Hartford's Municipal Building was completed in 1915 and replaced the Old State House. Since the older building was referred to as City Hall, the new building was called the Municipal Building. It was designed by architects Brooks &amp; Davis on a lot that was chosen after consideration of several others. Part of the lot was land belonged to J. Pierpont Morgan, a Hartford native, who deeded it to the city, and the remainder was purchased from several other individuals.&nbsp;<br><br>Built in the Beaux-Arts style, the building is faced with Bethel white granite and a copper and tile roof. All of the entrances are of bronze. The building is elaborately decorated with Neoclassical adornments, but its most well-known feature is its atrium, which is 25 x 150 feet and rises through all three floors of the building. The atrium is topped with a glass roof that serves as a skylight and features decorative panels detailing the city's history.<br><br>Over the years, the building has served a number of functions in addition to that of city hall. In the 1930s, a laboratory was set up in the building to investigate tuberculosis. At the time, the disease killed more teenagers than all other communicable diseases combined. In the 1960s, against the backdrop of the Cold War, the building was designated a fallout shelter, the first in the city.&nbsp;<br><br>The Municipal Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. Repairs have been made over the years and slight alterations to the building's interior, but it remains largely as it was constructed in 1915.&nbsp;<br><br><br>

The main entrance to the Municipal Building

Hartford's grand Municipal Building was completed in 1915. Built in the Beaux Arts style, the building replaced the Old State House as the seat of city government. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has seen only very minor interior modifications since its construction, and appears almost entirely as it did when it opened in 1915.

Municipal Building (City Hall)

This walking tour of Hartford begins in the heart of the city and makes a loop through the downtown area with stops at over two dozen landmarks, museums, and historic buildings. Highlights of the tour include Connecticut's Old State House, Footguard Hall, Union Station, Bushnell Park, the state capitol complex, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

<div>Hartford's Stackpole, Moore, and Tryon Building is a mid-nineteenth-century commercial structure&nbsp;that is distinguished&nbsp;by a cast-iron facade. The building's design reflects the&nbsp; Beaux-Arts influence that led to the addition of this facade during the 1890s (completed in 1896). The cast-iron addition speaks to the impact of Industrial Revolution, New York construction, the Chicago School of Architecture, and the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition on urban architectural design</div><div><br></div><div>The Stackpole, Moore, and Tryon name arose in 1909 when the group became tenants of the building, replacing Willis and Wilson, who occupied it at the time of the cast iron addition. One will also find a plate at the base of the engaged column east of the store entrance with the words, "Lincoln &amp; Co.," the shop which manufactured the cast-iron front.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>While tenants have come and gone, the last sale of the premises occurred in 1852 when Mary G. Arnold sold the property to Timothy M. Allyn for $4,000. Although the deed makes no mention of any structure located on the land, the price indicates a building stood on the property.&nbsp; For sure, the building arose before 1869 as a city atlas in 1869 includes the structure that now deemed historic.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Cast-iron architecture grew popular in New York during the late 1800s, with its primary function as facades for commercial buildings. Initially, cast-iron facades were a simple post and lintel design but quickly transitioned to the more popular and ornate Italianate style. Toward the end of the century, as demonstrated by the Stackpole, Moore and Tryon building, fluted columns, Ionic volutes, and other features associated with the Beaux-Arts style began to dominate, largely a result of the influence of the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition.</div>

Built in the mid-19th century, the cast-iron facade of Hartford's Stackpole, Moore, and Tryon Building demonstrates the influence of the Industrial Revolution as well as the changing styles of leading architects in Chicago and New York that were influencing leading regional cities. A renovation in 1896 included a new cast-iron front with Beaux-Arts influence, a style made popular during the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893. 

Stackpole, Moore, and Tryon Building

<div>The Hartford National Bank and Trust building is a striking example of the Modernist style, designed by internationally renowned architect Welton Becket.&nbsp; Constructed in 1967 during the city's broader urban renewal movement, the Hartford National Bank and Trust building stands 354 feet (26 stories) and serves as an architectural counterpoint to the historic Old State House building across the street. Though the building arose in the 1960s, the genesis of the bank occurred in 1792 on the same city block as the skyscraper.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In a contemporary urban context that produced so many generic, unadorned glass and concrete skyscrapers, Becket's skillful modeling of precast concrete forms produced a unique high-rise building, unlike any of the 30 other structures of this type built in Hartford in this period.</div><div><br></div><div>Hartford enjoyed a population surge in the middle part of the twentieth century, fueled mainly by immigration, reaching a near-record high of 164,000. The population explosion resulted in overcrowding and a trend towards suburban migration. As a result, the Hartford Redevelopment Agency secured federal planning funds in 1952 for "Constitution Plaza" which was designed to be the modern gateway to the city, partly to help businesses remain in the city and subsequently their employees. Some of the state's biggest banks and companies, including the Hartford National and Connecticut Bank and Trust, joined the board as principal tenants at Constitution Plaza and helped fund its construction.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The agreement by the collection of businesses to invest in the plaza inspired Hartford National Bank officials in 1962 to agree to build a new bank on the site. Completion of the building occurred five years later, in 1967; the dedication ceremony included a parade and the&nbsp;<i>Hartford National (News)&nbsp;</i>published a "Special Dedication Day Edition" newspaper.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Becket's use of a precast concrete wall system in the design of the skyscraper differed from other downtown buildings. Instead of the typical angular modeling favored in other prefabricated structures, Becket designed the Hartford Trust and Bank building with smoothly rounded, castings, which utilized the arched form in a curvilinear manner. The arch located at the top of the 1,900 windows serve as an accompaniment to the flatter, sloping curve found at the window sills below, which provide depth to the building.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Today, the building is known as 777 Main Street and functions as a residential building. The <i>LEED Platinum</i>® certified building boasts of 336 solar panels on its roof and a 400-kilowatt fuel cell that generates clean, combustion-free renewable energy to the residents&nbsp;among other sustainable building features.</div>

The twenty-six story Hartford National Bank and Trust Building opened in 1967 with a tremendous celebration that included a parade and a special edition of the Hartford National, a local newspaper, dedicated to the opening of the new building. The construction of the building came at a time when population pressures inspired people to leave the city for the suburbs and was a response by city leaders who funded an urban renewal project downtown in hopes of getting more businesses to return to the urban core. The skyscraper at 777 Main Street ultimately served as the project's anchor. 

777 Main Street (Historically: Hartford National Bank and Trust Building)

<p>Hartford’s Old State House may seem an unlikely place for a museum of this type, especially given the building's past as the host of momentous events such as the Amistad mutiny trials and the Hartford Convention of 1814-1815. The building also houses the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington – the one familiar to anyone who’s ever had in their possession a $1 bill. </p><p>And yet, for the thousands of visitors who stream through the statehouse doors, the top attraction is something a bit less solemn. But just as the "curiosities" such as the two-headed calf provided an opportunity to teach something important about nature and farming in two centuries ago, the current two-headed calf is a genuine specimen that teaches modern residents and visitors to this urban area about the dairy industry. The calf was born in a non-living condition in 1996 from a Michigan dairy farm. </p><p>The first iteration of this museum opened in 1797 thanks to the efforts of Hartford minister and portrait painter Joseph M. Steward. While Reverend Steward served as Deacon of the First Church of Hartford from 1797 to his death in 1822, his portrait-painting business was less successful. While Steward had few commissions, he had plenty of space after securing permission from the Connecticut General Assembly to open a studio on the third floor of its new state house. Displaying more of a gift for advertising than painting, Reverend Steward decided to assemble a display of oddities he collected in order to attract potential portrait customers. Forty years before P.T. Barnum's sideshow exhibitions, Connecticut residents could tour oddities and curiosities.</p><p>Portrait commissions may have remained scarce for Steward, but the Museum of Natural &amp; Other Attractions was a hit. Within a decade, the collection grew to include artifacts as waxworks, stalactites, and numerous stuffed animals including a dwarf cow, a “sagacious” goat and the original two-headed calf, had outgrown its stately chambers and required new accommodations. Rev. Steward accordingly purchased the nearby Talcott Mansion, where his expanded museum reopened in 1808. Even after Steward's death, the museum kept operating and acquired a new location at 131 State Street. Records indicate that the museum operated until at least 1840, with visitors paying an admission fee of 25 cents (about $7 in modern currency).</p><p>The museum closed and the collection eventually dispersed to private collectors and filled attics and outbuildings. Some items were even acquired by the Connecticut Historical Society where they languished in storage rooms until the 1990s until state house director WIlson H. Faude (a worthy successor to both Steward and Barnum when it came to showmanship) discovered the history of the museum. Faude determined to recreate the former museum within its original location in the old state house. After securing the surviving artifacts from the historical society, he added new curiosities such as the famous bicephalic calf and a two-headed piglet in a jar donated in 1998.</p><p>The museum combined new and old curiosities, with a collection containing such rarities as a unicorn (narwhal) horn, a stuffed crocodile, a mummy’s hand, and an elephant foot footstool, proved to be just as popular as its 18th/19th century predecessor. The museum may be Connecticut’s quirkiest attraction, but it draws visitors from all over the United States. While the Museum of Natural &amp; Other Curiosities, along with the rest of the Old State House, was temporarily closed due to lack of funding, it is once again open for business.</p>

The top floor of Hartford’s venerable Old State House is now home to the modern incarnation of one of the nation’s very first museums. Reverend Joseph’s Steward opened his Museum of Natural & Other Curiosities in 1797 with the goal of promoting his services as a painter of portraits.  In some ways, the museum was a precursor to the kind of exhibitions popularized by 19th-century entertainer and promoter P.T. Barnum’s. Steward's museum closed sometime in the early Victorian era. This museum opened two centuries later utilizing the same name and features exhibits that include the "two-headed calf 2.0," a reference to Steward's original slideshow. The museum was temporarily closed in 2016 but reopened shortly thereafter. 

