The HartfordHistory.net News Blog, Dedicated to the History of Hartford, Connecticut

Remembering G. Fox & Co.

2012-02-17T19:36:00.000-05:00

How did I miss this? The Connecticut Historical Society has an online exhibit entitled "Remembering G. Fox & Co." It's wonderful, with lots of information and lots of photos, all well-presented. There's also a page where people can share their memories of the downtown department store, which opened in 1847 and closed in 1993.

Yours truly worked at G. Fox as a shoe salesman during his college years, in the early 1980s. It was still a hub of downtown Hartford but clearly losing business to suburban malls and strip malls--which, maddeningly for downtown boosters, often included G. Fox satellite stores. For prior generations, the downtown store had been integral to their sense of what "Hartford" meant, right there with the insurance companies, the parks, or any other institution you could name.

Here's hoping someone will create a similar tribute someday to G. Fox's competitor and next-door neighbor, Sage-Allen & Co.

The Books page has been updated!

2012-01-08T15:48:00.003-05:00

Here are the books just added to the Books page of HartfordHistory.net:

"Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival," by Matt Warshauer, published in 2011 by the Wesleyan University Press;
"Hidden History of Connecticut," by Wilson Faude, published in 2010 by The History Press;
"William Gillette, America's Sherlock Holmes, by Henry Zecher, published in 2011 by Xlibris;
"Remembering the Old Neighborhood: Stories from Hartford's North End," edited by Joan Walden, published in 2009 by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford; and
"Puritan Parker: Historical Narrative of Sergeant William Parker, One of the Founders of Hartford, Connecticut and a Veteran of the Pequot Indian War of 1637," by Bernard S. Parker, published in 2011 by CreateSpace.

They join another work added earlier:

"Crowbar Governor: The Life and Times of Morgan Gardner Bulkeley," by Kevin Murphy, published in 2011 by Wesleyan University Press.

If you know of any other books concerning city history that came out in the past year but haven’t appeared on the Books page yet, let me know.

50th anniversary of the other Hartford fire

2011-12-13T15:41:00.005-05:00

If Americans associate Hartford with any historical event, it’s probably the circus fire of 1944. But last week marked the 50th anniversary of another deadly Hartford fire that had far-ranging effects on the rest of the country. On December 8, 1961, flames raced through a wing on the ninth floor of Hartford Hospital, leaving 16 dead. The anniversary provided the occasion for a ceremony at the hospital and look-backs by the local news media. Hartford Courant Staff Writer William Weir wrote an especially vivid article, with great quotes from hospital staff who were there that day.

Investigators later blamed the fire on a smoldering cigarette that had been tossed into a trash chute, which ran through all 13 floors of the hospital. When someone opened a door somewhere along the chute's pathway, it provided the oxygen for a fireball that blew through the chute's ninth-floor door. Weir explains why the fire changed hospital safety throughout the country:

As a result of the 1961 fire, the National Fire Protection Association made changes in its 1963 Life Safety Code for hospitals, including requiring sprinklers for trash chutes, requiring that all barriers be built for one-hour fire resistance and requiring that all draperies and curtains have fire-resistant coatings.

Television station WTIC-TV, Channel 3, shot some dramatic footage that day, as the fire raged and rescuers worked frantically. Its successor station, Eyewitness News 3 (WFSB), pulled some of it from the vaults. The station also posted this footage, without audio.

NBC Connecticut (WVIT) had nice video from the hospital's remembrance ceremony and interviews with rescuers and hospital staff.

Historic designation for Fairfield Avenue

2011-09-20T13:37:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to the Fairfield Avenue Neighbors Association for getting Fairfield Avenue designated a National Historic District. To celebrate, the Association will hold a ceremony and social gathering at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 2, at the Memorial Baptist Church, at 142 Fairfield Avenue. Mayor Pedro Segarra and state Senator John Fonfara are slated to give remarks.

The National Register of Historic Places offers this list of other places in Hartford County to win Historic District designation. (Sorry, the Register doesn't give a breakdown by town or city.)

Arch photos!

2011-09-20T13:31:00.052-04:00

If, like me, you missed the ceremonies last Saturday to mark the 125th anniversary of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in downtown Hartford, there's still a great consolation gift from the State Library: a collection of vintage photos. It's fascinating to see how much the scenery around the Arch has changed over the years, with the Arch itself remaining the same, seeming to stand aloof from time.

A great Connecticut history blog

2011-09-20T13:11:00.000-04:00

An absolute "must read" for anyone interested in our state's history is the Connecticut History blog published by the Connecticut Humanities Council. From the "today in history" posts to entries like a recent sampling of magazine ads run by Connecticut manufacturers during World War II, everything is interesting and well-written. There's nothing like day-in and day-out writing like this to help you appreciate the depth and variety of our history.

Irene brings back memories of Hartford's hurricane past

2011-08-27T23:12:00.001-04:00

The looming of Hurricane Irene is sending people back to the archives for information and pictures on similar events in Hartford history. The State Library, for instance, has kindly posted its photos of the 1938 hurricane. Meanwhile, WTNH-TV (News 8) state Capitol reporter Mark Davis has written about the 1936 floods. Hartford had always been prone to flooding, but it was these two events that finally led to construction of the current dikes along the Connecticut River and the underground piping of the Hog River, which flowed through downtown and out into the Connecticut. That work, by the way, was federally funded.

For some perspective on just how high the river rose in '36 and '38, here's a photo I took a couple of years ago at Riverside Park, where they have plaques indicating the high-water marks for major floods.

Hartford law firm marking 225th year

2011-08-21T11:58:00.000-04:00

The Hartford Courant reports that the law firm of Howard, Kohn, Sprague and FitzGerald is celebrating its 225th anniversary this year and claims it's the oldest continually practicing law firm in the U.S. Among the firm's long list of clients: Mark Twain.

The history of Howard, Kohn, located at 237 Buckingham Street, is detailed on its website. For perspective on how far back the firm traces its history, consider that 1786 was also the year that leading figures in the newly created United States met to discuss possible changes in the none-too-successful Articles of Confederation. Those talks led to the convention that produced the U.S. Constitution.

Peter Falk got his acting start in Hartford

2011-06-25T18:45:00.003-04:00

The New York Times notes in its obituary of actor Peter Falk, who died Thursday night at age 83, that the "Columbo" star got the acting bug while making a living as, of all things, an efficiency expert with the state budget office in Hartford. Falk had grown up in and around New York City, served a stint in the Merchant Marine as a cook, and eventually earned a degree in political science from the New School for Social Research in New York and a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University. Sometime during his Hartford stay, he joined the Mark Twain Masquers, a well-regarded troupe of amateur actors. That led to taking acting classes in Westport from Eva Le Gallienne, who convinced him to put away his brief case and act full-time. He left Hartford at age 29.

In a 2006 interview with the Hartford Courant to publicize his just-published memoir, Falk recalled his days here:

"They hired me as an efficiency expert. I wasn't very efficient. The first day on the job, I was looking for the Capitol building. This magnificent building, surrounded with a magnificent lawn and sitting up on a knoll high up above the rest of the city, and I can't find it. I wound up at the post office."

Yet, going to Hartford "turned out to be the luckiest thing that ever happened to me," Falk added. "I found this outstanding theater group" -- the Masquers, who disbanded in 2001, after 69 seasons.

Courant Staff Writer Susan Dunne noted in the 2006 article that her newspaper's first review of a Falk performance came with the Masquers' staging of Clifford Odets' "The Country Girl" on April 6, 1954. The unnamed critic didn't care much for Falk's performance--or get his name right:

"Folk turns in a capable performance. However, at times, one might get the impression that he at one time was a great admirer of James Cagney."

But over the next year or so, the reviews improved dramatically.

"If it wasn't for the Mark Twain Masquers, I don't know where my life would have gone," Falk said.

Looking for info on Hartford theaters?

2011-06-23T15:31:00.001-04:00

Start your search at Cinema Treasures, a newly redesigned website that has cataloged more than 30,000 "dream palaces" around the world, including those that are long gone. A search for "Hartford, CT" theaters brought 24 results. While the descriptions might be perfunctory, it's the recollections posted by visitors that make the site fascinating.

No more Saturday tours of the Capitol

2011-05-18T22:44:00.003-04:00

The word went out this week that Saturday tours of the state Capitol have been discontinued "due to budget constraints." The tours, conducted by the League of Women Voters, will continue as normal on weekdays, at 9:15, 10:15, 11:15, 12:15 and 1:15. If you've never taken this tour, find a way to get a morning off for it -- you won't be disappointed. The League is very dedicated to this work; the guides really know their stuff. Here's where you can learn more.

'Making Connecticut' exhibit to open at CHS

2011-05-18T22:27:00.001-04:00

The new exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society, set to open May 25, sounds like it could be fun for the youngsters:

"Colorful, interactive, and filled with more than 500 historic objects, images, and documents, "Making Connecticut" is the story of all the people of Connecticut, from the 1500s through today. Themes of daily life, clothing, transportation, sports and leisure, work, and social change run throughout the exhibit. Hands-on activities for kids (and adults!) include working a World War II assembly line, hand stenciling designs for a 19th-century chair, sewing a Native American moccasin, replacing bobbins in a textile mill, and cooking a meal and setting the table in both a colonial and a 1980s kitchen. Come be surprised, inspired, and amused as you explore our state's past and your own place in 'Making Connecticut.'"

