Union City
By Sandy Clark

In the northern extremity of the borough, Union City is that section of Naugatuck which is south of Waterbury, west of Prospect and north of Naugatuck’s center. It received its name, “Union City,” during the 19th century for the section of Naugatuck where the Union Knife Company was located on Fulling Mill Brook.

Dana Blackwell, Naugatuck Historian Emeritus, says the term “union” was very popular in the 1830s and 40s and grew out of the rumblings concerning the Slavery issue in the Southern States. Talk of secession from the Union was on everyone’s lips.

Stores and factories in Union City grew quickly. By 1875, many stores existed downtown for the convenience of the residents and for making money.

Because of its water power, numerous factories were located along Fulling Mill Brook. Cutlery was one of the most important industries in the 1800s, and, along with the Union Knife Company, there was also the Naugatuck Knife Company.

Olinger Ale, by a local pharmacist, was established by bottling business in Union City. He made Olinger Ale by carbonating local spring water. By 1888, the company became the Diamond Laboratory Company for mostly patent medicines, such as Diamond Marshmallow Crème, good for curing sore throats and lung disease.

Many button factories arose along Fulling Mill Brook, and one of the oldest industries in the borough, the Naugatuck Manufacturing Company, was located on the west side of North Main Street (Route 8) along the Naugatuck River bank at the mouth of Fulling Mill Brook. It remained in existence until the Flood of 1955 destroyed it.

The Union School District was created to serve the families around the lower part of Fulling Mill Brook. Eastside School was built on lower Spring Street.

City District School, built on School Street, was more commonly known as “School Street School,” and was replaced in 1916 by Hop Brook School.

In 1913, Union City boasted its own fire house which was called the Union City Hose Co. and built on Bridge Street. Today, with many modifications, it is the Polish American Club.

Union City was largely populated by Polish and Lithuanian immigrants who came here in search of work in the “Foundry.” In 1910, Roman Catholics established St. Hedwig’s Church and School on Golden Hill Street. In 1930, the Polish and Lithuanian population built St. Mary’s Savior National Catholic Church on the banks of the Naugatuck River. The Flood of ’55 destroyed the church. The church was rebuilt on 55-65 Prospect Street.

St. Mary’s Church on North Main Street served many Lithuanian Roman Catholics while St. Paul’s Lutheran Church served the Lithuanian Lutheran population. The Flood of ’55 destroyed the church which was then rebuilt on the corner of Millville and Hoadley Street.

The Polish Falcon Society Nest 65 built the Falcon Hall, had a wooden structure used by Poles and other members of the community for many happy occasions. The flood destroyed the hall, and it was called “The Wool Wood.” Leary’s Crystal Ballroom was located there.

Lithuanians offered St. George’s Hall in Linden Park for use as a community center. Today, it is on the corner of Golden Hill and Hoadley Streets. The flood destroyed the St. George’s Hall, but it was rebuilt.

There were many Irish businesses in Union City. John Brennan ran Naugatuck Coal Company, and John J. Carroll and sons operated a sand bank on upper Spring Street near Porter Ave. John Whelan came from Union City, N.J., and ran a store on Locust St. Today many of his descendants still reside in the borough.

Union City has appeared to be a community unto itself. Today it has its own post office, fire department, City Hill Middle School and three elementary schools- Prospect, Hop Brook and Maple Hill. Stores and gasoline stations can still be found there. The Industrial Park, located within the boundaries of Union City, helps to keep industry alive.

Just ask any resident from the community where he lives, and the answer will be “Union City.”

Source
Naugatuck Historical Society Newsletter
Volume 11, Issue 4
September - October 2006

Murder in Union City
By Sandy Clark

In late September of 1909, Bronick Kulvinski, “Bronislaw Kulvinskas” in some accounts, the Union City saloonkeeper, died at a local hospital. The victim had several bullet wounds, and his throat was slashed.

The most important witness was a 10-year-old girl, Victoria Dalton of Union City.

The Hartford Courant records:

Sophia Kritchman, a well-educated Lithuanian music teacher, took the little girl (Victoria) for a walk. They reached the spot where Kulvinski, who had been shot in the morning, was lying in a pool of blood, just over the Waterbury line from Union City. The woman poked the body with a stick and, when she found that the man was still alive, told the girl if she said anything… she would kill her.

The woman then visited Joseph Peczinitis, where he was working as a bartender, and the two returned to the spot where the victim was lying in the woods. The woman slashed his throat and Peczinitis fired… more shots into his helpless rival.

In the afternoon, several boys found the dying man. The music teacher was arrested and Peczinitis was captured in Waterbury.

According to testimony, jealousy was the motive. The murdered man had been attentive to Sophia. Kulvinski had acknowledged that Peczinitis would kill him if he knew of his attentions to the girl, so he decided to marry another girl. When the music teacher heard this story, she told Peczinitis that Kulvinski had been bothering her. The two then lured the victim to his death.

The killing of Bronick Kulvinski was considered “one of the most revolting murders in the criminal history of the state.”

Sophia Kritchman, the “pretty Union City music teacher,” was sentenced to serve “not less than 12 years” for conspiracy in the murder of Bronick Kulvinski. At the age of 31, she was released on parole for good behavior after 10 years in the state prison at Wethersfield.

The Courant records:

“...Sophie Kritchman is going to try to recapture the springtime lost out of her own life. Wednesday morning, she and Alfred Sokoloski will join hands before Rev. William Fanning, pastor of St. Mary’s Church, and then begin life together in the second floor tenement of her home at ... Anderson Street, the very house in the cellar of which she hid when the police came to arrest her as an accomplice in the murder of her rival. She was found in the front room of her home the other day… Sophie would talk of her coming happiness, but not of her past … She showed her beautiful white silk, lace trimmed wedding dress, and told how busy she is getting ready to go to housekeeping in the little flat upstairs. She described her young fiancé as a ‘splendid fellow.’”

Sokoloski was 17 when Sophia began her sentence at the state prison, and he was the first friend whom she met when she returned home. He was a 27-year-old laborer employed at the Goodyear Rubber Company in Naugatuck.

Sophia lived quietly after her release, gave music lessons to a few pupils and sought employment which she was not able to obtain.

Moving picture concerns and newspapers requested her life story, but Sophie declined the offers, as she did 16 marriage proposals from all parts of the country.

Of Sokoloski’s marriage proposal, Sophia said-

“He spoke to me as soon as I came out, but I asked him to wait and give me time… Now I have made up my mind to try to forget the past and be happy with him.”

Information was gleaned from The Hartford Courant issues-
Sept. 20, 1909 and Oct. 2, 1920.

Source
Naugatuck Historical Society Newsletter
Volume 11, Issue 5
November - December 2006