Museum of Natural & Other Curiosities

The Old State House held its first meeting on May 11,&nbsp;1796 and&nbsp;was the first public building designed by Boston architect Charles Bullfinch, who later worked on the Massachusetts State House and the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The state house is similar to Liverpool's town hall which was constructed in 1754. &nbsp;In 1960 the building was designated as a National Historic Landmark, and in 1966 added to the National Register of Historic Places. <br><br>The building&nbsp;has changed from its original&nbsp;18th century appearance, as the balustrade was constructed in the early 1800s to protect firemen who might need access to the roof. The cupola with bell and statue of&nbsp;Lady Justice was added in&nbsp;1827.At the grand old age of 200, the Old State House underwent an extensive, four-year renovation, and re-opened on its bicentennial in 1996.<br><br>Perhaps the most significant event to occur within these walls was the Amistad Trial. In 1839, attorney Roger Sherman Baldwin represent enslaved persons&nbsp;who had fought for their freedom during an on-board mutiny on the high seas. Proving that they had been illegally transported across the Atlantic after the United States and other nations banned the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the court sided with the rebels in a case that would lay the grounds for the Supreme Court's hearing of the Amistad case. <br><br>Another event that occurred at this building also demonstrates the importance of Hartford's small but active community of anti-slavery men and women. Three days after the execution of Connecticut-born John Brown for his part in the failed raid on the Harper's Ferry arsenal,&nbsp;&nbsp;two men, one Black and one white, climbed up to the state house roof and draped Lady Justice in a mourning veil.&nbsp;The Old State House has commemorated both events with special exhibits and tours to demonstrate the connection between this building and the larger history of freedom and slavery within antebellum America.<br><br>The building also houses many intriguing artifacts, including a bicycle belonging to Hartford's most famous former resident Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain). There is also a museum of curiosities that dates back to the late 18th century and includes such items as a&nbsp;two-headed calf that was born&nbsp;in Michigan. The calf is on display in the Museum of Natural and Other Curiosities which has occupied the top floor of the state house on and off since it opened it 1796. In June of 2016, budget cuts forced the building to&nbsp;close its doors to the public and for several months the museum could only offer pop-up exhibits in a small space loaned out by neighboring retail complex State House Square. The museum was able to reopen in November, 2016.&nbsp;&nbsp;<div><b><br></b></div><div>Today, the Old State House is back to operating on a full schedule, open five days a week. It also offers a range of programs for school groups on topics such as Connecticut in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the Amistad Trial, and the Charter Oak. The building is often rented out (during non-museum hours) for weddings and other special events. Seasonal happenings include a summer farmers market and concert series and a wintertime holiday market.</div>

A National Historic Landmark, Connecticut's Old State House was once a state capitol building where citizens and all three branches of government debated matters of national importance for over 80 years. Now serving as one of the Constitution State's most historically-significant museums, the tradition of civil discourse is carries on through programming, events, tours and exhibits.

Connecticut's Old State House

<div>The first two-sided building in history, The Phoenix Life Insurance Company Building (opened in 1964) serves as an excellent example of the Modernist style, distinguished by its lenticular plan -- locally referred to as "the boat building" due to its shape.&nbsp; Along with the building's architectural significance, it stands as a monument to the urban renewal movement common in U.S. cities in the decades following World War II.</div><div><br></div><div>As with most of the nation's cities that undertook urban renewal efforts, Hartford intended to curtail suburban migration, alleviate traffic issues, deal with urban blight, and fix difficulties related to urban flooding -- to name a few. Along with new, federally funded interstate highway system, Hartford sought to create an area of downtown known as "Constitution Plaza." With companies like Phoenix Life Insurance, which had been in Hartford since 1851, hopping on board the project, the plaza idea came to fruition; thus urban renewal in Hartford became a reality.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The Phoenix Life Insurance Company Building was designed by the acclaimed Max Abramovitz, a principal in Harrison &amp; Abramovitz from 1945 - 1976, which was one of the leading architectural firms in the United States and known for its role in planning and designing the United Nations Headquarters (1947-1953) and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (1955-1969) in New York. <br><br>Construction proceeded rapidly with the steel framework in place by June 1962 and the glass facade completed by May 1963. The unique, two-sided building generated enormous public interest. State and national newspapers reported on the building's progress and hosted 12,000 visitors during its first year of operation in 1964. The project received a special award at the New England convention of the American Institute of Architects in 1965.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The building stood as one of the anchors of Constitution Plaza, a project that was one of the earliest examples of urban renewal. The formal dedication was slated for November 24, 1963, but the had to be canceled due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Instead, the ceremony arrived in December 1963, noted by the New York Times writing, "Hartford Launches a Tall, Glass Ship-Shaped Building." The event included a formal lowering of a floral wreath by crane from the top floor into the reflecting pool of the plaza courtyard, meant to indicate the company's re-commitment to Hartford.</div><div><br></div><div>In 2010, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the building a Silver LEED (Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, making it the&nbsp;first office building in New England to be both LEED-certified and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>However, while the building proved a success, as was the overall business development in the Plaza, not all stories related to urban renewal can be viewed as positive as the process also included forced population and business displacements. Indeed, public opposition to the demolition of the existing neighborhoods, especially in areas populated by Italian-Americans since the turn of the century, delayed the project. Moreover, in Hartford, many projects incurred obstacles as the economic climate changed; a plan to construct mixed-income housing never materialized.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>To look at the building today is to see how architecture advanced in the post-WWII era concurrent with many cities seeking to reinvigorate downtown neighborhoods&nbsp;and business districts. The urban renewal efforts of many cities, including Hartford, can be seen through structures such as the Phoenix Life Insurance Building, but what can't be seen are the how some lives were altered via displacement as a result of urban renewal.</div>

The Phoenix Life Insurance Company Building was completed in 1963 as part of Hartford's urban renewal program. Similar to other American cities, Hartford sought to promote urban development in its city core during the 1960s and 1970s to respond to suburban growth that left parts of the downtown area with fewer businesses and families. The building is unique for its two-sided design which resulted in its nickname among locals as "the boat building." In addition to encouraging more companies to locate or return to the downtown area, the building serves as a distinct example of the modernist architectural movement that featured floor to ceiling windows throughout every office to create a mirrored glass exterior facade. 

Phoenix Life Insurance Company Building

<p>In the mid-twentieth century, many mid-size and large American cities became
enamored with the idea of “urban renewal”—which often involved removing
neighborhoods that were deemed slums and replacing them with office buildings,
hotels, and parking garages. What was frequently lost in the rush to raze such
neighborhoods was that many of them were historic neighborhoods with diverse
populations. Those histories were lost as hotels and office buildings were
constructed in their places.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Hartford, the city’s first major urban renewal project much of the
eastern downtown area was razed in what was hailed as a grand redevelopment of
a blighted part of the city. Flooding in the 1930s seriously damaged that part
of the city, leaving a slum in the minds of many in Hartford. The neighborhood—rechristened
Constitution Plaza—became home to a mixed-use complex of office towers and
parking spaces, and hosted numerous public events during the year, including the
Festival of Lights.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A central part of Constitution Plaza was the Hotel America, which was
completed in 1964. A twelve-story building, the Hotel America was designed in a
decidedly modern fashion, its exterior styled with pre-cast concrete panels
bolted to concrete slabs. It was a style that didn’t appeal to everyone and
garnered the property its share of criticisms. At the time, the hotel was also
considered very technologically advanced, with a thermostat control in each
room, a novelty when the hotel was built.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Over the years, the Hotel America changed owners—as well as names—several
times. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was known as the Hotel Sonesta and the Summit
Hotel. In the 1990s, it became known as the Clarion before closing and sitting
empty for a number of years. It was purchased in 2011 and transformed into
luxury apartments. Owners kept the building’s exterior largely as it was when
it was built.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In 2012, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
although it was forty-eight years old, two years short of the NRHP’s fifty-year
requirement. It was nominated because of its architectural significance and its
role as a pioneer of Hartford’s urban renewal of the 1960s.</p>

As part of a larger urban plan intended to transform Hartford's East Side neighborhood,  city leaders approved a massive demolition of existing housing and businesses and the construction of Constitution Plaza. Hotel America, a modern twelve-story hotel completed in 1964, was one of the most recognizable buildings in the new plaza. The property changed owners and names several times over the years and is now the Spectra Boutique Apartments. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 owing to its architectural design and role in the urban redevelopment of this part of the city. 

