Picture Vernon: 1800s Battle Of The Sexes — On Wheels

VERNON, CT — The latest installment of the Picture Vernon series takes us back to the Civil War Era, but the battle in this case was over gender and sports.

Pictured is the original Fitch Block on Union Street. According to the Vernon Historical Society archives, local businessman Samuel Fitch built the wood-framed business block in the 1860s. It had the typical retail space on the first floor and apartments in the second.

The third floor, however, featured a popular roller skating rink. Some in town, we are told, disapproved of the rink, because they believed in was inappropriate for men and women to participate in a "sport" at the same time.

The arguments didn't last long, because the building — and the nearby Second Congregational Church — were destroyed by fire in 1888, the archives tell us.

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Picture Vernon is a periodic series featuring images of the town, past and present.