Community History

Community History

Gardeners at Community Health Center, Inc. Urban Greenhouse

Community Health Center, Inc. Urban Greenhouse

The corner of Main and Grand Streets has been a hub of activity in Middletown for generations. From its earliest days, merchants and farmers gathered on Main St. to peddle wares and create the economy that would propel the bustling city to the current day.

Middletown-based Community Health Center, Inc., founded a few blocks away in 1972 when local activists and Wesleyan students proclaimed, “Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.,” moved to 635 Main Street (#4) in late 1973. CHC is part of the Moses/Weitzman Health System, the nation’s first primary care system dedicated to the health of underserved communities, with programs in all 50 states.

We believe that food security is healthcare. The Urban Greenhouse (#1 below) is the centerpiece of CHC’s statewide nutrition programs and a national model, and the tons of food grown via hydroponics year-round is donated to people in need of healthy options. The greenhouse is a center for environmental education, offering training opportunities for future farmers, and regular events for students and community members. Follow us and learn more at chc1.com and mwhs1.com.

Moses/Weitzman Health System Campus

  1. Urban Greenhouse | 2. Community Health Center, Inc. Clinical Building | 3. Center for Key Populations & New Horizons Domestic Violence Services | 4. Vinnie’s Jump & Jives | 5. Knowledge & Technology Center (Home to MWHS administrative staff, the Weitzman Institute, and MWHS affiliate, Community eConsult Network (CeCN)

The Moses/Weitzman Health System (MWHS) focuses on the people and communities most likely to experience health disparities due to multiple factors including socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, and environmental injustice. Companies within our system advance the delivery of primary and specialty care through practice, research, systems transformation, and training the next generation of health care leaders.

This c. 1750 map of Middletown shows the location of the MWHS campus (#3) where Alexander Kieth, Ropemaker resided. At the time, Middletown was the largest port in the colony of Connecticut.
map of main street showing residence of D.H. Chace
100 years later, this 1851 map of Middletown shows the MWHS campus located where the Arthur McGill house (c. 1820) was now operated by Daniel Chase as a boys’ preparatory school (1835 to 1870) for roughly eighty pupils.
Grand Street was not yet in place.
Hotel Mattabesset 1907-1910
After 1870 the building was adapted for commercial use and served as a hotel and/or boarding house with dining facilities until 1943 and has been known as the NewYork Hotel, Prussian House, Hotel Mattabessett(1907-1910) and the New Ideal Hotel.
This detail from the 1874 Beers Atlas shows Main Street at the corner of Grand Street developed into the block of shops adjacent to the hotel/boarding house.

Flatiron Hotel

This photo, from c. 1890, presents the corner streetscape as busy with a restaurant, saloon, paint store and residences. Stores would move in and out and the variety that also included a Chinese laundry and gentlemen’s clothing, shoes and cigars, would remain until 1920 when “Car Culture” arrived at the corner with successive dealerships, tire repair and a service station.

Luigi Furno’s Garden

Gardens and the sharing of produce has long been a corner activity. The Furno’s often shared tomatoes and other produce with staff. Luigi and Maria Furno sold their property to the Community Health Center where it built the Knowledge and Technology Center. (#5)