Hotel America (Spectra Boutique Apartments)

<b>Judah Touro (1775-1854)<br></b>Born in Newport, RI in 1775, Judah Touro was the son of Isaac and Reyna Touro, members of the Sephardic synagogue Yesuat Israel. Judah experienced a somewhat turbulent childhood due to the Revolutionary War. His family remained loyal to the British Crown and relied on aid from the British troops occupying Newport. The Touros moved first to New York City and then to Jamaica. Isaac died there in 1783, and the family relocated again to Boston. Reyna died in 1787, and her brother Moses Michael Hays took over care of her children. As a young man, Judah was sent by his uncle on a trading shipment to the Mediterranean. <br><br>In 1801, he relocated to New Orleans which was then under&nbsp;Spanish control. Spain and France had signed the 3rd Treaty of San Idlefonso in 1800, which stipulated that Spain would in theory hand over control of Louisiana to France. The 1801 Treaty of Anranjuez confirmed this agreement, and New Orleans became French territory. Soon afterward, in 1803, the United States completed the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring New Orleans for itself. The city's economy prospered following this transfer, allowing Judah to forge a career as a successful merchant.<br><br>He served as a civilian volunteer in the US Army and was severely injured at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Although he recovered, he seems to have largely retired from civic and social engagements following his injury, dedicating himself instead to his business ventures. He amassed a considerable fortune through a combination of successful business operations, real estate investment,&nbsp;and the maintenance&nbsp;of a modest lifestyle.<br><br>Later in life, with his financial position secure, Touro began to make philanthropic donations to a variety of causes. He contributed to Boston's Bunker Hill Monument, to Newport's public library, and to New Orleans churches. Touro's relationships with prominent Jewish leaders&nbsp;Gershom Kursheedt of New Orleans and Rabbi&nbsp;Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia likely prompted him to start contributing to Jewish causes and communities as well. Touro helped to establish a Sephardic congregation,&nbsp;<span>Nefuzoth Yehuda, in New Orleans, and he also opened a Jewish hospital, the Touro Infirmary.<br></span><br>Judah Touro died in 1854. In his will, he bequeathed large sums to Jewish congregations and organizations, both in New Orleans and elsewhere, as well as to Massachusetts General Hospital. Among his beneficiaries was&nbsp;Congregation Beth Israel, which used the bequest to acquire the former church on Temple Street, which then became known as Touro Hall.<br><br><br><br><br><b><br></b><b><br></b>

Hartford's First Baptist Church was built on this spot in 1830. Jewish Congregation Beth Israel (CBI) purchased the building for $28,000 in 1856, with the help of a $5000 donation from Judah Touro, a philanthropist who supported multiple synagogues as well as the creation of the Bunker Hill Monument. CBI renamed the structure Touro Hall in his honor. Touro Hall provided space not only for religious services and education, but also for events and concerts thanks to its ability to accommodate crowds of up to 1500 people. Fire damaged the building in 1875, at which point CBI sold it and moved to a newly built temple on Charter Oak Avenue.

First Baptist Church (1830-1856) / Touro Hall (1856-1875)

<div>Famed architect Henry Hobson Richardson was commissioned in September 1875 to design the commercial block now known as the historic Cheney Building. Richardson, who along with Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, stands as one of the most influential architects in U.S. history.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>H.H. Richardson initially intended to integrate the building with the adjacent and neighboring structures, until he found inspiration in the work of&nbsp; English architect Surges recent and successful use of brownstone with limestone at Trinity College.&nbsp; As such, he relied on a rough-faced stone to produce an original design for a commercial building comprised of a rugged appearance. The bright contrast of Berea limestone set against the Portland brownstone likely set the Cheney Building apart from neighboring structures.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The Cheney Building, completed in 1876, gets its name from its original occupants, the Cheney Brothers, silk manufacturers from Manchester, Connecticut. Five small shops occupied the ground floor while offices and apartments filled the upper stories. The building later housed Brown Thomson‘s and then G. Fox and Co.‘s Department stores. Today it is known as the Richardson Building and primarily serves as a Marriott's Residence Inn.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>But the real history of the building lies in its architect, not in those who called the building home. The structure proved to be a pivotal step in the career of H.H. Richardson (as well as the world of architecture ) towards the development and refinement of skyscraper construction. Ten years after Richardson designed the Cheney Building, he designed Chicago's Marshall-Field Warehouse, an essential building within the realm of contemporary downtown architecture and one of the many works that influenced Chicago School and Prairie School architect, Louis Sullivan.&nbsp; Indeed, Richardson often gets referred to as the initiator of the U.S. Romanesque revival and a central figure towards the development of indigenous, modern American style of architecture.&nbsp;</div>

The Cheney Building, built in 1876, was designed by the famed architect H.H. (Henry Hobson) Richardson, known as the initiator of the Romanesque revival in the United States. Richardson pioneered the development of modern, American architecture along with other lauded architects such as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Cheney Building 

<p>St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church, once known just by the name St. Patrick’s, was the work of New York Architect Patrick C. Keeley, who was recognized not only for his stylistic accomplishments but for his widespread respect as an Irish Architect in a time when anti-Irish sentiment abounded. Keeley designed the church with inspiration from the Gothic Revival Style in 1876, utilizing Irish Catholic motifs that remain visible on the structure into the present day.</p>



<p>Rough brownstones and a showy gable roof are overlooked by a tall steeple.&nbsp; The building is dotted with the characteristic arches and curves of the Gothic Revival Style, and, as a result, it stands out from all other buildings in the district, with particular contrast to the other religious and community buildings nearby.&nbsp; While the Masonic Temple in the district is in a Gothic Revival style, its influences are drastically different, resulting in a very different appearance.&nbsp;</p><p>St. Patrick’s was not Keeley’s only work in this style in the City of Hartford.&nbsp; Another time-tested church, the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, is also recognized as a historically-impactful building, displaying the skillful design work Patrick Keeley came to be known for.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The congregation at St. Patrick – St. Anthony can trace its history as far back as 1829 to Connecticut’s first Catholic church and parish, Holy Trinity.&nbsp; Holy Trinity’s first home was in a chapel that once belonged to the Episcopal Christ Church, located on Talcott and Main in Hartford.&nbsp; It was at this location that Holy Trinity established Hartford’s first Catholic school and Sunday school in 1830.&nbsp; Throughout the rest of the early 1800s, the Holy Trinity Parish would go on to found Connecticut’s first Catholic cemetery one of the earliest, if not the earliest, Catholic newspapers in the state.&nbsp;</p><p>The Holy Trinity parish continued to grow throughout the 1800s, eventually increasing by over ten times its original size.&nbsp; While the former Christ Church building had served a small parish well, it was no longer suitable for a congregation of over 1000 members.&nbsp; With the hope of serving a congregation that was likely to continue to grow, Holy Trinity commissioned the design of a church which would be named St. Patrick’s to honor the majority Irish congregation that called the Holy Trinity parish home.</p>



<p>In 1853 and 1875, two fires would come upon the Holy Trinity parish.&nbsp; The first would engulf the old church building and the second would destroy the still-young St. Patrick’s church.&nbsp; With incredible support from the parishioners and new Catholics coming to Hartford, St. Patrick’s was rebuilt from the ground up within the remaining walls of the old St. Patrick’s.&nbsp; The resulting church is the very same building that is now known as St. Patrick – St. Anthony.&nbsp;</p><p>The history of St. Anthony’s parish and church began in 1895 with an influx of Catholic immigrants from Italy.&nbsp; Recognizing the need for a parish to serve this community, the Hartford Diocese organized the purchase of another church that once belonged to an Episcopal congregation.&nbsp; The St. Anthony’s congregation quickly outgrew this small church and built a second church on Talcott Street in 1921.&nbsp;</p>



<p>St. Anthony’s new church lasted just under 15 years before it was severely damaged by the 1936 flooding on the Connecticut River.&nbsp; While the congregation still gathered in the building, it was clear that a new solution to house the parishioners would be necessary.&nbsp; The 40s and 50s brought many changes to the Catholic communities of Hartford.&nbsp; The formation of a Catholic library and St. Anthony’s School were only part of these changes.&nbsp;</p><p>As the Catholic population of Hartford moved away from central Hartford, urban redevelopment led to the demolishing of the damaged buildings that St. Anthony’s had been using for years.&nbsp; This led Archbishop Henry O’Brien of the Hartford Diocese to spearhead the merger of St. Patrick’s and St. Anthony’s congregations, renaming the proud church St. Patrick – St. Anthony.</p>



<p>The new, combined parish of St. Patrick – St. Anthony has served Hartford faithfully ever since, being a locus for Catholic charity and community in the heart of a city that has steadily grown throughout the last century.&nbsp; St. Patrick – St. Anthony underwent a major transformation in 1990 when the Archbishop of the Hartford Diocese, Archbishop John Wealon, sought the aid of the Franciscan Friars to bring their ministry to the church.&nbsp;</p><p>Since the Franciscans took leadership of St. Patrick – St. Anthony, the parish has focused on helping marginalized groups in Hartford.&nbsp; As a part of this mission, the church has partnered with food pantries, unemployment aid groups, HIV/AIDS charities, and more.&nbsp;</p>As of the creation of this entry, St. Patrick – St. Anthony stands not only as an architectural landmark but also as a symbol of the rich, diverse history of the Catholic community of Hartford.&nbsp; Its location in the center of the city makes it the perfect destination for visitors to Hartford with an interest in Catholic history or the development of the communities of Hartford. <br>

Dating back to the late 1820s, St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish is Hartford's oldest Roman Catholic congregation. This historic church building was constructed in 1876 and is located in the heart of the Ann Street Historic District. The church represents a landmark of both architectural significance and religious import. From the congregation's connections to the history of Hartford's growth in the 19th century to the many influential members of the church and charitable efforts in the past century, St. Patrick-St. Anthony is one of the most iconic structures in this neighborhood and its history is central to understanding the city.