This is just too sad for words

2011-03-21T19:20:00.000-04:00

"When Newsweek recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, 29 percent couldn’t name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar."

Read more, if you can stand it, at the Daily Beast.

Connecticut in the Civil War

2011-03-18T13:37:00.002-04:00

April brings the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, so the history magazine Connecticut Explored (formerly the Hog River Journal), has dedicated its latest issue to Connecticut's role in the conflict. Articles include: "Heroes of the Home Front" (how women’s deeds honored their country); "Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War" (Glastonbury’s Gideon Welles brings order out of chaos); "Connecticut Arms the Union" (rifles, revolvers, and shells that sound “like the shriek of a demon"); "Memorials to a Nation Preserved" (the great sacrifice remembered in stone and bronze); and "Soldier’s Heart" (possible PTSD among Civil War veterans).

Hartford 375 essay contest winners announced

2011-02-27T20:07:00.050-05:00

As part of its celebration of Hartford's 375th anniversary, the city held an essay contest for public school students, asking them: What aspect of Hartford’s history is most significant to preserve for the next 375 years and why? At the February 14 City Council meeting, Mayor Pedro Segarra announced the winners. The mayor had served as one of the judges, along with Council President rJo Winch, Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski, Connecticut Science Center President and CEO Matt Fleury, and historian Wilson Faude.

The winners and their essays, in PDF format:

First prize: Mario Lopez Silva, a senior at Bulkeley High School. He wrote on the role of diversity in Hartford's history.
Second prize: Vidalys Traverzo, a junior at the Law and Government Academy at Hartford Public High School. She wrote on the importance of preserving Hartford's parks.
Third prize: Paul Pino, also junior at the Law and Government Academy at HPHS. He wrote on the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

Bill O'Reilly, Hartford reporter

2011-02-26T01:51:00.001-05:00

Dennis House has another O'Reilly photo on his blog.

Love him or hate him, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has to be added to the long list of national media figures whose resumes include stops in Hartford. If you lived here in the fall of 1979 and tuned into WFSB-TV, Channel 3 for your news, there was Bill, in appropriate late-'70s blow-dried coif, reporting on stuff like the Windsor Locks tornado or the Harry Chapin concert at the Civic Center.

Channel 3's Dennis House announces in his Hartfordite blog that he's located videotapes of O'Reilly's reports and will air some of them this Sunday morning on his public-affairs show, “Face the State with Dennis House.” If that's not incentive enough to tune in at 11 a.m., Dennis has this teaser: "I also found videotape of O’Reilly in a sea of screaming girls waiting to meet the big teen idol of ’79. You’ll see who that was on Sunday."

New trivia question!

2011-02-25T16:41:00.001-05:00

Who was the first African-American elected to public office in Hartford? Find out here.

A Capitol idea for a website

2011-02-20T16:41:00.005-05:00

The State Capitol Preservation and Restoration Commission has been around since 1973, but it only recently launched a website, at www.cga.ct.gov/cprc. The site is a beauty, with a nice history of the state Capitol and grounds, great photos, and lots of information on current projects.

The Capitol underwent a massive restoration between 1978 and 1988, but preservation of a historic landmark is never finished, especially when it comes to such a prominent -- and still-heavily-used -- symbol of Connecticut history. The current projects include a "Green Capitols" effort to keep rainwater from running off into the already-overburdened city sewer system by installing rain gardens, rain harvesting systems, and new walkways that allow the water to filter into the ground. Then there's the effort to replace the 1878 bronze Genius figure, which sat atop the Capitol dome until it was damaged in the 1938 hurricane and finally was melted down for ammunition and machine parts in World War II. A new bronze casting, made with laser measurements of the original plaster model, is complete but can't be hoisted to the dome until $200,000 is found for the operation. For now, it's on display in the Capitol lobby, along with the plaster model.

Congratulations to the state legislature's Information Technology Services staff for building a site that's sure to raise the profile of a great landmark.

Get ready for the Connecticut Freedom Trail website

2011-02-03T22:12:00.003-05:00

Update: The site is live now, and you'll find a brochure here.

The public is invited to a reception at the state Capitol on Thursday, February 17, to mark the launch of www.ctfreedomtrail.org, a site to show off the Connecticut Freedom Trail. In case you're unfamiliar with the Trail, here's how the state Commission on Culture and Tourism describes it:

In recognizing the importance to Connecticut of numerous sites in the state that are associated with the heritage and movement towards freedom of its African American citizens, the Connecticut General Assembly in 1995 authorized that these locations be developed into a Freedom Trail. Included on the trail are buildings reported to have been used on the Underground Railroad, sites associated with the Amistad case of 1839-1842, and grave sites, monuments, homes, and other structures that represent the concept of freedom so cherished in the American mind.

The reception is sponsored by the Commission, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, state Senator Toni N. Harp, the Amistad Committee Inc., the Connecticut Freedom Trail Committee. It begins at 1 p.m. in the Old Judiciary Room of the Capitol, at 210 Capitol Avenue in Hartford. Here's a flyer.

So Long, Hartford Conservatory

2010-10-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

After 120 years as one of the cultural and educational wellsprings of Hartford, the Hartford Conservatory will shut down next spring. This Hartford Courant editorial lists the reasons; so does this announcement from the Conservatory's trustees.

The editorial also gives a nice outline of the Conservatory's history:

"The conservatory was founded in 1890 by some of the city's leading families as the Hartford School of Music, and is now located in two historic Victorian buildings on Asylum Avenue. Generations of Hartford youngsters went to the conservatory for music lessons. Its concerts and recitals were among the city's leading entertainments for years; it even had its own orchestra, the Hartford Civic Orchestra."

History, art, and a wild bicycle ride

2010-09-08T11:43:00.001-04:00

Real Art Ways, the nerve center of contemporary art in Hartford, will hold "Real Ride hARTford" on Saturday, September 18, starting at 6 p.m. Here's how RAW describes it:

"Ride with us through 35 years of Real Art Ways history. From public art projects commissioned by Real Art Ways to our former locations, this fun tour will show you Hartford’s art scene like you’ve never seen in before."

Here's video from last year's ride:

Thirty-five years isn't long by the standards of Hartford institutions, but in the difficult world of contemporary and alternative art, that's an eternity. After occupying several spaces downtown in the '70s and '80s, RAW moved into the old Underwood typewriter factory on Arbor Street and eventually embarked on a renovation project that made it one of the most vibrant places in Hartford. (Check out the great movie theater sometime.) But just as importantly, RAW constantly seeks to build community with events like this one.

Two new trivia questions

2010-08-30T04:32:00.000-04:00

You'll find them here.

'Papermainia Plus' this weekend

2010-08-27T15:23:00.001-04:00

Enjoying the postcards on HartfordHistory.net? Want some of your own? Your big chance comes on Saturday and Sunday, when "Papermania Plus" comes to the XL Center. It's an antique paper show where vendors sell postcards, posters, magazines, prints, autographs, photographs, trading cards--anything that's a) old and b) made of paper. See you there!

Appreciating Elizabeth Park

2010-08-27T12:01:00.000-04:00

Colin McEnroe's mid-day talk show on WNPR (90.5 FM) was devoted Thursday to a really nice discussion of the value and beauty of Elizabeth Park, famous for its rose gardens. "A park is so much more than just a piece of land, and there are certain city parks that invite a rich mix of people bursting with creative, amorous and physical energies," Colin writes. "We think Elizabeth Park in Hartford and West Hartford is such a place." You can listen to the show here.

The park was created from land donated by industrialist Charles M. Pond. Show your love by donating to the nonprofit Friends of Elizabeth Park.

A great day for 'base ball' in Colt Park

2010-08-24T22:20:00.003-04:00

OK, it took me long enough to post them, but here are a video clip and photos from the "Boost Hartford Day" triple-header that Hartford-based Friends of Vintage Base Ball held in Colt Park two Saturdays ago. It was a beautiful day for 1860s- and 1880s-style ball. Hartford Courant columnist and editor Tom Condon threw out the first pitch before the second game, with Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra doing the honors for the third game. Unfortunately, I wasn't around for the mayor's toss, but Tom Condon's superb form (maybe it was the Curt Schilling t-shirt?) is captured below. That's FOVB Commissioner Gary "Pops" Goldberg-O'Maxfield making the introduction.

Friends of Vintage Base Ball is a great ambassador for Hartford. It will hold a fund-raiser on October 21, but don't be shy about making a contribution in the meantime.

