The Colonnade April 9, 1919 |
A grocery store, The Great
Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., located to this block at 477 Longmeadow
Street. This grocery store was one of many in the chain of grocery stores
that the Hartford family owned.
The Great
Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. June 3, 1918 |
In 1859 The Great American Tea Company was founded in Lower Manhattan, New York by George F. Gilman. George Huntington Hartford became his partner. They sold tea. Then, in 1870 the company's name was changed to The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. Mr. Gilman died and George Huntington Hartford and his two sons George L. and John A. built up the business and opened grocery stores. They also expanded the products that they sold. In addition to selling tea, coffee, spices and extracts they sold baking powder. The owners learned that they could manufacture baking powder cheaper than what they were paying for it to sell in their stores, so they did. They began manufacturing other products to sell, too. They expanded their region to other states including Massachusetts and into the Springfield, MA area. Today, we know this chain of grocery stores as the A & P. The Longmeadow store conducted business at 477 Longmeadow Street.
The Ford Drug Co. was located on the corner of Longmeadow Street and Bliss Road.
Ford Drug Co. June 3, 1918 |
A garage was located on the northern end of the Colonnade.
Garage July 12, 1918 |
In 1918 the Proprietor of the garage known as the Longmeadow Garage was Edward S. Parmenter.
According to the 1923 Longmeadow Directory residents were able to stop into the following businesses at the Colonnade:
Graves Garage 465 Longmeadow Street
Nathan Sherman- Tailor 467 Longmeadow Street
Michael Shea- Shoemaker & Repairer 469 Longmeadow Street
The Ginter Co.- a Grocery Store 475 Longmeadow Street
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. 477 Longmeadow Street
Max Sisitsky- Meat Market 479 Longmeadow Street
Ford Drug Co. 481 Longmeadow StreetThese businesses were conveniently all located in one area.
Sources: Springfield
Republican- Jan 01, 1917, Feb 17, 1923, 1923 Longmeadow Directory,
1941 Longmeadow Street Directory, 1940 U. S. Federal Census, Encyclopedia
Britannica and Boston American- Sept. 26, 1957.
Photos Courtesy of Longmeadow Historical Society- Emerson Collection