St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church

Established in October of 1771, the First Company Governor's Footguard is recognized as the oldest continually operating military unit in the United States. At the time, Hartford was isolated from other towns in Connecticut and travel was time-consuming and often dangerous. A number of young men in Hartford decided to form a select group to escort the Governor and colonial assembly on election day, which was often a raucous occasion in the colonies.<br><br>In 1777, the company joined the Continental Army to fight the British in the American Revolution, although it was not obligated to do so. Since that time, the company has been involved in every war in which the United States has been involved.&nbsp;<br><br>The Footguard Building is technically an armory, with a large open room known as a drill shed for its main space. The drill shed is surrounded by the second-floor balcony. The balcony is lined with wooden plaques commemorating the Guard's activities over the years, including escorting Lafayette, marching at the dedication of the Washington Monument, and participating in the funeral of former President Ulysses S. Grant.&nbsp;<br><br>The building was also used for public events until well into the twentieth century. It occupies a prominent location on High Street, a location which was even more prominent before the construction of I-84. Nowadays, the building houses a small museum which details the long history of the Footguard and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;

The First Company Governor's Footguard was formed in 1771 for the purpose of protecting the Governor and General Assembly. The unit still exists, but today serves primarily a ceremonial purpose. The Footguard Building was not constructed until 1888, and because of its historical as well as architectural significance, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Footguard Hall

<div>Hartford's Union Station was the largest and costliest rail station in Connecticut when it was completed in 1889. The station's cost and ornate, Richardson-Romanesque design point to the significance of railroads in late nineteenth-century society, as well as Hartford's position as a growing metropolis and an instrumental transportation hub within the New England region.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In 1887, five railroads served Hartford with routes connecting the city to Boston, Providence, Saybrook, New Haven, Banbury, Poughkeepsie, and Springfield. The significant increase in railway traffic during in the late nineteenth rendered Hartford's first two passenger stations inadequate, both regarding handling human traffic and modern trains, which forced the city to design a new station capable of handling modern-day transportation needs. By 1887, the city began work on the new station, which included better platforms, comforts, enhanced grade-level crossings and architectural designs that included ornamented details.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The railway's presence in Hartford spoke to the city's place as the home to numerous financial institutions and overall urban growth. The new station served the city functionally, to be sure, but also stood as a symbol of its vitality. The building enjoys classic Romanesque design, a concept developed by&nbsp; H. H. Richardson, a famed architect that designed buildings in Hartford as well as several other U.S. cities.&nbsp; Though he died in 1886, his influence remained for decades to come. Besides its size, the building's Romanesque design included features such as large stones, and arcaded facade, steep gabled roofs, stone arches, small dormers, deep window reveals, towers, and medieval moldings. Passengers passing through Hartford would see the station as a sign of Hartford's growth and importance (or so it was intended).&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The most serious alterations to the building transpired in 1914 when a fire destroyed the roof and severely damaged the interior.&nbsp; Renovations to the interior occurred in the 1980s, mostly to modernize it. Today, the station serves as an Amtrak station.&nbsp;</div>

Designed by architect George Keller in Richardsonian Romanesque design in 1889, it serves as a reminder of the significance of railways in the late nineteenth century, both functionally and as a method for which a city could demonstrate its vitality. The city's growth and its numerous financial institutions that called Hartford home by the 1880s forced the town to build a station suitable to handle several train routes that connected it to cities throughout New England, as well as catch the eye with its aesthetic design. 

Hartford Union Station

Located next to the five-story Morse Building and the ornate Masonic temple, this historic&nbsp;building has served as a popular café known as “The Russian Lady” for many years. The name of the restaurant is a reference to the statue that adorns its roof.&nbsp; This statue, depicting a woman upon a throne in traditional Russian wear, surrounded on either side by two figures: a bearded man with an anchor symbol, and a young woman with a child and a symbol of a sheaf of wheat.&nbsp;<p>The statue is the most immediately noticeable feature of the building, though it was not placed on the building at construction. The building was constructed in 1895, and the statue, which formerly belonged to the Rossia Insurance Building on Asylum Hill, was relocated and installed on top of the Fowler-Huntting building sometime after 1914.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The origins of the Russian Lady statue beyond it belonging at one time to Rossia Insurance are veiled in mystery; no one knows the true meaning of the statues symbolism or even who sculpted it in the first place. Even the original commissioner is not known to local historians at the time of creating this entry.&nbsp;</p><p>The façade of the building includes brick siding with brownstone roof molding is graced by two stately fluted columns which frame the original storefront. The café and bar opened in 1976 and thrived at this location for just over 30 years. In 1997, the Russian Lady closed its doors, but the business returned in 2011 following an outpouring of local support and interest for the former Hartford restaurant and bar. As of the creation of this entry, the Russian Lady still serves Hartford’s Downtown, offering a unique, high-end daytime café and nightlife venue.&nbsp;</p><p>The History of Fowler-Huntting as a company is fascinating, as well. Founded in 1865, before the iconic building was constructed, Fowler-Huntting represented one of the earliest modern groceries in Hartford. Now owned by the Yandow Brothers, a group of Connecticut natives, Fowler-Huntting is the oldest produce distribution company in the state, having been in business continually since 1865. The company was bought by the Yandows in 1942 and has been in the Yandow family since that time.&nbsp;</p>



<p>While Fowler-Huntting has moved its physical home, and its operations expand across the entire state of Connecticut, the roots of this iconic and influential produce company can be traced to the building that now houses a locally-beloved hub of socialization.&nbsp; Visitors to Hartford often find themselves relaxing beneath the very same sculpture that thousands of Hartford natives of the early 1900s enjoyed when they walked along Ann Street.</p>

Adorned with an iconic bronze statue, this historic Hartford building was constructed in 1895 and was once the location of Fowler-Huntting Fruit and Produce. The building is now home to the Russian Lady Café, a name that references the ornate stature that adorns the top of the building. One of the most unique structures on Ann Street in Harford, this building is Tucked away between the Masonic Temple and the 1912 Morse Building, A close inspection of this structure reveals artistic, architectural, and historical relevance that could otherwise go unnoticed between the imposing buildings on either side.

Fowler - Huntting Produce and The Russian Lady Cafe

<p>The buildings of the Ann Street Historic District represent a broad swath of architectural styles whose origins spread across more than a century of Hartford’s history.&nbsp; The earliest building of architectural note within the district is St. Patrick’s Church.&nbsp; Having been in service to Hartford’s Irish population since 1851, the parish overseeing St. Patrick’s employed architect Patrick C. Keeley to design the structure now known as St. Patrick’s Church.&nbsp; Construction completed on the church in 1876, and it would come to serve the Irish immigrant population of Hartford especially well.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Keeley worked heavily in the Gothic Revival Style of architecture, building churches all across the country.&nbsp; His other works in Hartford include the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, which was also constructed in the Gothic Revival Style.&nbsp; Keeley was well known for his unique contributions to the Gothic Revival Style – mainly present in his use of brownstone and loose interpretation of Gothic mainstays.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Church’s proximity to another important building only serves to highlight the nuanced stylistic significance of each building.&nbsp; The 1894 Masonic Temple was constructed in a Moorish Gothic style, drawing on stylistic roots of a similar time period to St. Patrick’s but from a different region of Europe and the Mediterranean.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Masonic Temple served largely as a social hub for Hartford businessmen, much like Masonic Temples around the country.&nbsp; The Temple is imposing by design, and many of the architectural choices were motivated by the symbolism and philosophy of the Masonic principles.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Departing from religious and philosophical landmarks, the Ann Street Historic District also contains the Hotel Hartford.&nbsp; The hotel was originally constructed at the turn of the century to serve as apartments in the neighborhood.&nbsp; Known as Lenox Court at the time, the building fulfilled its original purpose for approximately two decades, housing approximately 25 families of the early 20th-century middle class.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Lenox Court was designed by Hartford Architects Bayley and Goodrich in a style that drew from the Classical, neo-Georgian, and Second Renaissance Revival styles of architecture.&nbsp; These characteristics made it stand out as something of a flamboyant structure in comparison to the other buildings of Hartford.&nbsp; Its design was showy and exquisitely crafted.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>One of the most historically valuable buildings in terms of industry in Hartford is located in the Ann Street Historic District.&nbsp; Known simply as “The Telephone Building,” it was the home of Southern New England Telephone Company, which, over time, grew to be the primary provider of telecommunication services to the State of Connecticut.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The building was designed by William D. Johnson, a Hartford architect, and was constructed in 1890.&nbsp; On a stylistic level, the building is particularly luxurious, with a showy façade and rows of arches that make it unique to all the other buildings in the district save for its architectural twin, also designed by Johnson, the City Missionary Building.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The City Missionary Building, located across the street from the Telephone Building, served as the long-time home of one of Hartford’s most influential and oldest charity organizations.&nbsp; The City Mission was the product of multiple diverse churches coming together to offer aid of various forms to the poor of the city.&nbsp; Designed with identical stylization to the Telephone Building, the City Missionary Building served as an architectural honor to the work that was done there.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Southern New England Telephone Company later moved to another building in the district which was designed by Leoni W. Robinson to be constructed in 1911.&nbsp; Leoni was known for his work across the state, being the founder of two major Connecticut Architects organizations and having done extensive work in New Haven, Connecticut.&nbsp; This new headquarters for the Telephone Company is most similar to the Hartford Electric Light Building (explored below,) both of which drew from the Renaissance Revival school of design.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Hartford Wire-Works is another architecturally notable building in the Ann Street District.&nbsp; Though serving a primarily pragmatic role within the district as a wire fence manufacturing factory, great care was put into the design of the building nonetheless.&nbsp; The architect, Isaac A. Allen, Jr. of Hartford, built the factory with inspiration from the Renaissance Revival school of architecture.&nbsp; The factory remained open from its construction until 1982, when it relocated out of the city.</p>