This is a very, very good idea

2010-07-29T23:01:00.001-04:00

What is Hartford's most important historical asset? For my money, it's the park system. It's beautiful, iconic, and--above all--useful, giving recreation, greenery, and a little peace of mind to everyone since Victorian times. But as heavily used as the parks are, they're also heavily abused: Too many people treat them as giant trash cans. That's why it's great to see the new mayor, Pedro Segarra, announce a "Week of the Parks" for August 23-28. According to his press release, city crews (including some seasonal hires) will descend on a different park each day for a clean-up. A one-shot, feel-good project? Yeah, maybe. But it's a long-overdue start. And it'll at least get people thinking about the value of Hartford parks. No investment of time, money, or hope in them is wasted.

The trivia page is back!

2010-07-28T21:16:00.001-04:00

The trivia questions were always the most popular feature of the old HartfordHistory.net, and I'm hoping fans will be pleased with how I'm presenting them in the new version. Rather than posting a question and making you wait a week (or longer) for the answer, I'm posting the answer along with the question -- you just have to hold your mouse over a hyperlink to read it. So instead of me torturing you, you can torture yourself ... if that's your thing. I haven't decided yet whether to try again at keeping a weekly schedule or simply post them in batches, as time allows. Stay tuned...

Stay tuned as well for news on what happened to all of the old trivia questions. They'll return soon in a new format. (That's the plan, anyway.)

Saturday at CHS: "Reflections on Hartford’s Kellogg Brothers"

2010-07-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

Alas, back in 19th-century Hartford, no one was posting video clips of their lives on YouTube. But we do have the work of the Kellogg Brothers, who created prints that depicted the city's everyday life in detail.

The Connecticut Historical Society will wrap up its six-month exhibition of Kellogg prints on Saturday, July 17, with a panel discussion among Georgia B. Barnhill of the American Antiquarian Society, Donald H. Cresswell of the Philadelphia Print Shop, and collectors James Brust and John Zak.

The event begins at 3:30 p.m. at the CHS museum at 1 Elizabeth Street in Hartford. There's no charge beyond general admission to the museum, which is $6 for adults and $3 for seniors (65 and over), students (with valid college ID), and youth (ages 6-17). For more information, call (860) 236-5621 x209.

By the way, CHS has published a book of its Kellogg prints.

Kramer sighting

2010-07-11T20:45:00.001-04:00

The Mark Twain House and Museum reports on its Facebook page that Michael Richards, who played Kramer on “Seinfeld” and more recently earned himself a lot of shame for making racial insults during a comedy club monologue, was among those taking the 2 p.m. of the House on Friday. Hope he also stopped next-door, at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.

It would be really neat to see a list of the famous and infamous who’ve toured that place over the years.

Some good preservation news, for a change

2010-07-11T13:37:00.035-04:00

Hartford Courant columnist Helen Ubiñas reports today that a fund has been set up to save what's left of the Lyric Theater, at the corner of Broad and Park streets.

The Broad Street side of the vacant building was demolished in March. The city had declared it in imminent danger of collapsing; whether the city had done everything it could to prevent the building from deteriorating to the point of collapse is very much open to debate.

Now, to avoid creating a gaping hole in the storefronts along Park Street, there's a movement to salvage the Park Street section of the Lyric. Ubiñas credits Edison Silva of the city's Licenses and Inspections Department with suggesting the fund and Councilman Luis Cotto with helping to set it up.

Donation checks should be made out to "City of Hartford," with "Lyric Theater Fund" written in the memo line, and sent to 550 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103.

By the way, September 1 marks the 87th anniversary of the Lyric's grand opening. An article published in the September 3, 1923 edition of the Courant, a few days after the opening, noted that Mayor Richard Kinsella, a host of other politicians, and a seven-piece orchestra had been on hand for the event, just the latest in "the rapidly developing Park Street section." The bill included a newsreel, the Wallace Beery movie "Bavu," and Irish tenor John O'Malley, "who captivated the audience with his lilting Irish folk songs." (In those days, it was common for theaters to present a combination of movies and live entertainment.)

"The theater appeared in gala array," the Courant noted, "from the spacious lobby of Italian marble to the attractive stage, resplendent with pleasing blue draperies. Little wall lights made for an atmosphere of coziness, and baskets of flowers throughout the house added to the inviting interior." All of the seats were upholstered in leather, and the lobby included a "confectionery store," complete with "a well-appointed soda fountain." It was also noted that the theater "employs only girl ushers, neatly dressed in blue uniforms."

The theater's architect was Edward T. Wiley. It was owned by Park Street Development Company, a partnership led by Joseph Dolgin and A.M. Schuman, two young men who had gone into business together after serving in World War 1. As the '20s went on, they became hugely successful, acquiring four more theaters: the Lenox on Albany Avenue, the Rialto on Franklin Avenue, the Colonial on Farmington Avenue, and the Central on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford. In 1930, they leased the entire chain to Warner Brothers. The Courant reported at the time that Warner paid $2 million for the deal -- a whopping sum as the country plunged into the Great Depression.

Hartford's darkest day remembered

2010-07-05T23:16:00.001-04:00

Tuesday is the 66th anniversary of the Hartford circus fire, which killed 168 people and injured nearly 500.

The Mark Twain House and Museum will mark the anniversary by hosting a discussion among authors who've written about the fire, including novelist Mary-Ann Tirone Smith ("Masters of Illusion"), poet Paul Janeczko ("Worlds Afire"), and investigators Don Massey and Rick Davey ("A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565.") Kathy Maher, executive director of the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, will serve as moderator.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a screening of the Connecticut Public Television documentary on the fire. The panel discussion, entitled "Telling a Tragic Tale: Writers on the Hartford Circus Fire," follows at 7:30 p.m. Afterward, the authors will sign copies of their books, and visitors can view a collection of artifacts that will be on display in the Great Hall of the museum through July.

Admission is free. The Mark Twain House Museum is located at 351 Farmington Avenue. You'll find directions and a map here.

On Saturday morning, Cedar Hill Cemetery will hold its own event, including presentations from Pat Weibust, who attended the circus the day of the fire, and playwright Anne Pié, whose "Front Street" deals with the fire's impact on a local immigrant family. Following the presentations, there will be a tour of the graves of some of the people who lost their lives in the fire.

Cedar Hill Cemetery is located at 453 Fairfield Avenue, in the city's South End. (Map)

Norwich Hospital is another lesson in historic preservation; will we learn this time?

2010-06-27T22:31:00.001-04:00

The deterioration of the century-old Norwich Hospital campus, so well documented in Ed Mahony's news story in Sunday's Hartford Courant and amplified in an accompanying opinion piece by Tom Condon, is a devastating lesson on what can go wrong when a government – in this case, the state of Connecticut – ignores or skimps on the preservation of its historic properties.

For those of us in Hartford, it's a bit of déjà vu, since we just endured the destruction of the remaining walls of the historic Second North School on High Street, which had deteriorated while the city and its contractor dithered on incorporating them into a new public safety complex on the site. (For more on that, see preservationist Bill Hosley's May 9 op-ed piece, also in the Courant.)

When it comes to state buildings, Condon calls on the legislature to create a protocol for maintaining the ones that are historic but not in use at the moment. ''Let's start with the premise that when the state builds a building, it takes responsibility for the structure from cradle to grave, groundbreaking to cleanup," he writes. But here's his most important point:

The key to saving historic buildings is to use them. Time is of the essence. If a building is judged surplus, and no other agency wants it, don't wait for it to be closed, get started. Assess the environmental situation and start the remediation.

Amen.

Fond memories of the brownstone life

2010-06-24T23:06:00.001-04:00

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to live in one of the historic brownstone houses along Capitol Avenue, check out today's blog entry from Dennis House, news anchor for WFSB-TV. Dennis and his wife, Kara Sundlun (also an anchor at the station), have sold their brownstone, and Dennis writes movingly about their time there. He notes that the first owner of the house, in 1871, was eventual Connecticut Supreme Court Justice William Hamersley. But best of all, he supplies some fantastic photos. Best of luck to Dennis, Kara, and family.

On tap at CHS: Prohibition

2010-06-19T22:20:00.001-04:00

Daniel Okrent, the first public editor of The New York Times and former editor-at-large of Time Inc., will visit the Connecticut Historical Society on Tuesday, June 22, to talk about his new book, "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." Mr. Okrent's previous book, "Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center" (2003), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history.

There will be a wine tasting at 5 p.m., with the talk beginning at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. Afterward, Mr. Okrent will sign books, and examples of Connecticut temperance items from the CHS collection will be on display.

For more information, contact Mary Muller at mary_muller@chs.org or (860) 236-5621 x209.

Remembering Bruce Fraser

2010-06-18T22:05:00.004-04:00

Bruce Fraser, who became executive director of the Connecticut Humanities Council in 1982 and built it into a national example of how a state can promote its history, died recently after a long battle with cancer.

The history magazine Connecticut Explored has posted on its site a moving tribute to Fraser from State Historian Walter Woodward. "For the last 30 years," Woodward writes, "virtually every history program of substance produced in Connecticut could have carried the credit line, 'Brought to you in part by Bruce Fraser.'"

