Submitted by Elizabeth Malloy.
(October 27, 2021) Recently Whitney Brookes, Jr., life-long Haddam resident, shared with us some fascinating artifacts related to the Higganum Hotel. These include an early postcard of the building, tin-type photographs of his grandparents, Arthur and Elizabeth M. Brookes, and a receipt from a meat supplier for the hotel in February and March, 1877.
The Higganum Hotel has a prominent role in the town’s past as a place for an overnight stay, sumptuous meal or strong drink. The building was originally erected in 1868 by George Dickinson as a private home. In 1875, Robert A. Brookes, an English immigrant who had settled in New York City, relocated to Higganum and enlarged the building as the Higganum House Hotel. A very early advertisement from 1877 notes “the hotel is now open for summer borders and is one of the pleasantest places on the river with prices to suit the times.” Robert, who was assisted by his son, Arthur, operated the hotel for almost 20 years until his passing in 1893.
Arthur Brookes continued to run the hotel and during his tenure the hotel was known as the “Ye Old Higganum Inn” or “Higganum Inn” and was a place for parties and banquets which offered steak, lobster and shad dinners. The hotel remained active until a devastating fire in 1937.
In 1915 Brookes forgot to renew the liquor license for the hotel and since it was the only bar in town, Haddam was a dry for a week, a newsworthy event. We have also been told that Tom Thumb was a guest at the hotel.
In 1885 the hotel handyman, Edward Stanton, got into a bar room brawl with a frequent customer, Gilbert Egan, who was known to “indulge freely in fisticuffs and drink.” Egan struck the handyman, who left avenging retaliation. Later that night on his way home, Egan was attacked in the back of the head with a heavy object and two witnesses said it was Stanton, who was later arrested and jailed. However much to everyone’s surprise, the witnesses later recanted and said they had no idea who attacked Eagan and the Stanton was set free. Egan survived and remained in Haddam.
The Higganum Inn is now a private home again, but stands as a tribute to the area’s heyday as a busy neighborhood along the historic Middlesex Turnpike, once the main thoroughfare between Hartford and the shoreline.
Photographs courtesy of Whitney Brookes, Jr.