<p>Another nearby building, the Hartford Electric Light Building, continues the trend of industrial buildings in the Ann Street district.&nbsp; It was designed by the firm of Allen and Collens, whose influence in Boston was well known.&nbsp; The building was designed following the teachings of the Beaux-Arts School of Architecture of Paris, France.&nbsp; The Hartford Electric Light Building served as the new home of the Hartford Electric Light Company, following the meteoric rise of demand for electricity which caused an equally rapid need for workspace.</p>



<p>Allen and Collens built a number of other buildings in the Hartford area, including the Webster Memorial Building, which is listed alongside the Ann District on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Built in 1927 to the designs of Hartford architectural firm Buck and Sheldon, another utilities building known as the Hartford Gas Company drew from the Moorish Revival movement.&nbsp; Located next to the Telephone Building, the differences in style couldn’t be starker, especially on the interior of the structure.&nbsp; The interior of the Gas Company building was noted for its unique flavor and ornate design.&nbsp; Much like the Hartford Electric Light Building, the Gas Company Building was a necessary requirement of the growth of the city around it, the denizens of which needed access to gas.</p>



<p>Once known as the home of the First Unitarian Church of Hartford, the building occupying lot #18 later became the home of the Congregation Ados Israel, one of Hartford’s oldest Orthodox Jewish synagogues.&nbsp; Featuring Georgian Revival architecture downscaled to fit comfortably within the confines of the tight streets, it is notably small compared to the buildings around it.&nbsp;</p>Despite being one of the smaller buildings of the street, the Georgian influence certainly displays an artful flourish, prominently featuring a large arched window and beautifully-placed brickwork.



<p>Within the district, there are three distinct eras of industrial development which rise visibly above the background of the City of Hartford.&nbsp; Buildings like the Hart Manufacturing Company Building reflect the transition from horse-drawn carriages being a major form of transportation to automobiles being the primary form of transportation.</p>



<p>Finally, the block located at 283 – 291 Asylum Street (lot #11 of the District) and its sibling building, the Empire Hotel, serve as ideal snapshots of the late-19th-century design choices for commercial blocks.&nbsp; Largely drawing on Italianate design features, this building served as the home of numerous businesses since its construction sometime in the mid-1870s.&nbsp; At one point, it was also the home of a hotel by the name of Hotel Avon, though this hotel closed its doors before the Empire Hotel that resided nearby.</p>



<span>As a whole, the Ann Street Historic District represents one of Hartford’s most vital economic neighborhoods, serving as the home of core industries, some of which are still in business to this very day.&nbsp; From steam companies to wire manufacturers to electricity providers, the Ann Street District stands as a snapshot of turn-of-the-century industry and the changes that an evolving society can have on the industries around it.</span> <br>

The Ann Street Historic District of Hartford, Connecticut represents one of the most influential industrial and commercial districts in the city of Hartford, being home to much of the city’s 19th and 20th-century industrial modernization.  In addition to being the historical home of communications, electrical, and transportation companies, it is also the location of a number of uniquely relevant non-industrial buildings that feature influential architecture and offer notable historical value.  The Hartford Hotel and St. Patrick’s Church are two such examples, both of which represent important pieces of Hartford’s historical mosaic.

The Ann Street Historical District

<p>The history of the Hartford Electric Light Company starts in 1881 when the company was approved for charter as a public utilities company. With the grand opening of their steam power plant on Pearl Street in April of 1883, they brought the first accessible electricity to the city.&nbsp; When they began operations, they had only 6 customers; they were bringing to Hartford the cutting edge of new technology that had not yet made its way into the hands of the general public.</p>



<p>Led by company president Austin Cornelius Dunham, HELCO started by bringing arc lighting lamps to Hartford’s rail station on Asylum Street.&nbsp; This was only the first, tiny step in the process that would end up changing Hartford forever.&nbsp; In addition to bringing the first electricity to Hartford, they were the first utilities company in the United States to utilize high-voltage three-phase alternating current effectively.&nbsp;

</p><p>HELCO’s growth was meteoric.&nbsp; In just five years, the face of Hartford was changed forever.&nbsp; While only 21 electric lamps were prepared when they opened their doors, by 1888 their lamps had replaced every one of the gas streetlights Hartford had once relied on so heavily.&nbsp; Following the expansion of the electric streetlight system, Hartford became the first New England city with all-electric streetlights.&nbsp; From 21 lamps in 1883, HELCO’s influence expanded until, by 1902, they were powering over 77,000 electric lights.&nbsp; During this time, they also broke new ground by being the first company to utilize energy storage batteries to counteract energy waste.&nbsp; While the HELCO building on Pearl Street was no longer their only power plan in the area, it was home to one of their most famous generators.</p>



<p>Known by the nickname “Mary-Ann,” this heavy-duty steam turbine was the first of its kind: Produced in America and used by an American public utilities company.&nbsp; A collection of photographs of the turbine, which was manufactured by world-famous engineering and manufacturing corporation Westinghouse, have been preserved and are available online in the archives of the University of Connecticut.&nbsp;

</p><p>HELCO was a major innovator at the turn of the 20th century, bringing new operations principles, energy transport techniques, and even appliances to the people of the United States.&nbsp; HELCO president Austin Dunham invented a uniquely-equipped electric range, which became incredibly popular in Hartford, an electrically powered radiator unit, and even an icemaker.&nbsp; All of these appliances were successful in Hartford and beyond.</p>



<p>The HELCO building represents a nexus of innovation and modernization for not only the city of Hartford and the state of Connecticut but for New England as a whole.&nbsp; From this building, the age of electric lighting and convenient, electric appliances spread outward, changing the face of the North Eastern United States forever and solidifying HELCO’s place in the history of technology in America.</p>

The Hartford Electric Light Company of Hartford, Connecticut is one of the most influential companies in the history of Hartford’s modernization, growth, and expansion.  They were the first company to bring electric lights to the city, and, from their seemingly humble factory in what is now known as the Ann Street Historic District, they helped transform the city from a town of gas lights and unpowered buildings to one of the most modernized cities of its time.  The history of “HELCO” and its influence on the city extends into the current day, and the historic building still stands in the Ann Street District.

The Hartford Electric Light Company (HELCO) Building

<p>The First Unitarian Church on Pearl Street was constructed
in 1924 by Milton E. Haymon, an architect whose other works are spread across
the city of Hartford serving various purposes.&nbsp;
He did not predominantly design religious buildings according to the records
of his work that still remain, with one of his other recognized works in
Hartford being a residence not contained within the Ann Street District.<br></p><p>The church building itself was designed in the Georgian
Revival style of architecture, which was also frequently referred to as the
Colonial Revival style.&nbsp; This style
features the Greco-Roman inspiration of the Colonial Style, mixed with distinct
features that became popular throughout America during the 19th and early-20th
centuries.&nbsp; Gabled roofs with dormer
windows blended seamlessly with colonnades and proud facades characterize the
style, both of which are visible in the First Unitarian Church.&nbsp; Uniquely, the church also features a tall,
arched window on the street-facing side of the building – a feature which is
not often seen in Georgian Revival buildings.</p>



<p>The Unitarian congregation of Hartford came together as
early as 1844.&nbsp; At this time, they were
known as the First Unitarian Society.&nbsp;
With a faithful community, they founded their first Hartford church, a
small meeting house known as the Unitarian Church of the Savior, in 1846.&nbsp; The congregation would meet here for nearly
40 years before moving to another small church named Unity Hall.</p>



<p>Another forty years would pass until the congregation was ready
to move their home again.&nbsp; In 1924, the
church commissioned Milton E. Haymon to build them a fine church which would
prove to be their home for yet another 40 years, at which point the Unitarian
church sold the First Unitarian Church building to Congregation Ados Israel, an
equally historic religious group within the city.&nbsp; </p>



<p>Ados Israel was the very first Orthodox Jewish group in the
city of Hartford, tracing their roots to a group of Eastern European immigrants
who arrived in Hartford in 1872.&nbsp; From 1898
until 1963, Ados Israel met under the roof of the Market Street synagogue, at
which point they moved to what would be last Orthodox synagogue in Hartford –
the old First Unitarian Church.&nbsp; </p>



<p>When the synagogue closed its doors in 1986, it was bought
by a telephone company, who then sold it to the Pearl Street Neighbor
TheatreWorks who still own the building to this day.&nbsp; The First Unitarian Church is one of the
defining structures that qualified the Ann Street Historic District for its
place on the National Register of Historic Places, a recognition that has
helped preserve Ann Street and the surrounding neighborhood as a beautiful
mosaic of 19th and early-20th century Hartford history.</p>

Located in the heart of the Ann Street Historical District of Hartford, CT, the building that once housed the congregations of both Ados Israel and the First Unitarian Church still stands to this day.  The home of these two historic congregations is itself considered historically important, as it represents one of the better-preserved examples of Hartford’s colorful architectural legacy.

