North Square and Crownbrook: Introduction
The North Square was one of the city’s first neighborhoods, with homes and businesses settling there by the 18th century. Historically a place that housed residences, manufacturing and commercial activities in close proximity, the area grew after the Civil War as the mills along Great Brook expanded into factories and were joined by additional manufacturers. By the 20th century, the area was home to 6,000 people, many of whom worked in the Waterbury Clock Factory and the Chase Brass Mills on North Main Street.
"When I was ten years old [in 1833] we moved to [what became North Square].... Mr. Andrew Bryan lived directly opposite. He was a shoemaker and a tanner and currier. ... The shoe maker's shop, where there were always half a dozen or more, old and young at work, was a famous place for me and there I heard every sort of question discussed, political, theological, scientific and social."
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Among the city’s neighborhoods, the North Square was the most concentrated and ethnically diverse, concentrated in the blocks surrounding the intersections of North Main, Elm and Grove Streets.
"At the Square, one could find satisfaction for any reasonable need. At the junction of Grove and North Main, Sanderson’s Market offered choice meats and fine groceries, often delivered by a trap pulled by a high-stepping hackney. At the corner of Bishop was McCarthy’s drug store, next to which was the bake shop of ‘Cookie’ O’Brien, and… the office of Dr. Donahue, the dentist…. Public transportation was easily available in the lumbering, yellow trolley cars… later supplemented by ‘jitneys’, cut rate taxis, mostly Ford touring cars, which ran up North Main Street from their station at the corner of Phoenix Avenue…."
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