The Kemper-Gunn House has moved. The old YMCA Bedford building begins renovations soon, becoming an anchor of the new Bedford Square.
But Westporters can’t stop looking back.
Alert “06880” reader Jonathan Rohner sent this fascinating postcard showing the Y and the Westport Bank and Trust building (today it’s Patagonia):
I love the cars — all looking the same — parked or driving haphazardly on the trolley-tracked Post Road.
I love the elm trees framing the Bedford building, and how peaceful downtown looked.
Equally alert “06880” reader Scott Smith contributed this photo, from a decade or so later:
I love the hand-colored blue sky. The bike leaning casually against the tree on the left.
And check out the front-in parking job of those cars in front of the Y. That would never fly today.
I was especially intrigued by another image Scott sent. This one shows the Westport Hotel. The area was called Hotel Square. Westport Bank and Trust had not yet been built:
The hotel had a pool room. Youngsters were not permitted inside. Edward T. Bedford vowed to give them a place. In 1923, he built the YMCA.
The rest is history.
And now, a new chapter has begun.