Ados Israel Synagogue and the First Unitarian Church of Hartford

<p>The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch is located across
Trinity Street in Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut. The monumental arch has two towers and a
walkway that connects them.&nbsp; It is made
out of Portland Brownstone and Terracotta. The Gothic style arch stands one-hundred and sixty feet tall, spans
thirty feet across.&nbsp; The monument has two
medieval towers are sixty-seven feet round and is topped with a conical roof. &nbsp;The towers are connected by a walkway inside
crenelated parapets. The monument became&nbsp;one
of the first Civil War monuments in Connecticut and was constructed at a total cost of $60,000.&nbsp; </p>

<p>The monument was
designed by George Keller, who also designed the Soldiers' National Monument at
Gettysburg and the U.S. Soldier Monument in Antietam. Keller was a leading memorial architect and was approached about the construction of this monument after leaders of the effort held a design competition that they did not feel had yielded a suitable design. After negotiations with the Hartford Memorial Committee,
Keller received the commission to design the arch. He designed the arch at the end of the
bridge over the Park River to save on costs.&nbsp;
</p>

<p>The memorial includes a series of Terracotta friezes that
depict scenes of the Civil War and the return of the cities veterans who served
during that time period.&nbsp; The north
frieze was sculpted by Samuel Kitson and depicts battle scene of the war. A second frieze features the&nbsp;image of General Ulysses S. Grant watching the
infantry and cavalry advancing on a battlefield.&nbsp; On the left, a frieze depicts&nbsp;marines leaping from a boat
and rushing to engage&nbsp;Confederates soldiers. The south frieze was sculpted by Caspar Buberl and tells a story of peace as it
illustrates the Hartford soldiers and sailors reuniting with their family
members as they are leaving the ship.&nbsp; The
Latin moto <i>post nubila phoebus</i> which
means "after clouds, the sun" is inscribed in the middle of the
scene.&nbsp; It reflects on the happiness and
optimism following the darkness of the Civil War.&nbsp; </p>

<p>Below the friezes are decorative elements that honor all
four services.&nbsp; On the North side of the
arch the Navy is honored with an anchor and the artillery service is honored
with crossed cannons.&nbsp; On the South side
of the arch the infantry is honored with crossed riffles and the cavalry is
honored with crossed swords.&nbsp; The two
turrets are decorated with six figures, three on each tower, depicting the
occupations left behind as they ventured off to fight in the Civil War.&nbsp; These figures were completed in 1894 and include
the Farmer, Blacksmith, Mason, Merchant, Student and Carpenter.&nbsp; Each tower also has an angel playing a
musical instrument, one playing a trumpet and the other playing cymbals.&nbsp; Each tower also has a staircases and the
walls include the names of the fallen Hartford soldiers and sailors that lost
their lives fighting in the Civil War.&nbsp; </p>

<p>When George Keller and his wife died, they were cremated and
their ashes were put in the arch behind an iron door in the east tower.&nbsp; In 1986-88 the monumental arch underwent a $1,500,000
rehabilitation by architect, Dominick C. Cimino. The finial angles on the towers were replaced
as well as original Terra-cotta that had fallen. The Terra-cotta was replaced with
bronze.&nbsp; </p>

<p>Inscriptions on the monument include: </p>

<p>Southeast Side of East Tower: </p>

<p>IN HONOR<br>
OF THE MEN OF HARTFORD<br>
WHO SERVED<br>
AN IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FELL<br>
ON LAND AND SEA<br>
IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION<br>
THEIR GRATEFUL TOWNSMEN<br>
HAVE RAISED THIS MEMORIAL<br>
<br>
Southwest Side of the West Tower: </p>

<p>DURING THE CIVIL WAR<br>
1861-1865<br>
MORE THAN 4000 MENT OF HARTFORD<br>
BORE ARMS IN THE NATIONAL CAUSE<br>
NEARLY 400 OF WHOM DIED IN SERVICE<br>
----------------------<br>
ERECTED 1885<br>
----------------------<br>
GEORGE KELLER ARCHITECT &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; CASPAR
BUBERL &amp; SAMUEL KITSON SCULPTORS</p>

The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park was dedicated in 1886 to honor Hartford's Civil War Veterans. The arch was designed by George Keller, the city's leading architect at the time. The monument features elements designed to honor each of the four military branches of the Union- infantry, cavalry, artillery, and the navy. Then it was dedicated in 1886 it became the first permanent triumphal arch in America.  

Bushnell Park Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford

<p>Funds for the park were approved in 1854, but the park was not actually open to the public until the following decade. First there was the matter of selecting a suitable plot of land which proved difficult owing to the city's growth. The land that was eventually chosen needed to be cleared of several pigsties and had previously been used as a garbage dump. This land had become a nuisance and an eyesore given its location near the train station, something that made the conversion of this area into a park an even more attractive project for residents. The city hoped to hir Frederick Law Olmsted t design the pak. He was unavailable, however, due to a prior commitment to design New York's Central Park. Bushnell followed Olmsted’s recommendation that the city hire Swiss landscape architect Jacob Weidemann in his place.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Weidemann’s original design for what was then known as City Park followed what was known as the natural style, in contrast to the more formal style of village green typical of New England towns of the time. Weidemann was a botanist as well as an architect, and he arranged for a total of 1,100 trees and shrubs of 157 different varieties to be planted all throughout the park. This created a living "screen" of greenery that created a peaceful oasis amidst the city’s chaos. While some elements of the park’s original design have vanished, most notably the Park River which was buried in the 1940s, numerous other scenic elements and architectural features have been added over the past 150 years which add to the park’s beauty and charm.&nbsp;</p>

<p>One of Bushnell Park’s best-known attractions is its Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, erected in 1886 as a tribute to those who died in the Civil War. Not as celebrated, but also deserving of notice, is the 1927 allegorical sculpture <i>Spirit of Victory</i>, commemorating those Hartford men who served in the Spanish-American War. Park statuary includes Horace Wells, the Hartford dentist who discovered anesthesia, and Revolutionary War general Israel Putnam. The Corning Fountain, with its figures of several Native Americans of the Saukiog tribe, was gifted to the city by John Corning of the New York glass manufacturing company. This statue was meant to honor Corning’s Hartford-born father who had once operated a gristmill by the&nbsp;site where the fountain now flows.</p>

<p>No trip to the park would be complete without a visit to its famous carousel. The carousel was built in 1914, and spent its first six decades in an Ohio amusement park before being relocated to Hartford in 1976. Bushnell Park also features a pond, built to replace the original park pond that was drained when the Park River was buried after disastrous flooding. A performance pavilion added in the 1970s was built in a style that harmonizes with the park’s older structures.</p>

<p>Bushnell Park is open year-round and offers free ice skating on the pond during Winterfest, which runs from November through January. Other wintertime events include Santa’s Workshop, a Winter Solstice celebration, and chilly carousel rides. In springtime, the park resumes offering tours of some of its monuments. By summer, things are in full swing, with free outdoor movies, the re-opening of the carousel, and a Monday night jazz series that has been going on for 51 years. All in all, Reverend Bushnell would probably be quite pleased to see what’s become of his park – although he’s still waiting on that statue of himself that he’d (jokingly) requested be placed under a bridge that no longer stands.</p>

Bushnell Park became the nation's first publicly-funded park in 1854. The measure was led by Reverend Horace Bushnell, and thanks to his efforts, community members voted to spend $105,000 to purchase the land for the park. Hartford was thriving thanks to industries such as insurance, publishing, and munitions and the population of the city doubled over the course of a single decade. The downside to this economic growth could be felt by residents who became increasingly aware of the need for green space in the midst of the increasingly urban setting. The previous year, private investors in New York purchased land that was to become Central Park. The Reverend Bushnell, however, decided Hartford would be better served by a park that was owned by its citizenry. He worked tirelessly to advocate for the park which would one day bear his name in recognition of his efforts.

Bushnell Park

<b>James Batterson and Richard M. Upjohn<br></b>Connecticut business owner and political figure James Batterson was in the business of producing cemetery headstones and monuments, particularly Civil War monuments which became very popular in the later years of the 19th century. He then branched out into building construction. His firm was responsible for constructing the Connecticut State Capitol according to the designs created by architect Richard M. Upjohn.<br><b><br></b>Born in England in&nbsp;1828, Richard M.&nbsp;Upjohn grew up in New York and likely traveled abroad finding inspiration for his designs. His father Richard Upjohn Sr. (1802-1878) was also an architect, rising to prominence as the first president of&nbsp;the American Institute of Architects. Upjohn Sr.&nbsp;is best remembered for&nbsp;his Gothic Revival churches, especially Trinity Church in New York. From 1860 on, the two Upjohns often worked together on projects.<br><br><b>Design</b><br>Many of the building materials were local to New England, including marble from East Canaan, CT and granite from Westerly, RI. Atop the structure is an impressive gold leaf dome, encircled by 12 statues representing concepts such as&nbsp;agriculture, education, justice, and music. The design also includes a number of pointed arches, a typical feature of Gothic architecture.&nbsp;Inside, the floors are made of white and colored marble and red slate. Interior designer William James McPherson supplied the stained glass windows and light fixtures.&nbsp;<br><br><p>Sculptor&nbsp;<span>Randolph Rogers created a bronze statue known as&nbsp;<i></i><i></i>the&nbsp;</span><em>Genius of Connecticut</em> (original name:&nbsp;<em>The Angel of the Resurrection</em>), which adorned the Capitol's dome from 1878 until 1938, when it was damaged during a&nbsp;hurricane damaged it. Shortly afterward, it was melted down and used as&nbsp;scrap metal in WWII. Rogers's plaster model survived, however, and a new bronze replica was made to replace the original. It is now on view in the rotunda. She holds a wreath of dried flowers in one hand and a wreath of the state flower Mountain Laurel in the other. She wears leaves from a white oak tree (the state tree, symbolizing strength) on her head. Her wings symbolize protection of Connecticut's residents.&nbsp;</p><br>

Constructed between 1872 and 1879, the Connecticut State Capitol is situated in Bushnell Park. Its style is High Victorian Gothic, evoking the grandeur of medieval Gothic architecture. It was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, whose father Richard Upjohn Sr. is famous for his Gothic Revival churches and cathedrals. The father-son duo completed many projects together during the latter half of the 19th century. From 1979 to 1989, the State Capitol underwent extensive renovations to create new plaster- and iron-work, clean the marble floors, and restore the stenciling on the walls to its original condition. The building is open for tours year-round.

