Rosanne Tea Room was a popular gathering place

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A 1939 postcard features the Rosanne Tea Room in Middlebury, which opened in 1922. It was a popular gathering place until it closed in 1950. (Middlebury Historical Society postcard)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

1922 saw the advent of two marvelous destination facilities in Middlebury: The Lift-the-Latch Inn (now the Tucker Hill Inn) and the Rosanne Tea Room and Guest House on North Street. The Rosanne was established by two sisters – Rosetta Smith Carley (1870-1934) and Annie L. Carley (1872-1961), daughters of John H. and Mary A. (Smith) Carley, and was named by combining part of each of their names. The sisters were new to Middlebury, having moved here from Waterbury. They purchased the 1850s house on North Street from the Richardsons and ran the Rosanne until 1939, when the house was sold to Eliza L. (Fyfe) Hill, wife of Henry E. C. Hill.

Newcomers to America attempting to fulfill their dreams provide some of the most interesting tales of our town. When Elizabeth (Eliza) Linnie Fyfe (1901-1971) immigrated from Scotland in 1922, she could not have known she would become the wife of Henry Edward Clarke Hill (1885-1953) 10 years later, much less that she would be living on North Street in Middlebury and be proprietress of the Rosanne Tea Room, Guest House and Gift Shop.

Elizabeth was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Henry, born in Newport, Wales, the son of John and Ann (Clarke) Hill, had immigrated to this country three years earlier aboard the SS Cedric, arriving in New York from Liverpool, England. Henry’s voyage took him to Ansonia, Conn., where the Clarke family, relatives of his mother, were living.

Soon after arriving, though, Henry had met another Elizabeth – Elizabeth Munro MacKenzie, from Edinburgh, Scotland, and they were married and settled in New Britain, Conn., in 1917. Henry worked as a stock manager for the Farrel Company and later as the purchasing agent for the North and Judd Manufacturing Co. until Elizabeth’s untimely death in 1928 of bronchopneumonia.

Not long after her death, Henry moved to Waterbury and worked as the purchasing agent for Beardsley and Wolcott Manufacturing Co. By 1935 he was with Waterbury Buckle Co., ultimately becoming the secretary and assistant general manager as well as secretary of the Waterbury Tag Company.

About 1933, Henry married another Elizabeth, this time Elizabeth Fyfe, who went by the name of Eliza. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, she had immigrated to this country in 1922. The Hills had one daughter, Ann Clarke Hill (1935-1995), who married Perry R. Hagenstein in 1956 and removed to Wayland, Mass., where they had four children and a number of grandchildren.

In 1939, Henry and Eliza saw a house on North Street in Middlebury and purchased it – it was the Rosanne Tea Room and Guest House. Eliza continued to operate the Rosanne Tea Room for the next 11 years, and it became a popular gathering place for parties, showers, weddings and afternoon tea.

The back of the postcard shown above describes dinner at the Rosanne Tea Room. It was sent from here to Ohio.

“Tavern Rosanne” (as it was labeled on an early advertising photograph) described itself as “Open year round … Afternoon teas (Popovers served Wednesday and Friday.) Luncheons and dinners … Especially catering to private parties, children’s parties, bridges, showers, weddings, etc.” The message on a 1939 postal card read, “… a delightful place to dine and entertain your friends.” From the 1920s to 1950, the Rosanne was one of the premier locations for Middleburians and others to gather and have a good time.

In 1950 Henry and Eliza Hill sold their house to William Beers and moved to Sandy Hill Road, but Henry died three years later. About 1960, Eliza moved to Florida to be with family. She died there in 1971.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To join or contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or call Bob at 203-206-4717.