Elisha Blackman Building

The Elisha Blackman Building was built in 1881, thus named because of the building’s broker. Blackman lived in Oxford, CT, where he had a successful career in the carriage industry. This ended, however, in 1870, when he moved on to real estate.



The building is an example of a late 19th century commercial block with early 20th century additions. It is one of the first speculative commercial buildings on upper Chapel Street and paved the way for commercial intrusions in that area. Upper Chapel Street, known at that time as West Chapel Street, was not a commercial area. Though Chapel was an important thoroughfare in New Haven even at that time, it was not built up farther West than High Street at that time.



The building itself is a four-story masonry commercial building. The building is made of brick, cut stone, and wood frame bays supported by a wood frame and load-bearing masonry. The Chapel Street width is four bays wide by six bays wide on its length down York Street; the shape of the building is trapezoidal due to the shape of the site. The building’s slightly pitched shed roof is covered with roll asphalt and capped by a mutulary cornice. The fenestration on the Chapel Street façade features three tall canted bay windows rising from the second to the fourth floor. The windows are wood-framed clad in metal with paneled bases and transoms. The northeast corner is also canted and has single window openings, while the east side on York Street has single and canted bay openings.



Four storefronts make up the ground floor of the Blackman building, with residential apartment space above. Notable occupants of building include C. F. Kutscher Co., a manufacturer of confections, root beer, and ice cream established in 1883. Yale Pharmacy also occupied one of these storefronts beginning in 1881 by Henry S. Higby. The Pharmacy sold toilet articles, fancy goods, and patent medicines, was a popular establishment on Chapel Street. In the first half of the 20th century the storefronts were filled with a druggist, Norman and Markus Cigars, and a stationary store, among other things. The 1960s and ‘70s saw changes such as a shoe repair shop, a liquor store, a bookstore, and a restaurant. A fire in 1977 led to renovations in 1981 and left the spaces vacant until 1983.



1126-1134 Chapel Street is no occupied by three establishments: Book Trader Café, Luciana Padua Clothing Store, and Bangkok Gardens Restaurant. Book Trader is a café and used bookstore that has been in operation for eight years where students and locals linger over lunch and reading both in the light, glass-enclosed interior and in the gated outdoor seating area. The manager of Book Trader told me that, before they moved into the space, it had been empty, and had previously been occupied by Ashley’s Ice Cream. Luciana Padua is a new addition to the block, as it opened only within the last two years. Bangkok Gardens is a Thai restaurant that, like Book Trader, has a dining area enclosed by a high ceiling, plate glass enclosure. As a result both spaces have a light, airy quality that draws customers.