The operatic soprano Rosa Ponselle was born in Meriden in 1897. After following her older sister Carmela into vaudeville, Rosa had an audition at the Metropolitan Opera arranged by Enrico Caruso and began singing there in 1918. She went on to become one of the great sopranos of the last 100 years, retiring in 1937, at the height of her popularity. Rosa Ponselle was born Rosa Ponzillo at 175 Lewis Avenue and a few months later the family moved to 168 Foster Street. In 1900, the family moved to 159 Springdale Avenue, a bungalow-style home which her father, Benardino Ponzillo, began to enlarge, first adding a second floor and an exterior wood staircase and later a third floor. This house was Rosa’s childhood home from her third year and it would remained her parents’ home for the rest of their lives. Rosa Ponselle died in 1981, but can still be heard in recordings. The house is now a multifamily home. There was a Rosa Ponselle Museum in Meriden a few years ago, but it’s now closed.
The first floor of the house served as a grocery store operated by Rosa Ponselle’s mother, Maddalena Conte Ponzillo. The family lived above the store on the second floor and the attic. In the rear of the lot was a large brick oven which son Antonio Ponzillo and his father, Benardino Ponzillo, operated as a baking business.