064 Hadsell Brothers' New Office Store, East Main Street
Young men with bicycles gather outside of Frank and Clinton Hadsell’s “News Office” (still standing) near 12 East Main Street. At right is the home... Show moreYoung men with bicycles gather outside of Frank and Clinton Hadsell’s “News Office” (still standing) near 12 East Main Street. At right is the home of Frank Hadsell and his mother Jane. A small barn or woodshed is behind the house. Frank Hadsell resisted the bicycle’s lure. “[My sister] Eva now had a bicycle! Riding the wheel was very popular in the 90s and it seemed as if all but the very young and the very old had them. However, I continued to walk and enjoyed it. I believe both [my brothers] Clinton and Will had a wheel, but I felt I had other and better uses for my money at this time.” He soon fell under its spell. In 1898, he had a bicycle riding lesson in Hartford - and a bicycle. “I was continually buying something for it - bell, saddle, handle oiler.” The News Office had its origins in 1887. Frank Hadsell paid $40 to Fred Ripley for Fred’s hog house, and relocated it beside his home. The structure was about twelve feet square, and Frank added a small addition to the back. He sold an array of items, and changed the stock depending on what he thought would be popular. Clinton also operated the store from time to time. Frank operated the News Office until a few years before his death. Original title in CBH’s list for photograph #064: “News Office with Boys.” Original title on his paper sleeve: “News Office, Boys outside May 20, 1900.” Source: Frank Hadsell Diary, 1896, Volume 14, p. 73. Hog house in “East Main Street-Hadsell House” folder at Avon Free Public Library. Caption by Nora O. Howard, Avon Town Historian, 2017. Show less