Barnett's Beach
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| Barnett's Grave in Suffield |
After receiving state approval, John spent three years developing Barnett's Beach before it opened at Congamond Lake on July 4, 1935. It featured a dine-and-dance pavilion, live entertainment, "fine sandy bathing, picnic grove, boat livery, and recreation fields."
The resort, located on the south end of Middle Pond, had valuable frontage along the new Suffield-Congamond State Highway. The main building was five stories tall, about 300 feet long, and 75 feet wide. The ends were 50 feet wide. On one end was the dance hall and dining; the other was living quarters and cottages.
Barnett's Beach held a dance until midnight on August 10, 1935. Following the dance, the night watchman made his usual rounds before calling it a night.
Around 2:00 a.m., a group of late-night bathers parked along the roadway just south of the resort. They started a fire on the shore and took a dip. When the party ended, they hopped in their cars and took off.
After being open for less than two months, Barnett's lay in ruin, with an estimated loss between $12,000 and $20,000. It was West Suffield, Connecticut's worst fire in a decade.
The hotel at Barnett's Beach was eventually rebuilt and christened the Congamond Inn. Sidney J. Harris became its proprietor. Sidney wanted to bring dog racing to the site, something Miller's Beach was against. (See Miller's Beach Chronology.)
Barnett's Beach, like some of John Barnett Jr.'s other real estate holdings, had its fair share of fires. Interestingly enough, Barnett was West Suffield's first fire chief, a position he held for many years.
Fire tore through two cottages at Barnett's Beach on August 2, 1959, burning one to the ground and badly damaging the other.
Two fires broke out at Barnett's Beach in 1973. The first fire leveled a summer cottage on November 8. The second fire gutted the former Barnett's Beach Hotel around 8:30 p.m. on November 10. The three-story hotel, which had been vacant for some 20 years, had been converted to apartments at one point. Five fire trucks responded to the hotel fire. Firefighters had the fire out by midnight but kept a man on fire watch as the hotel continued smoldering overnight. The next day, police and firefighters took turns checking on the site, which was still smoking.
There was a risk greater than fire - and that was the lake itself.
Joseph Novello drowned off Barnett's Beach after a boat he was in capsized on May 6. Robert Curran (or Kuran) of Southwick owned the ship. Curran swam safely to shore. Authorities recovered Novello's body on May 13.
Wiliam and Madeline Cooke were at Barnett's Beach in 1959. On June 5, the pair were wading in the lake when Madeline stepped into a hole and went under. William, who could not swim, tried to help her by using a long pole, but Madeline lost her grip and drowned.
Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
John Francis Barnett Jr.: July 24, 1871 - January 21, 1947.
Leola Walker: 1923 - November 20, 1926.
Joseph Novello: abt. 1915 - 5/6/1945.
The United States Patent Office granted John F. Barnett Jr. a patent on a vehicle wheel in 1903.
John Barnett Jr. filed for bankruptcy, which a court discharged in 1901.
His Grand Street home in Suffield burned on February 10, 1912.
Barnett was a longtime buyer for a major tobacco company, a real estate agent, and a fire chief.
In January 1913, a storm blew over a large tree, which fell on Barnett's chimney, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished.
Barnett Jr. bought the Rising farm near the state line in 1910. The house caught fire in 1911, causing minor damage.
John Barnett Jr. purchased a house on Main Street in Suffield. He leased a part of the house to the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, which opened a store there in August 1915.
Barnett Jr. was also in the car business. In 1915, police charged him with allowing his car to be used for livery. Barnett said the autos were being used for demonstration purposes and admitted not knowing much about that part of the business. Authorities told him to learn it.
On February 16, 1923, a fire destroyed the Park Garage in the rear of Barnett's block on Main Street in Suffield. John F. Barnett leased the building to two men who stored automobiles there—the structure loss was $5,000, the automobiles $18,000, and the equipment and stock $7,000.
In late 1916, Barnett Jr. was planning to build a building to replace the recently burned one.
West Suffield firemen elected John F. Barnett Jr. as their chief in 1908. He had been with the fire department since its founding in 1903.
Upon returning from Hartford, Barnett saw that his father's house was on fire in 1912. He stopped at the firehouse, loaded up a bunch of fire extinguishers, and successfully put the fire out.
Barnett Jr. purchased the Suffield Fairgrounds in 1917.
A Southwick auctioneer auctioned off Barnett's estate in 1961.
John F. Barnett Jr. was listed as one of the top people/companies owing back taxes, to the tune of $9,105.00, to the Town of Suffield on a list published for the first time in 1995. It's unclear whether there was any relation or if it was the estate that owed the taxes.
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