Connecticut State Capitol

<p>The Connecticut State Library and Supreme Court Building was designed by Donn Barber, a New York architect of the firm Carrere and Hastings. Barber was introduced to the needs of the State Government of Connecticut by his colleague at Carrere and Hastings, Edward T. Hapgood.&nbsp; While Hapgood is credited on the designs of the Library, documentation following the initial design submissions seems to indicate that the library was a project entirely undertaken by Barber. All of Barber’s work, including the library, features a style distinctly tied to Beaux-Arts of Paris, the world-renowned architecture college Barber attended before working with Carrere and Hastings.</p>



<p>Barber’s selection as architect for the Library came following an extensive vetting of submissions by a State Commission originally organized to make repairs to the State Capitol.&nbsp; During the inquiry process, the Commission discovered that more space was required for the State Library and Supreme Court, which were, at the time, housed in the Capitol Building.</p>



<p>Led by George Goddard, the State Librarian at the time, the project to create a permanent home for both the Supreme Court of Connecticut and the State Library was begun. In 1906, the commission began analyzing plans submitted by architects, which were refined over the following years. In 1909, the State Legislature passed a decision allowing for the permanent storage of any official documents submitted by officers of the government, government agencies, or qualified citizens.&nbsp;</p><p>From Barber and Hapgood’s plans, the project to create the Connecticut State Library began, and under Godard’s guidance, an impressive building was created.&nbsp; One of Godard’s most celebrated contributions as a&nbsp;leader of the effort can be found in the fireproofing, which was meticulous and thorough. Metal shelving and flame-retardant materials were used throughout the entire structure, resulting in what has been described by the State of Connecticut as a “fortress for books.”</p>



<p>In the design of the building, Barber worked to feature beautiful, austere stylistic elements without sacrificing function. This trait is advanced further in the other buildings he designed in Connecticut and Hartford in particular; his creations grew further from his Beaux-Arts roots as his portfolio grew.</p>



<p>The “Fortress of Books,” which still serves the people of Hartford and Connecticut as a whole to this day, is also valuable in the context of Barber’s other works in the city. Together, they provide a unique look into the evolution of not just a city but of a skilled architect as well.</p>The combined inclusion of unique European stylistic elements, safety features that were cutting edge at the time, and forward-thinking design decisions makes the Library and Supreme Court Building one of the architectural and functional cornerstones of the city.&nbsp;<br>

The Connecticut State Library and Supreme Court Building was designed by an influential architect whose career influenced the development of downtown Hartford through his design for this building which remains one of Connecticut’s most important institutions. The library is home to vast collection of state documents and from 1909 forward, the state library system served as a central repository for all official records. The library is home to Connecticut's repository of the development, growth, and evolution of its government and legal history.

The Connecticut State Library and Supreme Court Building

<p>Built in 1782, the Butler-McCook House is the last eighteenth-century home remaining on Hartford's Main Street. The historic home's exterior looks very similar to its original design. The Butlers and McCooks documented the growth of Main Street from the days of the American Revolution until the mid-twentieth century, making the house the perfect spot for a museum; the home now houses Hartford's Main Street History Center and is available for tours by advance reservation. The Butler-McCook House is also home to a restored Victorian ornamental garden, which was originally designed in 1865. The property is also available to rent.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Hartford Public Library offers an additional opportunity to explore the history of Main Street, as its History Center which is located on the library's third floor offers a self-guided exhibit, "Witnesses of Main Street," and a guided tour that focuses on the Butler-McClure family during the 19th century.</p>

Built in 1782, the Butler-McCook House is the last eighteenth-century home remaining on Hartford's Main Street.  The historic home's exterior looks very similar to its original design. The Butlers and McCooks documented the growth of Main Street from the days of the American Revolution until the mid-twentieth century. The historic home operates as a museum and is available for tours by advance reservation.

Butler-McCook House & Garden

<b>Congregation Beth Israel (CBI)</b><br>The congregation was able to form in the aftermath of an 1843 decision to expand religious freedom in Connecticut. Prior to this year, Jews were forbidden from conducting public services or constructing synagogues. Connecticut's Jewish population was small, but by the mid-19th century, it was active enough to petition the Connecticut General Assembly&nbsp;for greater religious rights. The Assembly agreed to allow Jews freedom of worship, paving the way for the establishment of Jewish congregations and synagogues in Connecticut.<br><br>CBI's founding members were primarily German Jews who had immigrated to the United States during the 19th century. As of 1877, around the time of the Charter Oak temple's construction, Connecticut's Jewish population is estimated at 1500 (Ransom, p. 8). This number would rise dramatically in the following decades, large numbers of Eastern European Jews also immigrated to the US.<br><br>The 1870s also saw considerable changes within the traditionally Orthodox congregation. Many members wished to adopt Reform practices (e.g. installation of a choir, acquisition of an organ, changes in worship and prayer books). Ultimately, CBI members in favor of Reform won out over those preferring Orthodox Judaism. In 1874, the community appointed Dr. Solomon Deutsch, a committed reformer, as its rabbi. <br><br>Two years later, the Charter Oak Synagogue opened its doors. This architecturally striking building was designed by George Keller in the Romanesque Revival style. Like Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Charter Oak Temple took inspiration from&nbsp;Berlin's New Synagogue on Oranienburgerstrasse. As the first purpose-built synagogue in Connecticut, Charter Oak temple would then go on to inspire the design and aesthetic of future Connecticut synagogues.<br><br><br><br><br><br>

The Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford began as a synagogue for Congregation Beth Israel (CBI), one of Connecticut's earliest Jewish communities, which had previously conducted services in homes, workplaces, and a converted church. Built in 1876, the Charter Oak temple drew design inspiration from Berlin's New Synagogue on Oranienburgerstrasse (built 1859-66). It is the oldest synagogue building in Connecticut. During the 1930s, CBI moved to the suburbs of West Hartford and built a new synagogue there, Temple Beth Israel. No longer in use as a synagogue, the Charter Oak building has now become a cultural center.

Charter Oak Cultural Center

<p><b>Architecture:</b><br></p><p>The red-brick&nbsp;house features a&nbsp;gambrel roof. It is a&nbsp;high-style urban townhouse, representative of urban architecture from the time period in larger cities (such as New York or Philadelphia), though unusual in a smaller city like Hartford. Only three other 18th-century buildings in Hartford still survive.&nbsp;</p><p><b>Amos Bull (1744-1825):</b><br></p><p></p><p>Amos Bull was born in Enfield, Connecticut. In 1766, he attempted to publish a book of songs entitled&nbsp;<i>The New Universal Psalmodist</i>, but he was unable to raise enough funds. Working as a singing master, Bull traveled around the Northeast, living in New York, Wallingford, Middletown, and New London, Connecticut, In 1788, he settled in Hartford, and his house was completed in 1789.&nbsp;</p><p>He ran a store out of&nbsp;his home's first floor, selling dry goods, linens, hardware, and various household objects. He announced in 1804 that he would open a school for Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, and in 1812, also opened a night school.&nbsp;Meanwhile, he continued his involvement in music, serving as the choir director at South Congregational Church. In 1795, three decades after his initial attempt, he succeeded in publishing a book of music:&nbsp;<i>The Responsary</i>, a book of common British psalms, plus 37 tunes and 12 anthems composed by Bull himself. Bull sold his home in 1821. He died in Hartford in 1825.</p><p><b>Aftermath:</b></p><p>The house faced demolition in 1968. It was then placed on the National Register of Historic Places (Connecticut's first building to receive that honor), and Hartford residents came together to save the building. Thanks to&nbsp;Frances McCook, it was relocated to the Butler-McCook property, where it&nbsp;was then converted into the headquarters of the Connecticut Historical Commission. It filled this role until from 1971 to 2007.</p><p>After further extensive renovations (costing approximately $2.5 million) to bring the Amos Bull house up to city codes, it was opened as a community education center in 2014.<br></p><p><br></p>

Originally used as a dry goods store and residence in the 18th century, the Amos Bull House has also served as a hardware store, auto dealership, insurance offices, and restaurant over the years. It was nearly demolished in the 1960s, saved only through the actions of concerned Hartford residents, and has been relocated from its original location.

