Stratford Historic District Finally Gets Its Sign

A fundraising effort that started more than 10 years ago has finally yielded a new sign marking the entrance to the Stratford Historic District.

“This is a good day for the Historic District and a good day for Stratford,” Historic District Commission (HDC) Chairman Thomas Yemm said Wednesday.

“We now rejoin all the surrounding towns, whose Historic Districts are identified with welcome signs,” Yemm said.

The new classical-style sign is up at the corner of Main Street and Church Street, where the last one was before being removed due to wear and tear some five years ago.

“The HDC members advanced the money for the sign, as individual members, and graciously accepted a substantial contribution from OSNA, whose members had collected funds literally years ago for this specific purpose,” Yemm said.

OSNA is the Old Stratford Neighborhood Association, a not-for-profit social organization founded in 1979. Yemm said the group began fundraising for the sign more than 10 years ago.

In 2011, Yemm had appealed for funds from the Stratford Town Council for three signs, though at the time he said he’d settle for enough money for one, which he estimated at about $500. The commission’s annual budget was only $1,000.

Though nothing came from those requests, Yemm said he’s hopeful that the new sign, funded privately by commission members and the OSNA, might spur the town to invest in more signs at other entrances to the Historic District.

“(Former HDC Chairman) Paul Reslink used to trumpet the fact that Stratford has more historic homes than all but one other town in the state of Connecticut,” Yemm said.

“It's difficult for me to imagine how a few hundred dollars could be better spent, by way of economic development, than to erect another sign announcing the Stratford Historic District.”