by Isabel Griffith

We were admiring Bill Souza's sunflowers on Walnut Street. "How long have you lived here?" I asked. "Well, we lived on Third Street in the 50s; the house is still there. But then we bought 21 Walnut Street in 1961, so that makes it over 50 years. "

"So, can you tell me how The Point has changed?" "It hasn't changed," he said.

The Street Bridge was two-way for cars and people to cross over the old NY /New Haven RR tracks. The trains made freight deliveries to JT O'Connell, the big hardware place on Wharf. They got a new diesel engine in the 50s. "It was the shiniest thing you ever saw:" The arch between the stone abutments of the bridge was made of wooden planks and it had white board railings. You didn't have to see a car cross the bridge; the noise of it hitting the wooden planks was enough. Once, a car hit number 24 on Walnut Street. There was a stonecutter just over the other side of the bridge who made all the stones fStreet Bridge was still there in the early 70s.

Then, Marsh Street, Van Zandt, the wharf bound the Point, and Thames Street was the eastern border. There were lot~ of little stores - at least half a dozen grocery and the same number of package (liquor) stores. Leo's Last Stand was down at the end of Walnut Street. Long Wharf was full of bars; kids were never allowed to go down there. Before the bridge across the bay you could see clearly all the way to Quonset Point. The 70s were very tough after the (naval) base closed. There were lots of mysterious fires downtown in the middle of the night. "I never heard the fire horn as much as that year (1972)."

There were lots of children while the base was open. Each school- Callender, Potter and Mumford had 200­ - 300 kids. The city bus to get to Rogers High went over the Street Bridge. There were 1200 kids in grades 10-12 at Rogers. Bill attended St. Mary's and then Rogers. 'We used to swim off the Elm Street and Van Zandt Piers, they were covered then. The inside seating was for dry people; the outside was for wet people." It was not unusual to see oil spills and all sorts of junk like shopping carts in the bay. "It was really dirty; Save the Bay has done a great job. And the Point Association has done a wonderful job with Storer Park."

So, what’s different? The houses are basically the same place they were except for one or two that went to make way for the bridge. The exit ramp was originally supposed to go along the railroad tracks.* The age of the population has changed. People on the Point are always complaining. "This is not a bad thing. Their speaking up has really saved the Point. It's still beautiful; it feels the same. The Point was always tight and friendly - still is. People sat outside and talked - still do. You had your friends and you were happy. It never really changed."