Mystery Photos Index                  


Manchester Historical Society
175 Pine Street    Manchester, CT 06040    (860) 647-9983



Click on a photo to bring up its detail information as well as any reader comments which have been forwarded to us;
and to give yourself an opportunity to add your own comments about the photo.


Photo Thumbnail Photo Information...
44 - Photo by Sinch Ofiara, possibly 1964. Can viewers identify the location and owner of this striking service center?
posted: 08/19/2015
43 - A two-story wooden building erected in 1868 was leveled by fire in December, 1955. The frame structure was owned and operated by the New England Play Pen Company. December, 1955 photo by Ken Burkamp for the Hartford Courant.
posted: 07/14/2015
42 - Burton's in Downtown Manchester, 2/22/1954 photo by Ken Burkamp.
posted: 06/06/2015
41 - May 28, 1961 Ken Burkamp photo of the Grand Union grocery store at the Manchester Parkade on West Middle Turnpike.
posted: 05/14/2015
40 - 1923 photo of the construction of Watkins furniture building. Manchester Construction Company, owned by the Knofla Brothers, which built this Downtown block, the South Methodist Church, Highland Park School, etc.
posted: 04/03/2015
39 - June 26, 1960 photo by Ken Burkamp with these notes: "House-Hales, Fairway, and the Cheney Block on Main St., Manchester. In the distance is Murphy Bar and Bowling Alley, Club 21, and Finast supermarket."
posted: 03/15/2015
38 - Knights of Columbus building, 138 Main Street. Photo by Ken Burkamp on September 8, 1957. Can anyone identify the men in this picture?
posted: 02/02/2015
37 - The self-serve grocery downstairs in Hale's Department Store, circa 1930s. (Hale's Department Store was on 2 floors upstairs.) Two loaves of bread for nine cents! Thank you to Susan Vaughn Harris for donating this picture.
posted: 01/18/2015
36 - An ad in the 1927 Manchester Directory for Bursack Brothers Quality Market brought back memories to at least one Society member. The page in the Catalog where this ad was taken from can be accessed from the "Reprints" section of our website by clicking here.
posted: 12/13/2014
35 - Photo of a Manchester Community College music class, taken by the late Sinch Ofiara (1926-2012). Can anyone identify date, people?
posted: 11/04/2014
34 - Halloween at Nassiff Arms in this November 1, 1958 photo by Ken Burkamp. At that time, Nassiff Arms (with Nassiff photo shop) was on Main Street and Maple, Downtown. Note Finast (First National Store), now Webster Bank, on the right side of the picture. Later, both Nassiff Arms and Nassiff Camera Shop moved further north on Main Street.
posted: 10/08/2014
33 - King's department store photo by Reggie Pinto (1925-2011) for the Manchester Evening Herald. The photo isn't dated, but it may be after King's moved to the Parkade from the Cheney mill on Pine Street.
posted: 09/04/2014
32 - John Knoll photo of a parade on Main Street circa 1920. Note the trolley tracks and note that the first building seen on the right of the photo is still there, but with only two stories. It was the original Manchester Trust Company and Savings Bank of Manchester.
posted: 08/05/2014
31 - Built by Manchester Construction Company -- the Knofla Brothers -- on Spruce Street 1925. The building is still there, housing Spruce St. Package Store and a barber shop.
posted: 07/03/2014
30 - Glenney's Men's Shop, Downtown Manchester in a 1926 photo.
posted: 05/31/2014
29 - August 16, 1959 photo by Ken Burkamp of the Garden Restaurant and Grill on Main Street, Downtown. The neon sign in the window says, "Ruppert Knickerbocker."
posted: 04/15/2014
28 - Picture taken by Ken Burkamp on November 6, 1959, of Ansaldi Sand & Gravel operations on Bidwell Street. (Note the style of the 1950s dump truck!)
posted: 03/18/2014
27 - Photo by the late Sinch Ofiara (1926-2012), pictured in back row, second from left. Sinch taught photography at MCC for 20 years. This could be the MCC camera club or a photography class? There's no date. Hope to get more information on this.
posted: 02/08/2014
26 - C. 1940 photo of the interior of Orange Hall, located at 72 East Center Street. Anyone know the people in the picture? The writing on the lectern: Faith, Hope, & Charity. The Loyal Orange Lodge, an Irish fraternal organization, still operates Orange Hall and like other fraternal organizations with large buildings, helps defray its costs by renting out the hall for events.
posted: 01/13/2014
25 - 1961 Photo by Ken Burkamp of the Miller Rexall drug store on Green Road, before the plaza was built.
posted: 12/03/2013
24 - Ken Burkamp photo of the construction of Illing Jr. High School December 8, 1959. The front wall is being constructed; a Manchester Sand & Gravel truck pours concrete.
posted: 11/14/2013
23 - Housewares Department in the House & Hale store in Downtown Manchester, corner of Main and Oak Streets. November 15, 1960 photo by Ken Burkamp.
posted: 10/11/2013
22 - Sylvian Ofiara (1926-2012) took this photo of the State Theatre interior doors for The Manchester Evening Herald in 1953. The Theatre had undergone a renovation. The building was constructed in 1926 and is still in use on Main Street as the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church.
posted: 09/03/2013
21 - The old Cheney Store, which used to stand on South Main Street (facing west) at the corner of Main and Charter Oak Streets. At the time of this April 27, 1960 photo by Ken Burkamp, Manchester Upholstering occupied the space.
posted: 08/06/2013
20 - Watkins Furniture store, downtown Main Street during a "Saleorama," a joint promotion with WINF radio. Watkins sold furniture, accessories, pianos, and offered decorating advice, custom draperies, and carpeting. June 21, 1961 photo by Ken Burkamp.
posted: 07/11/2013
19 - This is a 1973 Herald photo by Sylvian Ofiara of the old Keeney St. one-room schoolhouse.

