The City of Derby is in the midst of its 350th birthday celebration and Derby-Shelton Rotary is on the verge of celebrating its 100th birthday in 2027. Though the club is eagerly looking forward to its 100th, it recently took time to look back at its origins. The very first meeting of the Club was held in the legendary Hotel Clark in Derby. The city is currently in the midst of a project to highlight some of its 350 years by placing commemorative plaques at locations of significance in the area once known as the Borough of Birmingham. Birmingham was one of the three boroughs in the city and covered the area west of the Naugatuck River that became the industrial, commercial, and financial heart of the city. Though the city currently has no hotels, the Hotel Clark and its predecessor Bassett House dominated social life in the city. Being located right next door to the Sterling Theater, it was a natural location for those visiting the city. Visiting sports teams including the cadets of West Point stayed in Derby when playing at the Yale Bowl as did rowing teams competing on the Housatonic River course by the Cooke boathouse.
The plaque which was a joint project between the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club and Tom D’Addario of Capwood Associates which owns the current office building on the site at 100 Elizabeth Street. They shared the cost of the plaque which tells the story of the area and Rotary’s birth in Derby and was installed by the Department of Public Works in Derby on January 13, 2026.
Bassett House celebrating a national holiday in its heyday.