Dig It: A ‘Slam/Jam’ on historic Hartford

2010-06-12T22:32:00.005-04:00

The Facebook community Historic Hartford will hold a "Historic Hartford Preservation Slam/Jam" at Billings Forge (563 Broad Street, near the Capitol), on June 22. According to Historic Hartford founder Bill Hosley: "This will be a crowd-sourced program in which participants share pictures, stories, and advocacy messages about a favorite building, artifact, landmark or neighborhood in a Capitol City too rarely cited for its astonishing wealth in all of the above. If interested, share with a friend and let's make a jam." For more details, see Bill’s press release.

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Finally!

2010-06-06T22:54:00.000-04:00

The look of HartfordHistory.net hasn't changed very much since its launch in 1999--until now, that is. The site has been re-launched, with a new appearance and some new content. There's more on the way, including more new content and some new functions. In the meantime, you'll probably come across some "under construction" messages on a few pages. Bear with me on that for a little while longer. If you have any suggestions, send them along.

Talks on Sigourney and the Gilded Age at HPL's Hartford History Center

2010-04-08T20:28:00.004-04:00

Hartford Public Library's Hartford History Center will host two talks the weekend of April 24-25.

At the first, set for 2-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, historian Gary E. Wait will discuss Hartford poet Lydia Huntley Sigourney. (Yes, the one for whom Sigourney Street is named.) Dubbed the "Sweet Singer of Hartford," Sigourney was nothing if not prolific: She published her first book in 1815 and kept the volumes coming at better than one per year for the next 50 years. Many of those books were printed in Hartford, and visitors are invited to view the library's Sigourney Collection of books and manuscript material.

On Sunday, April 25, from 2 to 4 p.m., Trinity College professor and historian Dr. Eugene Leach will discuss "Hartford in the Gilded Age." This was a time when Hartford was one of the leading cities in America, with Mark Twain among its citizens. The program also includes music from the Boys of Wexford, an ensemble consisting of Don Sineti (the Chantey Man of Mystic Seaport), Bill Wallach, and Mike McGarry. They'll sing songs of life along the Connecticut River.

The Hartford Public Library is located at 500 Main Street. For more information on either event, call 860-695-6297.

Whalers fans, get your ‘Brass Bonanza’ fix here

2010-02-15T18:00:00.007-05:00

Sure they play it once in a while between innings at Fenway Park, but what about those moments of nostalgia when you need to hear the Hartford Whalers victory march right now? Thank the hockey gods for brassbonanza.com, a nifty site that lets you listen to several versions of the song. For those of us who owned "Brass Bonanza" on a 45-rpm record, there's even the beloved B-side, "highlights" of Bob Neumier's radio call from the night in 1975 when players from the then-New England Whalers and the Minnesota Fighting Saints got into brawl that resulted in the World Hockey Association's record for penalties: 41. It meant a combined total of 217 minutes in the penalty box, where you feel shame. (Yes, that's a "Slapshot" reference.)

Preservation grants for three Hartford locations

2010-02-14T23:58:00.001-05:00

Organizations operating in three historic buildings in Hartford will receive grants that will help them to preserve the buildings while also improving their energy efficiency, according to state Senator John W. Fonfara of Hartford.

The grants, funded by the state General Assembly, the Connecticut Humanities Council, and the state Commission on Culture and Tourism, will go to:

The Hispanic Health Council, which will receive $16,600 for the design of an energy- efficient heating and cooling system for its historic Main Street building, a contributing resource in the South Green National Register District.
The Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery, which has been awarded $8,000 to conduct an assessment of the Charles B. Haskel House, one of a cluster of lots developed by Mrs. Samuel Colt between 1880 and 1900 along Wethersfield Avenue. The project seeks to preserve the historic attributes of the building while improving building efficiency and conserving energy.
Immaculate Conception Shelter & Housing Corporation, which has been awarded $19,695 to draw up architectural plans and seek community input on an appropriate reuse of the former Immaculate Conception Church, an 1894 gothic revival design by Michael O’ Donohue in the Frog Hollow neighborhood.

“These initiatives will help keep history alive and relevant here in Hartford,” said Senator Fonfara. “All three grants will put people to work restoring historic buildings, and help these older structures to remain in use, environmentally friendly and productive in the city of today.” Full press release

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in line to get $150K in federal funds

2009-10-30T16:20:00.036-04:00

President Obama has before him legislation that would provide $150,000 in federal aid to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.

The legislation, the 2010 Interior-Environment Appropriations Act, was approved on 72-28 vote in the Senate on Thursday, just hours after the House passed it, 247-178. The basics are reported on in Government Executive; to find the Stowe money, go to page 19 of this list of earmarks (PDF).

The House vote prompted the following news release from Congressman John B. Larson, whose district includes Hartford:

"Washington, D.C. - Today, the House of Representatives passed broad legislation that makes targeted investments in our nation’s natural and cultural resources. Included in the legislation was $150,000 in funding, supported by U.S. Congressman John B. Larson, to preserve the home and historical collections at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford.

"Harriet Beecher Stowe is the celebrated author of the antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, the 19th century bestseller. Her 1871 home and the center has over 200,000 artifacts and documents and holds the collection of materials of important themes of 19th century America including the women suffrage movement and slavery. The Center’s archives are also utilized by local and international scholars, including recent Pulitzer Prize recipients.

"'As a former history teacher, I believe it is important to ensure that future generations understand the history that came before them. Harriet Beecher Stowe was truly a remarkable woman, whose writing of social justice positively altered the very landscape of our nation. I’m proud our state and the City of Hartford are home to a rich history, and we must continue to protect it by fostering greater access to our cultural past,' said Congressman Larson.

"The Interior Appropriations Act makes key investments in protecting the nation’s environment and supporting historical conservation. Also, the bill supports projects of excellence for the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities."

Saturday: A talk on Hartford and the WPA

2009-10-22T18:37:00.000-04:00

From the Hartford Public Library's Hartford History Center:

"Join us for a conversation with Cynthia M. Koch, director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York and Connecticut State Archivist Mark Jones, project coordinator for the Connecticut Federal Art Project Artists. FDR's New Deal cultural programs marked the U.S. government's first big, direct investment in cultural development. The largest and most important of the New Deal programs, and the favorite of Eleanor Roosevelt, was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a massive employment relief program launched in the spring of 1935. Cynthia Koch and Mark Jones will discuss FDR's national policy and how it played out on the local scene in the context of art and artists in the Hartford area. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Eugene Leach of Trinity College. For more information, call Hartford History Center at (860) 695-6297 or visit online at www.hplct.org/hhc."

How CNNMoney.com views Hartford

2009-10-13T22:50:00.001-04:00

CNNMoney.com has ranked Hartford the country's fifth-best metropolitan area in which to launch a small business. While that may have many of us scratching our heads--especially in light of near-daily bummers like the City Council's acknowledgment last week that the Project Mayor project planned for the vacant corner of Main and Park streets will never become reality--it's worth noting that CNNMoney.com repeatedly references the city's history:

"The past few years have seen new life--hotels, restaurants, a convention center and a science center--sprouting in the historic city, where you'll also find the country's first public art museum and oldest public park."

There's even a photo of the Old State House. It all speaks to the potential for using the Hartford area's history as a draw not just for visitors but new residents. Heck, it seems to be one of the positive attributes people already associate with us, so why not get the most out of it?

Conference on 'Connecticut at War'

2009-10-07T21:31:00.002-04:00

A bunch or organizations -- but namely, the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, the Connecticut Militia Heritage Committee, the Connecticut State Library, and Manchester Community College -- will hold a conference next month on how Connecticut people have experienced war over the state's long history.

The Friday, November 13th session will be held at the State Library and the State Armory, both on Capitol Avenue. The Saturday, November 14th session will be held at Manchester Community College. Fans of Hartford history will be particularly interested in the keynote talk on Friday by Bruce Corrigan regarding the Armory, which is marking its 100th anniversary.

Get the full rundown and register on the Association for the Study of Connecticut History website.

Great new site on Connecticut radio history

2009-10-03T23:49:00.000-04:00

Connecticut has made a lot of great history on the airwaves. (Anyone remember WTIC-TV's Ranger Andy?) Now it's celebrated on a relatively new website, Connecticut Broadcast History. The site tilts heavily toward radio history, but there are also pages devoted to TV stations, experimental stations--even pirate radio stations.

Meanwhile, "alumni" of the Hartford area's most venerable radio stations have been operating some great websites on the individual stations right along. Check out wdrcobg.com and wticalumni.com.

Note: Though the URLs are similar, Connecticut Broadcast History is not connected to this blog's companion site, HartfordHistory.net. Connecticut Broadcast History lists as its webmaster John Ramsey, the general manager and chief engineer of WWUH at the University of Hartford.

Doing right by Eugene Bradley—and history

2009-09-25T23:59:00.002-04:00

Sure, it's not in Hartford, but Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks is vital to the city, so the airport's history should matter to anyone interested in Hartford's history—especially when a mystery is involved.

