios, commercial artists; New Haven Mill End Shops Inc. dry goods

1961: Selcon Thompson studios, Mill End Shops, New England Dress Co., Spear William Co. neckwear

1966: 1st floor vacant. 2nd floor: National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 3rd floor: GSS Design. 4th floor: Selcon Thompson Art & Photo Service.

1967: 51 vacant; Del Monico Hatter in 53

1972: 51 vacant; Del Monico in 53

1983: 51 vacant; Del Monico in 53

1984: Del Monico in 53, Ball (attorney) in 51

1986: Del Monico moves to 47; 13 attorneys in 51, 53 is vacant

1989: Ferrucci’s in 53, attorneys in 51

From this long and highly varied list we can read the contours of a classic urban American downtown past, with 51-53 Elm experiencing as diverse a tenancy history as any building in New Haven. It is a strong example of national economic changes and their impacts on the tangible spaces of urban life.

51-53 Elm Street is located in the heart of New Haven’s historic downtown, once the site of a robust mercantile, manufacturing, and retail district. Today, the building stands as a proud vestige of a bygone era, when the horse-driven carriages, rustling skirts and tailored pants of New Haven’s citizens would bustle down Elm and Orange streets, stopping at 51–53 to place an ad at Hubbard’s advertising agency, check in on the status of a case with their attorney, or pick up a fur coat in need of its pre-winter cleaning at Four Ladies. Its sharp, solid design, in dialogue with the cast-iron facade of 47 Elm and the street corner, seems to assert with confidence that the simple, ineffaceable truths of a simpler world from years past are still true today. Its facade and interior were renovated in 1960, but the building that exists today is quasi identical to the building that first stood in 1875; throughout the years, 51–53 Elm has stayed true to itself, and in doing so has become a landmark of New Haven’s urban landscape. Beyond merely marking the past, however, the building can be identified as an example of the success of preservation and be used as a model for further preservation of the many historic architectural gems abounding in downtown New Haven.

Built around 1875 by an unknown architect for an unknown client, the building is of cut-stone-and-brick construction, large overhanging cornice and hairline incised ornamentation that classify it as a progeny of the Queen Anne style of Victorian architecture. The Eastlake style distinguishes itself by its geometric details and pure lines, designed to be affordable and easy to clean. 51-53 Elm is a beautiful showcase of this style; its horizontal bands sweep the eye around the corner, streamlining the 4×8 bay, four-story-high structure into a seamless continuation of the city block it occupies. Furthermore, the building is stylistically in conversation with its neighbor the Imperial Granum Building at 47 Elm Street, the only cast-iron face in New Haven. While visually similar to 51–53, the latter building’s windows are larger (a luxury afforded by iron’s superior structural strength compared to brick and stone), and the facade details more ornate, diverging from the Eastlake style of its next-door neighbor.

Connecticut Historical Commission Building Survey, 1982.

Dana Archives, book 24, pg.55C.

New Haven City Directories, 1875–1993.

Brown’s History of Urban Design of New Haven, pg.116.