History

The building now known as The Bait Shop is a historic barn at 97-99 Rowayton Avenue.  It is important in the maritime history of Norwalk and especially that of Rowayton.  It is a contributing asset to the Oysterman’s Row Historic District, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.  The Oysterman's Row Historic District is significant under National Register Criterion A for properties that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history, because it demonstrates the development pattern of a Connecticut maritime village.  The village began as a small fishing and ship-building area, evolved into a center of the oyster business, served as a summer retreat for city dwellers and then became a year-round suburban community.  It is also significant under National Register Criterion C for architecture for its collection of residential and commercial buildings dating from the middle of the nineteenth century to the first quarter of the twentieth century.  Many of these buildings, including The Bait Shop, were built by or for families directly involved in the oyster business in Rowayton.  They are well-maintained and most of them retain their historic integrity.

Rowayton’s earliest European settlers looked to the Five Mile River and Long Island Sound for fish, oysters, salt hay, and transportation. Coastal trade, shipbuilding, fishing and oystering expanded in the area around the Five Mile River in the 18th century and this increase in activity led to an increasing population.  In the mid to late 19th century, many of the new residents were drawn by the success of the oyster trade. 

Oystering was so important to the local economy that the Town of Norwalk had already begun to regulate it and to protect local oyster beds as early as 1721.   In 1851, Rowayton resident Captain Henry Bell, for whom Bell Island is named, discovered a method of farming oysters and by the 1860s the business of oystering had become the source of a comfortable living for many in the Village.  By the 1880s Norwalk was known as the “Oystering Capital of the World.”  There were thirty-five oyster firms in Rowayton alone which operated twenty-eight vessels during this period.  These families used some of their new wealth to build houses in the area of the proposed district and that section of Main Street (now Rowayton Avenue) came to be known as Oysterman’s Row.  In fact, in the late 19th century, almost the entire waterfront side of the street across from the oystermen’s homes was devoted to the business of harvesting and selling Long Island Sound bivalves.  The oystering industry in Rowayton and in the rest of the state, which had once been among the most prosperous in the nation, began to slow after the end of the 19th century.  The 1919-1920 report of the Connecticut Shellfish Commissioners states the facts bluntly: “Since the beginning of the present century, the decline in the industry has been startling, so that today we have but little production, no prosperity, and we have lost our rank as leaders.” Probably as a result of these issues, there were no oyster businesses listed in the Norwalk City Directory with a Rowayton address in 1919.  By 1920, all of the surviving businesses had moved to South Norwalk.

The district's boundaries are based on the historic development patterns of the area and include many of the oystermen’s homes, including the home of Captain Charles W. Bell, for whom The Bait Shop was built.  A section of the 1867 Beers map of Norwalk (Figure 1) shows the oystering families of Raymond, Millspaugh, Bell, Crockett, Knowlton and Boerum already living in the area. Some of these homes, including the Charles W. Bell house at 94 Rowayton Avenue, survive and they are included in the district.

Captain Charles W. Bell (1836-1925)

Captain Charles W. Bell was one of Rowayton’s many oystermen.  Like his neighbors on Oysterman’s Row, he prospered in the business and was able to build a stately Queen Anne-style house at 94 Rowayton Avenue in 1886.  The 1900 US Census shows that he owned the house without a mortgage, that he had been married to Emily B. Bell for 39 years and lived with his wife, son, daughter-in-law, a grandson and one female boarder. He was active in the community where, in 1864, he was appointed Superintendent of the Sunday School of the Rowayton Methodist Church, a post he held for 52 years. He lived in the house until his death in 1925.

Captain Charles W. Bell Barn (c.1892)

Captain Bell purchased the land for this barn in 1876 from Charlotte Brown of New Canaan and built the existing barn there in about 1892.  Captain Bell died in 1925 and                99 Rowayton Avenue was occupied by a succession of marine-related businesses until it became part of Jenkins Boatyard in 1941.  That business was started by Rowayton resident William P. Jenkins and George Stadell.  Jenkins soon bought his partner out and expanded the business to include the lot to the north of their original purchase, which included the Charles W. Bell Barn.  The Jenkins Boat yard assembled an experienced staff of mariners, and the business was considered a local landmark.  The business and property were sold to R Grosvener Ely, Jr., a Wilson’s Point resident, in 1971.  Ely immediately sold the northern section of the property, including the barn and its outbuildings, to Darien resident, Herbert Van Sciver.  

Herbert Van Sciver and his partner, James Grant had owned a business in Darien called The Bait Shop.  That business burned in November of 1970 and they were not able to find a suitable new location in Darien. They opened The Bait Shop in the Charles W. Bell Barn in the spring of 1971. 

Sources  

“Jenkins Yard, City Landmark, Changes Hands.” The Norwalk Hour, April 23, 1971. 

Beers, F. W., A. D. Ellis, and G. G. Soule. Atlas of Fairfield County, Connecticut. New York: 1867. 

Bryant, Tod. “Oysterman’s Row,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination, 2010.

Price and Lee. Norwalk City Directory 1919. New Haven, CT: Price & Lee Co, 1919.

Price and Lee. Norwalk City Directory 1920. New Haven, CT: Price & Lee Co, 1920. 

Ray, Deborah Wing and Gloria Stewart. Norwalk: Being an Historical Account of that Connecticut Town. Canaan, NH: Phoenix Publishing, 1979. 

Raymond, Frank E. Rowayton on the Half Shell. West Kennebunk: Phoenix Publishing, 1990. 

Shell-Fish Commissioners. Biennial Report of the Shell-Fish Commissioners for the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 1919 and June 30, 1920. Hartford: State of Connecticut, 1920.