In the summer of 1941, when the airport was just an Army Air Corps landing strip recently carved out of the tobacco fields north of Hartford, Lt. Eugene M. Bradley lost control of his P-40 Warhawk fighter during dogfight training—perhaps blacking out—and plunged 5,000 feet into the ground. Bradley's death, coming a few months before the Pearl Harbor attack but amid growing anticipation that the U.S. would be dragged into World War II, led to the new airfield being named after him. The exact site of his crash was forgotten, however; the Army quickly bulldozed the site after removing Bradley's body, and no marker was erected.

Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of historian Thomas Palshaw and state Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni, the crash site may have been discovered. Bellantoni says ground-penetrating radar indicates that fragments from the plane are under what's now Runway 33, in a corner of airport property that juts into East Granby. The team's next step is take a core of soil from the site and analyze it.

Bellantoni made a great observation for WNPR: "Seven million people a year go through that airport, and probably not seven know the story of Eugene Bradley. We forget sometimes how many people gave their lives preparing for combat, and Bradley's one of them."

Hear the WNPR report and see a photo of Eugene Bradley here. The discovery was first reported in this Hartford Courant article. And don't forget to visit the New England Air Museum, adjacent to the airport.

It's not too late to enjoy the river walk...

2009-09-24T22:48:00.005-04:00

Indeed, Riverfront Recapture will be holding the Pipes in the Valley Celtic Festival this weekend at Riverfront Plaza. From there you can walk the beautiful new path that leads a short distance north to Riverside Park. On the way, you'll find an important piece of Hartford history: a highway overpass pillar that hosts plaques showing the high-water marks for the three biggest floods of the Connecticut River over the past century. I've highlighted them in the photo below,
part of a bunch taken on the riverfront last month.

Busy Saturdays at the Old State House

2009-09-05T22:26:00.002-04:00

The Old State House, now operated by the Connecticut General Assembly, offers the following events and activities over the next five Saturdays:

September 12: Joseph Steward, proprietor of Steward's Hartford Museum, returns to the Old State House at 1 p.m. to celebrate his 18th-century museum with an unveiling of two magnificent new curiosities. Afterward, young people can take part in hands-on history activities in the Holcombe Education Center. Steward will continue to lead tours of his museum until 4 p.m.

September 19: The Old State House will celebrate Constitution Day with activities, quizzes, and tours related to our country's guiding document.

September 26: Connecticut suffragette Francis Ellen Burr will debate an opponent on whether women should get the vote. You get to participate in this program, which begins at 1 p.m. on the floor of the House of Representatives. Miss Burr will visit informally with guests until 4 p.m.

October 3: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Franken, and Ronald Reagan have all crossed the line from entertainment to politics, but circus man P.T. Barnum did it many years before them, when he traveled to the Old State House to serve as Fairfield's state representative. He'll speak at 1 p.m. on the floor of the House and visit informally with guests until 4 p.m. You'll hear a life story that not only included bringing us the Greatest Show on Earth but also working for African-American emancipation and suffrage.

October 10: Years ago, one of the most popular exhibits at the Old State House was a replica made of Lego bricks. That replica will return with a celebration featuring hands-on activities and a chance for visitors to craft their own Lego creations. The "unveiling" will take place at 1 p.m., but there'll be activities throughout the day.

Wouldn't it be great to hop a street car?

2009-08-31T01:22:00.004-04:00

Jonas Maciunas, a Wethersfield native and graduate student in city planning at the University of Pennsylvania, makes a great case for bringing street cars back to Hartford in an op-ed piece that appeared in Sunday's Hartford Courant. The comment string contains some great points too -- something pretty rare, it's sad to say, for most posts on the Courant site.

Maciunas notes that in 1920, Hartford had more than 150 miles of street car track. Most of it was torn up in the conversion to bus lines in the 1940s. (There's a lot of evidence that the automotive industry used shady tactics to induce cities across the country to do this.) Hartford's near-total enslavement to the car over the past 50 years is not pretty, literally--witness the blocks of often empty blacktop next to the State Office Building, wasting what should be prime downtown building space. Maciunas writes that Hartford land dedicated to parking has nearly tripled since 1960. While I don't quite agree with him that this is a direct reason for the city's drop in population, he's absolutely right that street cars could be an important part of any revitalization plan.

"P.O.M.G.: Peace of Mind Guaranteed"

2009-07-25T23:15:00.007-04:00

From the family vault comes this promotional flyer, about the size of a dollar bill, from Savitt Jewelers, the Asylum Street business that owner Bill Savitt made a Hartford institution for a big hunk of the 20th Century. (He was also the ultimate Hartford booster.) We have no clue as to the flyer's age, but you can tell it goes way back because of lines like these:

-- Watches "starting at $49.99 plus tax with a year to pay"

-- "Take your watch home on 14-day free trial."

CHS has tools for researching your family tree

2009-05-21T18:00:00.000-04:00

From the May newsletter of the Connecticut Historical Society:

"Developed under the direction of Charles Hale as a WPA project during the Great Depression, the Hale Headstone Index is immensely useful even today - more than 70 years later! This index, available in the Research Center on microfilm, consists of headstone transcriptions from all cemeteries in Connecticut. It can be used to find birth and death dates, to help determine familial relationships, and in some cases provide information concerning military service. Using microfilm for the first time can be daunting so stop by the Research Center and let our staff show you how to make use of this great resource!"

Love Google. Hate Google. Love Google. Hate Google...

2009-05-18T18:00:00.002-04:00

Google Book Search has generated lots of controversy, but it's hard not to be impressed so far. Just do a search for "hartford, connecticut," and you'll turn up lots of diaries, family histories, and other historic documents. Many belong to Harvard University.

Tip of the cap to the New Britain Rock Cats

2009-05-17T22:26:00.006-04:00

I cannot vouch for their authenticity, but Hartford Chiefs caps are available for $10 each at the merchandise store of the New Britain Rock Cats, at New Britain Stadium. I could not find them in the Rock Cats' online shop, so you'll just have to go to a game -- which will be fun, trust me. The hats are one-size-fits-all.

By the way, why doesn't the City of Hartford sell merchandise like this online? Doesn't it have a slight revenue problem?

The Chiefs were the Boston Braves affiliate in the Eastern League from 1947 to 1952, playing in Bulkeley Stadium. Before that, they were the Hartford Bees. Come to think of it, maybe this is a Bees cap. If anyone knows for sure, drop me a line.

Just cleaning out my in-box

2009-05-09T16:29:00.003-04:00

Among the items:

1. A copy of the Hartford News, a free weekly that fans of Hartford history should love because the front page of each edition features a vintage photo of the city, under the headline, "Hartford ... Once Upon a Time." The most recent photos are courtesy of the Hartford Public Library's Hartford History Center. The April 9 issue has a great shot -- probably taken from the Capitol dome -- of Bushnell Park being torn up in the early 1940s in order to put the Park River in an underground conduit. As far as I can tell, the Hartford News has no online presence yet, though you can find copies in lot of local businesses. It's published by Southside Media on Franklin Avenue.

2. Speaking the library's Hartford History Center, you've got till Tuesday (great band, but never mind that) to view the "Rain of Parks" collection of vintage photographs taken at city parks.

3. Anyone who's serious about researching anything having to do with Hartford needs to bookmark iconn.org, a state-funded and -operated search engine (or "RE-search engine" as it's advertised.") All you need to use it is your local public library card. This site is absolutely indispensable for tracking down newspaper articles, demographic data -- you name it.

'Antiques Roadshow: Hartford' airs Monday, May 11

2009-05-07T21:55:00.003-04:00

When public television's "Antiques Roadshow" stopped at the Hartford Convention Center on August 23, thousands turned out to have their stuff appraised. Now the episode is set to air at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 11, according to Connecticut Public Television.

The highlights will include appraisals of "a signed watercolor painting by Katherine Hepburn, a set of 200-year-old Wedgewood pottery buttons, and a Chippendale rocco table valued at a quarter of a million dollars or more," CPTV says.

Saturday, May 2: Tour of Asylum Hill churches

2009-04-28T22:32:00.005-04:00

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)

2009-04-28T21:33:00.005-04:00

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

2009-04-23T00:26:00.006-04:00

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?

2009-04-09T19:52:00.005-04:00

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

2009-04-07T20:48:00.008-04:00

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.

Hog River Journal in for a name change

2009-03-25T23:00:00.003-04:00

When it started seven years ago, the Hog River Journal focused on the history of Hartford and surrounding towns. The name reflected the emphasis on Hartford, since Hog River was a 19th-century nickname for the city's Park River. But over time, the magazine's focus has widened to include all of Connecticut, making the name something of a head-scratcher for potential new readers and advertisers.

So how does "Connecticut Explored" sound? Publisher Elizabeth J. Normen revealed the "likely" new name of the magazine to Larry Bloom, who wrote about it recently in the Connecticut section of The New York Times.

Save Old North Cemetery

2009-03-08T23:25:00.002-04:00

The Old North Cemetery, off Main Street in the city's north end, is the final resting place of many of the key names in Hartford's early history, including Daniel Wadsworth and Horace Bushnell. It's also been in neglect for many years. (This website has a New York Times article from 2000 that outlined the dire situation of Old North and other city cemeteries.) Now, though, the city and a firm that specializes in the preservation of historic landscapes are working on a master plan for preserving what's left of the place. On Tuesday, March 10, they will hold a public meeting on their work to date. It will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ropkins Branch Library of the SAND Elementary School at 1750 Main Street--right next to the cemetery. (Google map)

For more on the project, read this item on the Hartford Preservation Alliance website.

