The building at 484-494 Main Street in Middletown, built in 1889-1890 and considered one of the first “modern” stores in town, was once home to the Caulkins & Post Company. The business sold carpets, drapes and furniture and soon expanded to sell automobiles around 1903. This latter business was so successful that the company erected a building for its car dealership across the street in 1905. The company changed its name to F.L. Caulkins and Co. in 1906.
Caulkins & Post Building (1890)
I have a 1918 letter from my grandfather, Charles Birdsey, who worked at Caulkins & Post. He used one of the company’s letter envelopes to write his brother, Caswell, then serving in the 301st Machine Gun Battalion at Fort Devens. I googled the address on the envelope and discovered that it was an historic building. Charles died shortly after in the Spanish Flu epidemic; Caswell never went to war.