There were actually 4 schools on Keeney Street at one time or another: This one; a T-shaped wooden building active until the 1950s (click here for its picture on this website); today's brick school (see Keeney School for its website); and the mostly-reproduced schoolhouse next to the Cheney Mansion on Hartford Road (click here for its page on this website). Our concern is with this one.
posted: 06/06/2013
18 - This group is in front of the Second Congregational Church on North Main Street, Manchester. Bob Harrison, who lent the photo, says it was taken in the 1920s or 1930s, and that he had received it from Lenore Hibbard, a member of the family who owned the Hibbard Store in the North End. Photos and info about the Hibbards are on this website at Hibbard Family. Although it looks like a choir, some of the women are wearing graduation caps or what look like nurses' caps.
posted: 05/07/2013
17 - Ken Burkamp photo, December 10, 1955. Ken said, "Someone called me to tell me about this old Model T Ford -- they thought the newspapers might like a picture of it. So I went to the carriage house, in the rear of the building where the Chamber of Commerce is now [webmaster's note: the former mansion of Frank Cheney, Jr.] at the corner of Hartford Road and Main Street. The car was found while someone was doing an inventory of the Cheney property. The car was in great condition."
posted: 04/02/2013
16 - What's special about how these apartments, which are on Rachel Road (off Oakland Street), came to be built? Their groundbreaking was in April, 1969. Contemporary photo by Susan Barlow.
posted: 03/07/2013
15 - 1961 photo of Jay Rubinow receiving the "M" award from the Manchester Chamber of Commerce at Fiano's Restaurant in Bolton. The "M" award honored Manchester residents who contributed to the community. Photo by Ken Burkamp. Ed. Note: For a complete list, on this web site, of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce's M and Community Achievement Award recipients, please click M and CA Awards.
posted: 02/02/2013
14 - Ken Burkamp took this photo on June 13, 1956, for an article in the Manchester Evening Herald. Excerpt from the article: "Almost as many pickets were patrolling entrances to the Gray Manufacturing Co. plant on Hilliard St. this morning as there are workers who might be affected by the strike, which began Thursday at the firm�s Hartford plant ... There were about 20 pickets present when the local Gray plant began operations at 8 a.m. today."
posted: 12/24/2012
13 - Ken Burkamp took this Downtown photo on July 23, 1960 from a fire escape at Murphy's. He notes on the photo, "Choman's Housewrecking takes an 1800s store building down board by board on Oak Street behind the Circle Theatre, which is at the top center. Top right shows the Gas Light Restaurant (Oak St. Pub). Just below on the right is the heating plant that served a good part of downtown with steam heat."
posted: 12/08/2012
12 - This photo shows the Odd Fellows Building, corner of Main and Center Streets, in Downtown Manchester. Packard's Pharmacy is on the first floor, and the Connecticut Business College is upstairs. The bunting and uniformed soldiers suggest a WWI victory celebration, but the photo has no information on the back, other than it was printed by photographer Sylvian Ofiara (1926-2012), who had glass-plate and other negatives in his collection.
posted: 11/05/2012
11 - Stylized photo of the Corner Soda Shop about 1970 by Paul Barrett. The shop had entrances both on Main Street and Bissell Street. Inside was a long counter with stools and a few tables. Staff from The Manchester Herald frequented the Shop.
posted: 10/02/2012
10 - 1961 photo of Center Street, with Cheney railroad trestle in the background, New Street to the left. Photo by Ken Burkamp.
posted: 08/24/2012
09 - The Triple X store, at the corner of Brainard Place and Downtown Main Street, sold automobile parts and other items. Ken Burkamp took this photo about 1959.
posted: 08/01/2012
08 - Mary Cheney (1855-1934) in a portrait by Sandra Wakeen in the Mary Cheney Library. The portrait was created from an early photo of "Miss Mary."
posted: 07/10/2012
07 - Community Baptist Church being built, corner of East Middle Turnpike and East Center Streets. Photo by Ken Burkamp on October 16, 1958.
posted: 05/23/2012
06 - The Kissman Farm on East Middle Turnpike in a 1961 photo by Ken Burkamp. The pictured farm was �up just a little from where the old Motts was. This Kissman family owned much of the land that became the Green Manor development. The house was taken down years ago."
posted: 04/17/2012
05 - This lady with her bicycle is a mystery to photo owner Bob Harrison. Can anyone help identify her and the building on the left side of the photo?
posted: 03/18/2012
04 - Workers put a wrecked train back on the tracks in this March 30, 1958 photo by Ken Burkamp.
posted: 02/05/2012
03 - Photo by Ken Burkamp of the 1957 "Made in Manchester" Product Show at the Manchester Armory on Main Street near Haynes Street. The Findell Manufacturing Company's booth shows a variety of window blinds.
posted: 01/05/2012
02 - This photo shows midtown Manchester � a shopping area on Main Street near the corner of Middle Turnpike. Ken Burkamp took this photo on February 22, 1958.
posted: 12/18/2011
01 - This 1967 picture of Muhammad Ali was taken by Ken Burkamp, a photographer for more than 50 years, when Ali visited local radio station WINF.
posted; 08/11/2011