For more on Old North and its famous residents, go to the indispensable findagrave.com.

Righteous words from Colin McEnroe

2009-03-08T22:44:00.005-04:00

Hartford Courant columnist and blogger Colin McEnroe recently posted a list of things he'd do if he owned a newspaper. It's bracing, provocative, and absolutely correct. But anyone interested in the history of Hartford will really love No. 3 on the list:

"Do more with your archives. This a problem, specifically, for the Courant, which doesn't have much archived material online. Having a gigantic database of high quality vetted information which is not searchable by users is like Disneyworld not letting anypeople on the rides. It's nuts. One of the reasons people use an online service is searchability. The Courant has a million reasons why this can't be addressed. I have a simple answer: fix it or die."

In the meantime, there is a site where you can get Hartford Courant articles published between 1764 and 1922. It's the wonderful iCONN.org, brought to you by the Connecticut State Library, your local library, and the state Department of Higher Education.

Congratulations, loser

2009-02-24T12:15:00.016-05:00

That salutation goes out to whoever stole the Hartford Dark Blues plaque from the grounds of the Church of the Good Shepherd in the Coltsville section, where the team played baseball in the 1870s. Donors had contributed about $1,500 to commemorate the Blues' role as one of the National League's original eight teams.

The Hartford Courant reports that the plaque was stolen sometime over the weekend, barely six months after it was installed. "The plaque, post, and even the concrete were lifted out of the ground and carried off," Ron Bolin of Wethersfield, chief organizer of the plaque's installation, told the newspaper.

So, nice going, thief or thieves. What exactly are you planning to do with this item? Fence it? Good luck with that. Keep it in your basement for your own viewing pleasure? That sounds likely to get pretty old pretty quickly. Your best option is to make some kind of arrangement for its safe return, preferrably to Bolin, even if it's anonymously. Here's his e-mail address.

Angering the baseball gods is very, very bad for your karma.

The Karen O'Maxfield photo of the plaque, above, can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Vintage baseball, new swag

2009-02-21T22:12:00.007-05:00

A follow-up to a post from a few months ago: The new, Hartford-based Friends of Vintage Base Ball has opened an online store, where you can buy t-shirts and other items to support the cause. In announcing the store, founders Karen "K.O." and Gary "Pops" O'Maxfield also said: "We're working with the City of Hartford and the Coalition to Strengthen the Sheldon/Charter Oak Neighborhood on bringing weekly vintage base ball games to Colt Park starting in April of this year. Look for a game schedule and news about a 4th of July weekend tournament at our website."

Some history with your food?

2009-02-17T22:49:00.007-05:00

If you're looking for a place to eat downtown, check out Tinker's Main Seafood & Grill, at 489 Main Street. It occupies the space of the late, great Municipal Cafeteria and has old photographs of downtown on the walls, including some of the "Muni." All of the photos are large and sharp, revealing lots of detail. You'll find more in the Subway restaurant next-door.

Patrons of the Muni will recognize the bar in Tinker's, which was salvaged from the old restaurant. Those of us who've always bemoaned the city's lack of venues for bands playing original music will remember the Muni's valiant stab at remedying the situation in the '90s, when it doubled as a sort of nightclub. My favorite show: Jonathan Richman, with just his drummer.

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Conference to focus on 'Connecticut at War'

2009-02-01T16:00:00.003-05:00

Published on the H-Connecticut list:

"The Association for the Study of Connecticut History (ASCH), publisher of the journal Connecticut History, Connecticut Militia Heritage Committee, Connecticut Military Department, Connecticut State Library, and Manchester Community College are sponsoring a one and one half day conference on the subject of Connecticut at War on November 13-14, 2009. The meeting will feature concurrent and plenary sessions with speakers from diverse backgrounds discussing a variety of subjects.

"Men and women from Connecticut have been engaged in war and related home front activities for more than 370 years, from the time of the Pequot War to the Global War on Terrorism. These include King Phillip's War, the French and Indian Wars, American Revolution, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and, most recently, Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Although research has been undertaken on many of these subjects, no conference has yet been held that focuses exclusively on Connecticut perspectives. This meeting will bring together people from different backgrounds and areas of expertise to explore wartime experiences from the time of the earliest days of European settlement to the present.

"Researchers are invited to submit proposals concerning Connecticut involvement in specific conflicts at both individual and unit levels, home front activities that could include defense related industries and support for those serving overseas, and ones that focus on citizen soldiers in the Connecticut militia and Connecticut Army and Air National Guard. Those studying the roles of women and minorities in
times of conflict are encouraged to participate.

"Historical society and museum personnel, graduate students, independent scholars, military personnel, teachers, and members of the academy are all invited to make presentations. For consideration, please submit a paper/presentation title, abstract of its contents, and a short c.v. Application deadline is May 1, 2009.

"Proposals should be sent to Bruce P. Stark, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106. Or emailed (in MSWord format) to: bstark@cslib.org. Telephone: (860) 757-6512

"For information, please contact Bruce P. Stark, bstark@cslib.org ; David Corrigan, dcorrigan@cslib.org ; or George Ripley, George.Ripley@sunlife.com."

Well, it's good to know things are looking up somewhere

2009-01-30T20:02:00.004-05:00

From today's Hartford Courant:

"The mood is considerably brighter at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, where, thanks to a well-publicized fund-raising effort, its projected operating deficit of $400,000 is paid off and the organization may end its fiscal year on Saturday with a small surplus."

Read the rest of the Courant article

Visit the Twain House website

Another sad day for Hartford

2009-01-27T18:04:00.004-05:00

Is Eddie Perez the first Hartford mayor to be arrested in office? Stay tuned -- still investigating.

In case you wondered about 'Ann Uccello Street'

2009-01-27T18:00:00.004-05:00

On Interstate 84 eastbound through the city, the Exit 49 sign used to read "Ann Street." Last fall, it was changed to "Ann Uccello Street," to reflect the renaming of the street after Uccello, who in 1967 became not only the first female mayor in the city's history but also the first woman to become mayor of a major U.S. city. She's also the last Republican to serve as mayor of Hartford.

WFSB-TV still has video of the renaming ceremony, including some of Uccello's remarks, on its website. At 86, Uccello is still going strong. For more on her, visit her bio page on the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame website.

And who was the original "Ann" of Ann Street? According to the very authoritative "History of Hartford Streets" by F. Perry Close (1969, Connecticut Historical Society), it was "(n)amed after Ann Sheldon Goodwin by her sons, James and Nathanial Goodwin, who opened the street through their land in 1814." Originally, the street ran from Main Street to Church Street. Eventually, it was extended southward to Jewell Street.

Hartford prominent in the history of bridge clubs

2009-01-26T23:44:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's true. The Hartford Bridge Club, founded in 1931, has been honored by the American Contract Bridge League as the oldest continuously operating bridge club in North America. Thanks to the Hartford Courant's Loretta Waldman for highlighting this in her blog. The club, which meets in the Elmwood section of West Hartford, is still going gangbusters.

Stay in the loop by joining the state historian's list

2009-01-24T23:09:00.009-05:00

Connecticut has an official state historian, and his name is Walter W. Woodward, a history professor at the University of Connecticut. You'll find his website here, but the real electronic service he performs is hosting an e-mail group for anyone with questions (and answers) about Connecticut history. Here's how it's advertised:

"H-Connecticut is the electronic communications list created by the Office of the State Historian just for people like us. On H-Connecticut, people can post information, ask questions, express opinions, and share ideas with others who care as much as we do about Connecticut’s past. Best of all, H-Connecticut subscribers include experts from many fields, so no matter what you want to know, chances are an H-Connecticut subscriber can help you get answers. It’s almost like having a Connecticut history think tank on call.

"Subscribing is as easy. Everything is done by email, and it’s absolutely free."

Join H-Connecticut here.

If you have the time, check out Mr. Harrison's very impressive resume. Just about at the very bottom, he notes that he composed two top-10 country songs.

WNPR kicks off 'Basement Tapes Project' with recording of MLK at The Bushnell

2009-01-23T21:30:00.017-05:00

Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR-FM, 90.5) has launched "The Basement Tapes Project," an effort to find "long-lost audio gems" and put them on the air. The station invites listeners to scour their basements and attics for records, tapes, or any other audio recording that represents a piece of Connecticut history. (Look under the "Services" tab on the left side of the station website for contact information.)

To prime the pump, the station has posted a recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at The Bushnell in 1959. King, invited by the University of Hartford’s Hillyer College to give a speech on "the future of integration," was just 30 at the time. The U of H has posted an article on the visit, along with audio clips from the speech, the flyer advertising the speech, and King's publicity photo from the period.

By the way, check the Hartford Courant's Capitol Watch blog for Chris Keating's MLK Day entry on the summers a teen-aged King spent working on a Simsbury tobacco farm. It was King's first time out of the segregated South, and his wonder at the different way of life here was apparent in his letters home. The most moving quote: "Yesterday, we didn't work, so went to Hartford. We really had a nice time there. I never thought that a person my race could eat anywhere, but we ate in one of the finest restaurants in Hartford."

Play ball! (in Colt Park)

2008-11-07T23:29:00.006-05:00

If you've never seen a game of "vintage base ball," you're missing out. It's baseball the way they played it in the 19th century -- sometimes without gloves, always with great sportsmanship. Now Karen and Gary O'Maxfield of Hartford have begun the Friends of Vintage Base Ball. "Our purpose is to facilitate and preserve the customs, culture, history and spirit of vintage base ball through public education, awareness and participation," says their website, at www.friendsofvintagebaseball.org.

Locally, the Friends are working to have a field in Colt Park designated for vintage base ball. They note that the Coltsville district was recently named a National Historic Landmark and is on its way to becoming a National Park. "As base ball was an activity promoted by the Colt Factory and, indeed, by Elizabeth Colt herself, returning the sport to the former grounds of the Colt estate is a concept whose time has come," they contend. "Vintage base ball is more than sport or entertainment— it is living history."

Karen O'Maxfield operates another website dedicated to the history of Hartford, at hartford.omaxfield.com. Gary is also "Pops O'Maxfield," the noted vintage base ball umpire and historian.

Civic Center roof collapse: 30 years ago today

2008-01-18T01:07:00.000-05:00

It doesn't seem that long ago, but it's true: In the early-morning hours of January 18, 1978, a flaw in the "space frame" roof's design and about 5 inches of heavy, wet snow combined to cause the collapse. No one was hurt, but only six hours earlier, a crowd of about 5,000 had left the arena after watching a men's basketball game between the University of Connecticut and University of Massachusetts. A rebuilt Civic Center opened in 1980. Gallery of Hartford Courant file photos

An excellent idea

2008-01-02T16:00:00.001-05:00

On his WTIC-AM talk show this afternoon, Colin McEnroe offered a great idea for reviving downtown Hartford: build a museum dedicated to the written word. Sure, we're already building a science museum -- but so is every other city, he noted. A written-word museum would not only make Hartford unique, he said, but it would also allow the region to draw on its long heritage of great authors, like Mark Twain, Noah Webster, Wallace Stevens, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. McEnroe described a museum where visitors would learn about everything from the Gutenberg press to the latest developments in computing. He also spoke of making the building distinctive by designing it to look like a letter of the alphabet. That's fine too, but I'd be reluctant to enter a building shaped like the letter "V." Colin McEnroe's blog

Things on my plate in '08 and books of '07

2008-01-01T18:13:00.000-05:00

Happy new year! Among my resolutions: to thoroughly overhaul wwww.hartfordhistory.net and blog more regularly. On the latter score, I never got around last year to mentioning the publication of several books that deal in one way or another with city history. So I'll take the opportunity to list them here:

"The Hartford Whalers" is another addition to Arcadia Publishing's indispensable series, Images in History. This pictorial tribute to "The Whale," put together by Brian Codagnone, traces the team's history from its membership in the upstart World Hockey League to its absorbtion into the National Hockey League, which eventually allowed the team to move to -- ugh! -- North Carolina. Relive the fun and heartbreak.
"Victorian Hartford Revisited," another Arcadia photo book, is Tomas Nenortas's follow-up to his "Victorian Hartford," a compilation of postcards from Hartford's days as one of America's wealthiest and most beautiful cities. According to Arcadia, this volume contains "many never-before-published images."
"House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City," tells the true story of five gifted Hartford boys who met as high school athletes and promised to stay in the city and work for its improvement. Intertwined with it is author Michael Downs' soul searching over whether to remain in Hartford, the scene of so much of his family's history. The book is published by the University of Nebraska Press.
"Girls of Tender Age: A Memoir" actually appeared at the end of 2005, but I can't resist plugging this amazing book, which has since been published in paperback. Author Mary-Ann Tirone Smith uses the 1953 murder of an 11-year-old classmate as a spur to explore her Hartford childhood, which included living with an autistic brother who could not bear many everyday sounds -- this in a time when autism was little recognized, let alone understood. Those nostalgic for the kinder, gentler Hartford of the 1950s will find lots of fodder here, but Smith also dissects the repressive mindset that led the adults around her to all but pretend the death of her friend never happened. Smith's experience as a mystery writer shows too, as she gives a riveting, step-by-step account of the movements that brought her friend into the path of her killer. This is an absolute page-turner.

More State Aid Urged for Colt Project

2007-09-23T12:37:00.000-04:00

In its lead editorial today, the Hartford Courant urged the state to ante up more funding for the nearly finished renovation of the Colt armory complex. The developers find themselves in a Catch-22, according to the newspaper, with banks refusing to lend more money without greater state investment and the state refusing to increase its share unless the developers show they have enough private investment to complete the project.

"To have this promising $180 million restoration fall through at this late stage would be beyond disappointing," the Courant writes. "For Connecticut to let an internationally important landmark lapse into ruin would be a travesty."

Read the Courant editorial

Celebration on Saturday at Pope Park

2007-09-05T08:38:00.000-04:00

Looking for something to do on Saturday, September 8? Stop by historic Pope Park, where the nonprofit Friends of Pope Park and its partners will celebrate the completion of the second phase of improvements to the park.

Here's the Friends' press release for the event:

On Saturday, September 8 from noon to 2:00 p.m., community leaders, neighborhood residents, the Friends of Pope Park and members of the Pope family will gather to celebrate the completion of Phase Two of the Pope Park Master Plan. “Pope Park Comes Together” is a free event that will take place in the new courtyard area at the Pope Park Recreation Center on 30 Pope Park Drive. The celebration is open to the public and will take place rain or shine. The event is sponsored by the Friends of Pope Park, the Pope Hartford Designated Fund, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the City of Hartford.

This project is the signature component of the Pope Park Master Plan, an overall multi-million dollar initiative to improve the century-old park and update it for modern uses.

“ Pope Park literally and physically has come together with the removal of Pope Park Drive, the interior road that had long divided the Park for over 90-years. We are delighted to celebrate the public private partnership that made this possible,” says Nancy Macy, Chair of the Pope Park Designated Fund. This road was not part of the original plan park design conceived by Frederick Law Olmsted and later built in 1903 by his sons, the Olmsted Brothers. The road removal, a new courtyard to the park’s recreation center, and major pedestrian and parking improvements were funded by the city of Hartford and by a $270,000 capital grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. The Pope Hartford Designated Fund is the nonprofit entity responsible for the overall campaign to restore the Park.

The celebratory event will begin at noon with free refreshments by Sweet and Savory Creations LLC featuring hot dogs and ice cream. Turn of the century music will be provided by the Matt Dechamplain Ragtime Trio and entertainment by Unicyclist/Juggler Robert Carroll, stiltwalker Terri Moore, Clarity the Clown and caricaturist Elaine Mills. The Pope Park Recreation Center staff will participate in the fun by conducting board game demonstrations on the new board game tables in the courtyard area and face painting.

The Hartford Food Systems’ Farmers Market will be selling locally grown produce in the new parking lot and the Hartford Public Library’s Bookmobile will be open to the public.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at approximately 12:15 p.m. with remarks from neighborhood and business leaders including Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, Pope Hartford Designated Fund Chair Nancy Macy, and Pharibe Hannon, the great-great granddaughter of Colonel Albert Pope.

Also featured at the event will be a the display of a vintage 1906 Pope Hartford automobile assembled in the early 1900s in Hartford and a demonstration of old-fashioned high-wheeled bicycles by the Connecticut Wheelmen, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the restoration and riding of early cycles.

The event will also feature the unveiling of the Friends of Pope Park and Pope Hartford Designated Fund’s “Memories of Pope Park” campaign. A selection of “Memories” featuring stories from individuals, historic photographs and historic articles will be on display in the Pope Park Recreation Center.

The land for Pope Park, originally 90 acres, was donated to the city of Hartford in 1894 by Colonel Albert A. Pope for his employees and city residents to enjoy games, walking and out-of-door activities. Colonel Pope was the head of the Pope Manufacturing Company, which manufactured bicycles and automobiles, including the well-known Columbia bicycle. It is particularly fitting that during this celebration thousands of bicyclists will sweep through the Park as part of the Discover Hartford bicycle tour that day.

Today Pope Park is an example of the best that a park can contribute to the neighborhood and the livability of the city. Preserving and improving the park is an essential component of Hartford’s revitalization. Fortunately, this project represents a comprehensive effort to reverse the last half century’s gradual decline of this valuable resource.

The Pope Park Master Plan makes specific recommendations for Pope Park to help achieve the city’s vision to improve all thirty-two of its parks as outlined in the Hartford Parks Master Plan of 1992. For more information about the Pope Park Master Plan, visit www.popepark.org.

