Thursday Doors – First Responders

History, New England Life, Thursday Doors 76 comments
Simple red doors.

A few weeks ago, I passed a construction site in a neighboring town. It looked like they were improving a Veterans Memorial, and like a good little blogger, I thought maybe I should get some pictures for a Veterans Day post. With traffic behind me and not a lot of options, I made the last left turn before the bridge over the Connecticut River. I was familiar with the road I had turned onto, but not the side streets I would be using to make an elaborate U-Turn. That’s when I discovered a small slice of Door-heaven.

East Windsor, Connecticut has many historic buildings, including a historic mill, but I didn’t know much about the old buildings in the area known as Warehouse Point. According to “The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor” this area and that name have been around for a very long time:

“Warehouse Point – As early as 1636, when Springfield, Mass., was settled, Mr. William Pyncheon undertook to send his supplies thither, around by water from Boston; and, finding that his vessels could not pass the falls at this point, he was obliged to provide land carriage 14 miles to Springfield. It was probably years before boats were provided suitable for running the rapids; and Mr. Pyncheon erected a warehouse, at the highest point his vessels could reach, on the east side of the river wherein to store his goods while awaiting transit by land. This warehouse probably stood about forty rods south of State street, and about forty-five to fifty rods below the present ferry-landing between West street and the river bank. It consequently gave to the place the name by which it has ever since been known — Warehouse Point.“

(It’s not often I get to use the word ‘thither’ in a blog post).

Springfield, MA and Warehouse Point, CT are both on the east side of the Connecticut River, which represented a substantial barrier in the 1600s. In 1829, the Windsor Locks Canal was built on the west side of the river, carrying canal boats above the Enfield Rapids for safe passage to Springfield. Later in the mid-late 1800s, the railroad pushed up through Windsor, and Windsor locks, crossing the Connecticut River in southern Enfield, making the canal obsolete.

CT has an OK-ish reputation for converting these old facilities into retail, residential and office space. East Windsor has turned some of these buildings into emergency response space. One of the mini-complexes of buildings has been transformed into the police station, Emergency Operations and a home to the ambulance service. Several factions want the town to commit to spending the (still in a questionable future) money from a new casino, to replace these facilities. I certainly hope that doesn’t involve tearing these buildings down.

After I stopped for some photos in East Windsor, I had a short – unofficial – stop to make at our local police station. Our station is nice, but the police and fire departments would love to have new digs. They struggle to fit in the shared space, but we haven’t found the money to build anything new. Maybe someday guys, maybe someday.

This post is part of Thursday Doors, a weekly emergency response to extinguish the cravings of millions of door aficionados around the world. If you have a door(s) to share, you are welcome to join the legion of dedicated volunteers mustering on any given Thursday. Similarly, if you enjoy looking at doors, you are calling on the right operation. Head on up to the main station in Montreal, where Chief Norm Frampton slides down the pole at 5:30 am to sound the alarm. Check out Norm’s doors and then look for “Sarge” the blue frog. Sarge will direct you to the large parking lot where all the dooresponders are parked.

I wasn’t able to find much information about the history of these buildings, but the Warehouse Point Master Plan states that the historic nature of the buildings in this area is to be preserved, and additions are to respect the period styling. That’s good news.

East Windsor historic Fire Company #1
This is the back side of the building. The door in the corner is opposite the door tucked in under the front roof.
This door and fire escape appear to need a little love.
Our local Fire Department. Nothing fancy, but at least the doors are red.
East Windsor historic Fire Company #1
This is the south end of the east warehouse building. There was no way to get the door without trespassing, but the trailer has a door, too (on the other end).
These are the doors that are tucked into the corner. Reflecting the blue house across the street.
I love the mansard roof on the tower.
I’m guessing that this warehouse was built in sections, probably expanding out north and south from the center.
I know why they tuck doors into the protected corners, but it makes it hard to get a nice photo.
The north end of the warehouse has some offices today.
Simple red doors.
I’ll credit Norm for this photo. I remember his artistic shot looking up a fire escape,
I had to include the house across the street from the police station.
Peeking in this section tells me it might be used for storage. There are doors in the dark inside corner.
It doesn’t look like there’s a working fire escape on that landing.
I love this view of the west end of the building.

76 comments

  1. There is definitely a Colonial feel to all the buildings there Dan. I love to old buildings given new life and purpose, especially since they usually were made so much better than the newer ones.

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  2. Your interesting photos of these buildings seem quintessential New England to me. So glad that you were able to write a post with the word “thither” in it. Not many bloggers can do that! Kudos.

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    1. Thanks Judy. That was such a nice find. I’ve lived around here for over 30 years, went to church one block away from that street and never knew that fire company building was there. I just hope they continue to maintain and improve those buildings.