Amos Bull House

<p>The Atheneum got its start with the Gothic Revival Wadsworth building, constructed between 1842 and 1844 on property belonging to Atheneum sponsor Daniel Wadsworth. When the Wadsworth "castle" opened, it housed not only an&nbsp;art gallery, but also the Connecticut Historical Society, the Young Men’s Institute (a precursor of the Hartford Public Library), and the Natural History Society, and in the 1864 added the Watkinson reference library. Today, the Atheneum's oldest building is actually used to exhibit some of its newest artifacts, with galleries dedicated to art from the 20th and 21st centuries. This building also houses the Amistad Center, which celebrates African-American art and culture.</p><p>By the turn of the last century, the Wadsworth collection was growing too large to be housed in just one building, so the museum directors commissioned&nbsp;Benjamin Wistar Morris to designed the Tudor Revival Colt Memorial of 1910 and the Renaissance Revival Morgan Memorial of 1910-15 to supply&nbsp;more space. The Atheneum had struggled a bit during the 1880s, even being closed to the public between 1884 and 1886, Luckily, several "angels" stepped in to support the institution, and in the 1890s, the first of these, one J. Pierpont Morgan, sponsored some much-needed renovations. A later donation from Morgan, and a similar bequest from Elizabeth Colt (widow of arms maker Samuel), allowed for the construction of the buildings that bear their names. The Morgan building is used to house art works from ancient times up through the 19th century.</p><p>In 1934, the Avery Memorial opened. It&nbsp;was the earliest museum building in the United States with a modern International Style interior. While the building's genesis was due to namesake donor Samuel P. Avery, Jr., whose father had founded the Metropilitan Museum of Art, its style may owe something to the Atheneum's director at the time.&nbsp; A. Everett “Chick” Austin, Jr. had a passion for modern interior design, and the dressing room he created for his wife in their unique home is one of the country's first International Style residential interiors. Today the Avery Memorial exhibits American art and decorative arts, the latter collection including a number of antique firearms donated by Elizabeth Colt. Chick Austin's house also now belongs to the museum, although it is not part of the main complex and is only open for limited tours a few times a month.</p><p>In 1965 the Atheneum broke ground on its most recent addition, the&nbsp;late modernist Goodwin building. This was named after&nbsp;James Lippincott Goodwin, a prominent architect who had served as one of the museum's trustees before his death in 1958. The architects responsible for this structure were a local firm,&nbsp;Huntington, Darbee and Dollard. At the dawn of the millennium, this new building's future was suddenly in doubt. Plans for museum expansion circa 2000 called for demolishing it in order to construct a larger museum expansion. With a change in leadership, plans for any new construction were scrapped, along with plans for demolition. While much-needed renovations were put on hold for the time being, at least the Goodwin Building would be spared from the wrecking ball.</p><p>In September 2015, the Wadsworth Atheneum finished a five year long&nbsp;$33 million renovation. This renovation put aside addition and expansion in favor of&nbsp;extensive repairs and upgrades to 32 galleries and 15 public spaces throughout the museum's five interconnected buildings. These renovations received wide press coverage and were met with high praise from media outlets including the Boston Globe, the Economist, the Wall Street Journbal, and the New York Times. The TImes, in particular, praised the Atheneum's renovations as a perfect example for how such things should be done, remaining true to the spirit of the museum's founders while ensuring that modern patrons' expectations are met.</p>

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the oldest public art museum in the United States, was founded in 1842 by Daniel Wadsworth, one of the first important American patrons of the arts.  Its collections include around 50,000 works of art produced over a 5,000-year time span. Visitors can enjoy the Morgan collection of Greek and Roman antiquities and European decorative arts; baroque and surrealist paintings; an acclaimed collection of Hudson River School landscapes; European and American Impressionist paintings; modernist masterpieces; the Serge Lifar collecton of Ballets Russes drawings and costumes; the George A. Gay collection of prints; the Wallace Nutting collection of American colonial furniture and decorative arts; the Samuel Colt firearms collection; costumes and textiles; African American art and artifacts; and contemporary art. Although Daniel Wadsworth at first planned to open “a Gallery of Fine Arts,” he was instead convinced to establish an “atheneum,” a cultural institution that included a library, works of art, artifacts, and a mission of promoting history, literature, art and science.

Wadsworth Atheneum

<div>The historic church, built in 1807, serves as a memorial to Thomas Hooker and is considered by many to be the “father of Connecticut." Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was born in Leicestershire, England and attended Cambridge University where he felt moved by God to become a minister, a conversion experience central the Puritan faith that emerged from within the Church of England during the late 16th century.&nbsp; Though he had no plans to leave the Church of England, threats of prosecution forced him to flee and join fellow Puritans in Holland before eventually sailing to North America in 1633 to meet John Cotton and the Puritan settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Hooker's theological differences with that group then pushed him and his followers to Connecticut, where he established the colony and a new church in 1637.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Although Hooker is labeled the "father of Connecticut," when he and roughly 100 other Puritans traveled to what is now Hartford, they encountered a few English settlements in the Connecticut Valley as well as plenty of indigenous communities. Additionally, a Dutch fort stood at the mouth of the Little River (later the Park River), slightly south of Hartford's current location. The group, led by Hooker, settled in the area and named their settlement Hartford after Hertford, England, the birthplace of Samuel Stone, a teacher who accompanied the group.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Along with establishing the church, Hooker greatly influenced local polity, even preaching on the subject of how governments should answer to the people. As a result, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established a civil government and written constitution that officially separated it from Massachusetts, recognized by Charles II in 1662 as the Connecticut Colony. Indeed, the constitution can be understood as the first of its kind in the colonies as it bound all members to the rule of law. This&nbsp;document, along with other colonial laws, influenced later thoughts about the nature of law and democracy leading up to&nbsp;and beyond the American Revolution.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In an age when church and state where not separate, Hooker's influence over the colonial government cannot be overstated as he became one of New England's leading Puritan theologians. The first, modest Meeting House opened its doors in 1636 followed by a second, more permanent structure in 1640, which included glass windows and a small steeple. The second meeting house served the community until 1739, and then, finally, the historic building arrived in 1807.</div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, the Ancient Burying Ground located next to the First Church was set apart by the town in 1610, serving as the city's only cemetery until 1803.&nbsp; It is believed that Hooker is buried in the cemetery, although no market exists (some speculate his body rests under the newer pulpit recess). Other notables include Puritan leaders, a former governor, and the first child born in Connecticut to European parents.</div><div><br></div>

The First Church of Christ is Hartford's oldest church congregation, founded in 1637 by Puritan leader Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647). Hooker, along with roughly 100 followers, split from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1836, four years after the group had arrived in North America. Hooker not only established the new church in Hartford but also influenced the creation of the Colony of Connecticut as a democratic society bound by a written constitution. The present building is the congregation's fourth building and was completed in 1807. Meanwhile, the adjacent Ancient Burying Ground dates back to 1640 and served as the city's only cemetery until 1803.  

First Church of Christ and the Ancient Burying Ground

<div>The building opened its doors in 1904, but the organization's history dates back to 1873 when several local clubs merged together to&nbsp;form the Hartford Club. The organization's membership was limited to men and quickly gained a reputation as a literary club, especially when Samuel Clemens joined in 1881. Besides literary figures, numerous influential and wealthy people of Hartford joined the club so that by the turn-of-the-century it served the city as a center of political and financial brokering. The club continually sought larger spaces for which to host its members, notably after merging with the Colonial Club in 1901. Hence, the 1904 building served as its grandest home and has remained its home through the twenty-first century.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The original club met for the first time in August 1873 after absorbing members of the Twilight Club and several organizations named for when they met -- Monday Evening Club, Saturday Club, and Thursday Club. Founding members included publishers, state attorneys, authors and numerous men of wealth -- a trend that continued for most of its history. After renting spaces for thirty years, the merging of its organization with the Colonial Club proved to be the catalyst for the funding a permanent space.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Designed by Robert D. Andrews of the architectural firm of Andrews, Jacques, and Rantoul, The Hartford Club serves as an exemplary model of the fully-developed Georgian Revival style made popular during the early twentieth century, primarily due to the influence of the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) of 1893 in Chicago. The building opened to members on New Years Day, 1904. The members also raised funds to build a separate building in 1913 that included a bowling alley, squash courts, and a ballroom, but that structure was torn down in the late 1960s.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Throughout the twentieth century, prominent Hartford citizens joined the club, including every Governor. Indeed, Governor Wilbur Cross, a widower, chose to live at the club rather than at the Governor's Residence during his term. Given the wealth and influence of its members, it is not surprising that countless political campaigns included fundraising events held at the club.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>As the nation changed culturally, so did the club -- minorities and women eventually made their way into the club. A woman first ate lunch in the main dining room in 1963, and then Laura Johnson became the first accepted member of the club in 1972, nearly 100 years after the club's inception. Eleven years later, in 1983, the membership elected Margaret Lawson as the club's first woman President.&nbsp; In 1999, Richard Weaver-Bey became the club's first African American President.&nbsp;</div>

This building was constructed in 1904 by the members of the Hartford Club, an organization that was established in 1873 and included influential members such as Samuel Clemons (Mark Twain). The building serves as an excellent example of Georgian Revival style of architecture. The club has hosted countless civic functions, political events, and charitable fundraisers. The club was only open to men for much of its first century. After the 1960s, the members agreed to accept women as full members and the organization more closely matches the diversity of the city. 

Tour of Historic Hartford Connecticut

Municipal Building (City Hall)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources