![]() ![]() The site selected for the opera house was the location of his father’s old general store which was moved across the way and made into apartments known as the “French flats.” In March 1876, he hired Jabez Comstock from Hadlyme, a former worker from his shipyard, as general contractor along with other former shipyard workers. The idea was to attract people from the area and from New York where people would use his steamboats, spend the night in his hotel and eat and drink in his restaurant. He also owned the Riverside Inn which later became the Hotel Swan and eventually the Gelston House.Īnd, of course, he built and operated his opera house. Besides being a partner in the steamboat company and operating the Goodspeed Shipyard with his brother, he helped publish the East Haddam Journal, was a partner in a broom-making business, became president of the Bank of New England, owned a ferry line, and even owned the Riverview Cemetery. He was industrious, energetic and financially successful, often working 20 hours a day. Some would say he was kind and generous, and others that he was a smart businessman. Goodspeed yelled directions from the balcony of his opera house and later offered passengers accommodations in his hotel and admission to the evening’s performance of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Some passengers were able to board the ferry that came alongside. While trying to avoid other boats, the State of New York hit a submerged tree stump that ripped open her hull and water poured in. The most notable accident occurred near the Opera House on Aug. The State of New York hit rock several times, collided with a pier in Brooklyn, and a Norwich boat. ![]() His City of Hartford collided and eventually ran aground causing a large hole in her bow and a broken frame which ended her service.įireworks and turpentine aboard the Granite State exploded, and a fire destroyed all of the cargo with a loss of four lives. That was the case with Goodspeed’s steamers too. Steamboats were luxurious and fashionable forms of transportation, although susceptible to misfortune. ![]() But it was with the Goodspeed Shipyard and investments in the Hartford and New York Steamboat Company that generated much of his wealth. After his father died, William Henry Goodspeed and his older brother, George, took over the family store at East Haddam Landing, the site of today’s Opera House. ![]()
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