Saturday, May 2: Tour of Asylum Hill churches

Four historic churches on Asylum Hill, each with its own unique architecture, will be the focus of a Hartford Preservation Alliance walking tour: Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Asylum Avenue Baptist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, and The Cathedral of Saint Joseph.

The tour, sponsored by the Women's Spirituality & Fellowship Committee of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 2, from the parking lot of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, at 814 Asylum Avenue. (Directions)

The tour will be given by Professor Dorothy Bosch Keller, chairperson of the Department of Fine Arts and Performing Arts at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford. The fee is $10.

For further information, contact the Hartford Preservation Alliance at 860.570.0331 or info@hartfordpreservation.org.

Thursday, May 7: Walking tour of the Ancient Burying Ground (and more)

Suggestion to Connecticut Landmarks' Butler-McCook House & Garden & Main Street History Center: Shorten your name.

That said, the mustard-colored house at 396 Main Street, opposite Capitol Avenue, will host some great events in conjunction with the next First Thursday:

-- A walking tour of the Ancient Burying Ground led by Ruth Shapleigh Brown, executive director of the Connecticut Gravestone Network. The Burying Ground, located near the corner of Main and Gold streets, is Hartford's oldest historic property. The tour will depart promptly from the Butler-McCook House at 3:15 and return by 4:30. It's a short walk.

-- A stone carving demonstration by Ty Tryon, board member of the Ancient Burying Ground Association and coordinator of conservation projects for historic gravestones. The demonstration will take place in the Victorian garden of Butler-McCook from 4:30 to 5:30.

-- A "history happy hour" from 5:30 to 7:30, featuring an exhibition of Ancient Burying Ground photographs by Hartford-based photojournalist Nick Lacy. Every stone in the graveyard was photographed for the exhibit, called "Stories in Stone." The happy hour will also feature Spanish, Latin, and classical music by guitarist Lorena Garay.

Everything is free, with donations suggested for wine and light refreshments.

Don't miss the history happening around you

Of course, how can you NOT be a witness to it when they close off your street to hold a parade? I refer, of course, to Sunday's parade through downtown by the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, which went 39-0 on its way to a national championship.

Maybe we ought to hold one of these every weekend until the hard times are over. ("We made it through another week!")

Guess which city nonprofit turns 200 this year?

It's the Village for Families & Children Inc., which has marked the occasion by launching a three-year, $5 million fund-raising campaign as well as this nifty slide show on its long history of good works for the people of Hartford and surrounding communities.

The layers of history

Behold, the parking lot behind 18-20 Trinity Street in downtown Hartford. It's where I work, and walking past this exposed brickwork every day reminds me that all kinds of history in our fair city has been paved over, painted over, or otherwise covered up. (To be fair, though, my building still maintains a brick driveway.) The next time you walk past a street repair project, take a peek--from a safe distance--at what's being exposed. It might include some old trolley tracks, as happened a while back on Farmington Avenue, right in front of the Aetna.