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    1. Thanks! I love finding these old buildings. The idea that this part of Connecticut was a trade center, is amazing to me. These days, nothing much comes up the CT River, and nothing at all comes this far up.

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  7. Fab finds, Dan! Varied, interesting doors. I am quite fond of them all, and envy the earlier architecture of your area. Love the fire escape shots, and the dual-level doors on the tower :)
    And thither. I can’t even tell you when I last saw that word!

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    1. Thanks Joey. I drive by the long building regularly, but I never go down the side street. So much to see down there. Taking photos of the police station seemed a little risky, especially with Norm’s “no bail for you” policy, but I was sure I could explain Thursday Doors.

      I think the next time I have to send a package, I might use thither at the Post Office.

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  8. Don’t you just love it when you make a great unexpected find because you deviated from a normal route? I suspect this might not be the last time you go exploring around this area 🙂
    Thanks for reminding me of the “mansard roof” – a style that I really like, but can never remember the name. It’s the tower with its mansard roof that would have caught my attention if I was driving nearby. Great find!!

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    1. Thanks Joanne. I wish I knew why that tower is there, but I like it and the upper and lower doors. It’s so funny. I’ve driven down the street in front of the long building and the street by the river hundreds of times. This might be the first time I drove on any of the two or three streets that connect them. I didn’t know what I was missing.

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  11. I especially love the tower. When I worked in downtown Buffalo, I used to stop to take photos of buildings with towers and steeples – and there are a lot of them in Buffalo! I think it’s time I get out and do a little more photography, now that I’ll have some extra time.

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  18. Any post that sends me to my dictionary is a good one as far as I’m concerned. Although I have heard the word before, I wasn’t 100% sure what thither meant. So, yay you! Great doors too… and great news that they – and the buildings surrounding them – will be preserved.

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  19. All the branches of first responders and police I esteem highly. They have such a difficult task today. The ones I know have a big heart and idealists. But am getting off the subject – nice doors and buildings, as well as interesting info!

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    1. Thanks. The first responders I’ve dealt with are wonderful. When I fell and had to be taken to the ER, the policeman and the ambulance guys were so genuine in their caring. It made me feel instantly better.

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  21. I’m struck by how writing your door posts take you out of your way and around the bend and have led you to see and appreciate both doors and the building that surround them. Which, in turn, your words have done for us. I loved these particular doors and buildings.

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  22. You would love this place we found near us. A demo place. They go in and grab everything before it gets demolished to re-sell, They have a barn filled with rows of doors. Maybe I should go in and ask if i can take pictures, They rent some really neat things to movie sets too!

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  25. I loved your intro to Norm’s Thursday Doors! You’re always so clever with those.
    I had to look up how much the measurement “rod” was and convert it to feet. :) I think I knew that once when I was in Real Estate, but that was a LONG time ago and forgot it. Use or lose it! I lost it.

    The No 1 company’s building is my favorite in this collection. The Mansard roof is another.
    I didn’t know it was called that. Thanks for that tidbit.

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    1. I know the references they are talking about, but I didn’t look up how long a rod is. I did look up the meaning of ‘thither’ :)

      Fire Company #1 was a total bonus. I’ve lived here over 30 years and I didn’t know it was there!

      I like casting Norm is various roles. We need to get a video of him coming down that pole. Thanks for dropping by, commenting and for the tweet – you’re the best!

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      1. If Norm goes down the pole then I want advance notice to be there for that! I’ll have my camera ready. :)

        re: thither- I always thought it went with hither. :) as in come and go?
        No. I looked it up. Thither is distant which is the right word for the amount of rods in this case. If it was 50 rods (825ft!) that’s a ways!

        Me thinks my understanding of Hither and Thither might be wrong. :) Going to look that up now. :)

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  27. Love that word thither. I’m partial to “old English”, at least some. Again another thank you for a history lesson, Dan. You never know what treasures you’ll find “just around a corner”. Loved your gallery and I thank you for teaching me something I had not known before. 🤗

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    1. Thanks Amy. I think the best thing about this post was finding something special on a road I’ve been driving past for over 30 years. I am impressed by how many people like ‘thither’ – I expect to see it mount a comeback ;-)

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      1. We tend to get so caught up in our “habits” that we pass things blindly until one day …. Example …. I had to use a detour due to road work and in going a different way I discovered a Colonial Home that I still have yet to go back to with my camera. Cool beans. And yeah … old English is fun to use! ☺️

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  29. Door-heaven, Dan. Nothings beats finding the unexpected, especially when it is old and filled with history. The beauty of architecture is what it’s all about. Anytime one of these buildings goes, it is a sad day. Too much rambling, I need to thither along. Thanks for a great doors post.

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  31. Happy Veteran’s Day to all those affected by loss, service or memories of their time during wars.
    This was such a heartwarming post which really touched me, Dan.
    The buildings are beautiful and brick buildings are some of my favorites!

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