Boardman Store

Boardman Store. Built circa 1796, Moved to Present Site in 1996. , Elijah Boardman (1760-1823) was the third son of Sherman and Sarah (Bostwick) Boardman. Elijah would later be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1821. After his service in the Continental Army was cut short due to illness, he moved to New Haven where he clerked for Elijah and Archibald Austin, two established merchants. After two years, he moved back to New Milford and opened a dry goods store in the southern half of the Daniel Bostwick longhouse, becoming one of five shopkeepers in town. In 1782, he and his brother Daniel, who had joined in his business, were able to purchase the Bostwick longhouse., In 1792, Elijah married Mary Anna Whiting and began to build a new house, barns, and a shop on four acres next to his original shop on the west of the current Green. His brother left the business at this time and in 1796, Elijah moved his second dry goods store into the gambrel roofed shop he built next to his house. His original house is still standing today and is currently owned by the Cramer and Anderson Law Firm. An accurate depiction of Elijah's property was painted in 1796 by well known, itinerant artist Ralph Earl. This painting would serve as a reference for architect McKee Peterson, from the Austin Patterson Architects of Southford, in the reconstruction of the Boardman Store two hundred years later., Elijah's store was moved twice in the 19th century. In 1861 it was moved by Cornelia Boardman to the west side of the railroad tracks. In 1914 it was moved to the northeast corner of Railroad Street and Boardman Terrace where it was used as the Travaglini home. The building was a two-family house when businessman Harry H. Taylor bought it in 1974., When Mr. Taylor offered to donate the building to the New Milford Historical Society, instead of demolishing it to make way for new construction, a campaign was started to move it once again and restore it to its original appearance. Little was left of Elijah's store, but its original post and beam framework and sheathing, hidden under countless additions made to the building over the years. In the fall of 1994, a crew dismantled the store, piece by piece, numbering and labeling the wood, which was stored until it could be reconstructed. Some of the original saved pieces of wood were signed by the original workman and can be seen today., Fundraising efforts were started with a donation from Richard Morehouse Booth, a long-term board member and President of the Historical Society from 1973 to 1978. He was a local church organist, music teacher at the Kent School, and an amateur photographer. The cornerstone of the newly constructing store, made of New Milford marble, was donated by the Valley Marble and Slate Corporation and is engraved 1796-1996 A.D. Coins from these years were included in the cornerstone to commemorate the year of Elijah Boardman's first store and for the year his last store was reconstructed. Mr. Boardman's store, moved for the last time, was dedicated on October 27, 1996. It continues to be used as an exhibition space and a meeting room for the museum.