New Blog Highlights Historic Buildings

2007-07-26T19:28:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for photos and information on the Hartford area's most historic buildings, check out a blog called Historic Buildings of Connecticut, at historicbuildingsct.blogspot.com. It contains mini-profiles of dozens of buildings, including about 30 in Hartford.

Is Broadcast House Doomed?

2007-07-17T12:36:00.000-04:00

The Hartford Courant reports today that Broadcast House, the longtime home of television station WFSB, Channel 3, may be demolished once the station completes its move to a new facility in Rocky Hill. The building, at the foot of Constitution Plaza, has been on the market for two months, but there have been no takers. Part of the problem is Broadcast House's unique configuration; using it for anything other than a TV station would require gutting the interior, according to the Courant.

When it opened in 1961, Broadcast House "was hailed as a marvel of modern architecture and technology, the first structure to be completed on Constitution Plaza after the razing of the Front Street neighborhood," the newspaper reports. The occasion was "so momentous" that a bronze sculpture and original symphony were commissioned for the dedication ceremony. "The music was later released as a record because so many wanted a copy," according to the Courant.

At the time, the CBS affiliate went by a different name: WTIC. It became WFSB following its sale by the original owner, the Travelers Insurance Cos. The call letters were later picked up by a new station, Fox affiliate Channel 61.

In his blog, WFSB anchor and reporter Dennis House explains why the station is heading for the suburbs:

"Broadcast House was built in the early 1960s, and it shows. This iconic building has served us well for the past 46 years, but it was constructed when our news crews shot stories on film, and technology has progressed rapidly since then.

"When Broadcast House opened, there were parking lots where skyscrapers now stand. For years, there has been no employee parking. Even all of our news vehicles can't fit in our rather small garage. Our new building has plenty of parking."

'Went to a Garden Party . . .'

2007-06-28T11:36:00.000-04:00

The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society will host an evening of music, art, and history at the Butler-McCook House & Garden on Thursday, July 5, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Butler-McCook property, at 396 Main Street in Hartford, was home to four generations of a family integral to the evolution of Main Street between the American Revolution and the mid-20th Century. ALS, which maintains seven historic properties around Connecticut in addition to the Butler-McCook property, invites you to "sit back and relax after work in a beautiful garden with a glass of wine, shot of tequila, soft drink, and light appetizers." There's a $2 suggested donation per drink, but otherwise the event is free. That includes a first-floor tour of the house, acoustic music by Judy Handler and Mark Levesque, and the opening of an exhibition: "Botanical Explorations in Watercolor: The Artwork of Betsy Rogers-Knox."

For more information, visit the ALS website at ctlandmarks.org

Biking and Walking Tour Set for Sept. 8

2007-06-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Think you know Hartford? The Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance says you won't get to really know the city, including its history, until you participate in its 2007 Hartford Bicycle and Walking Tour on Saturday, September 8. The event will include a 10-mile bicycle tour, a 25-mile bicycle tour, and a two-hour walking tour. The walking tour will be conducted by the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society.

Get the details at hartfordbiketour.org.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Honored with Stamp

2007-06-25T13:35:00.000-04:00

The United States Postal Service has introduced a stamp honoring Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Hartford resident who wrote the history-changing anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1811, Stowe lived at Hartford's Nook Farm (off Farmington Avenue) from 1873 until her death in 1896. The stamp, for 3-ounce mail, costs 75 cents. It can be purchased at post offices nationwide or at the Postal Service's website.

When in Hartford, be sure to visit the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Library.

New Book: Victorian Hartford Revisited

2007-06-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

The launch of a new book, Victorian Hartford Revisited, will be celebrated at Connecticut Creative: A General Store, at 25 Stonington Street in Hartford, on Thursday, June 28, from 5 to 8 p.m. Sample Connecticut-produced food and beverages and meet author Tomas Nenortas. Tickets cost $20, with all proceeds going to the Hartford Botanical Garden and the Hartford Preservation Alliance. RSVPs will be accepted until June 26. Payments may be mailed to the Hartford Preservation Alliance, at 56 Arbor Street, Suite 406, Hartford, CT 06106. For more information, contact the Alliance at(860) 570-0331 or info@hartfordpreservation.org.

Article Delves into History of Bushnell Park

2007-06-15T15:37:00.000-04:00

The Hartord Courant today published a profile of Bushnell Park, with an emphasis on its history. The article, by Susan Campbell, notes that by the 1850s, the area around the state Capitol had become a neighborhood of tenement housing, particularly along the banks of the Park River, also known as the Hog River. "Nearby were leather tanneries, a soap works, a dump, and holding pens for pigs and other livestock," Campbell writes. "A train chugged through. Tenement outhouses emptied into the water." It was the Rev. Horace Bushnell who proposed building a park on the site, arguing that it would cure many urban ills by giving residents a place to reconnect with nature. Thanks to Bushnell and his colleagues, the country's first publicly funded park was built in Hartford. The city named it after Bushnell a few days before his death in 1876. For more information, visit the website of the Bushnell Park Foundation.

Museum of CT History Launches Website

2007-06-12T22:50:00.000-04:00

The Museum of Connecticut History, part of the Connecticut State Library, has launched its own website, at www.museumofcthistory.org. Education Curator Patrick Smith invites comment. From here, the site looks pretty good, particularly the photos of various collections, which include Colt firearms and portraits of the governors. Of course, the Library still maintains its own highly useful site, at www.cslib.org. The Library and Museum are located at 231 Capitol Avenue, across the street from the state Capitol.

Farewell to the St. Joseph Cathedral School

2007-06-12T01:52:00.000-04:00

Students of the former St. Joseph Cathedral School held their last class reunion at the Asylum Avenue building on Sunday, the Hartford Courant reports. The school, which in its heyday in the 1950s and `60s had more than 1,000 students through the 10th grade, closed in 2001 because of declining enrollment and increased costs. It will be converted into 28 two- and three-bedroom apartments for poor families, according to the newspaper.

The Remarkable Ruthie Brown

2007-05-19T11:44:00.000-04:00

In the Place section of Sunday's Hartford Courant, Tom Condon lauded Ruth Shapleigh Brown of Manchester as "a regional and national figure in the movement to preserve historic burying grounds." Among other things, Brown serves on the board of the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford's South End and as a consultant to the city's oldest extant cemetery, the Ancient Burying Ground in downtown Hartford.

"Brown would like to see some creative use of the city's historic cemeteries," Condon writes. "More visitors would not only mean less vandalism, but more personal investment by today's residents. She said if Old South were a neighborhood park with a flower garden, instead of a fenced-off wreck, it would be better used and better served."

April 5: Walking Tour of North Downtown North and Clay Arsenal

2007-03-26T22:58:00.000-04:00

The Hartford Preservation Alliance and the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society will hold a walking tour of North Downtown and Clay Arsenal neighborhoods on Thursday, April 5, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

HPA Historic Resources Advisor Tomas Nenortas will conduct the tour, which will highlight the range of residential, institutional, and religious architecture that have contributed to the neighborhoods' designation as National Register Historic Districts.

The tour will start and end at the Isham-Terry House, at 211 High Street. Comfortable shoes are recommended; the tour will be held rain or shine. Admission is $6 for HPA and A&L members, $8 for everyone else.

To reserve your place for the tour, please send your payment to the Hartford Preservation Alliance, 56 Arbor Street, Suite 406, Hartford, CT 06106. For more information call 860-570-0331.

New Life for the Lyric Theater?

2006-05-12T11:26:00.000-04:00

"Park Street's derelict Lyric Theater building, a once-grand Hartford structure that's been allowed to deteriorate almost beyond repair, is poised for resurrection as a public library and regional cultural center," the Hartford Courant says in an editorial today. "It couldn't happen to a nicer building in a more deserving neighborhood."

The theater, located at the corner of Broard and Park streets, has three floors. Under an $8.5 million renovation plan developed by the Broad-Park Development Corp., the first floor would become a Hartford Public Library branch focusing on Puerto Rican and Latino history and culture, while a performing arts center, artists' studios, and spaces for live theater, dance, concerts and films would occupy the second floor. Broad-Park would move into the third floor, freeing up its current office space on Park Street for retail use.

Now that there's a plan, the new task is to raise money. "Surely the state should consider kicking in for this worthy project, which has so many potential benefits and beneficiaries," the Courant says.

Ridgefield Historic District created

2006-04-27T16:57:00.000-04:00

The City Council has voted to create a historic district in the city's Blue Hills neighborhood.

The new Ridgefield Historic District covers approximately 30 homes along Keney Park, running on Ridgefield Street between Westbourne Parkway and Plainfield Street, the Hartford Courant reports. The move gives homes in the district some legal protection, along with prestige.

Historic Capewell gets new investor

2006-04-27T07:42:00.000-04:00

The long-anticipated conversion of the former Capewell Horse Nail Co. factory into condominiums may start by September, thanks to a new investor in the project: the New Boston Fund Inc., a real-estate investment fund that owns the new condominium complex at Pearl and Trumbull streets.

The project’s developer, John Reveruzzi, says he has signed a letter of intent that makes New Boston his new partner, according to the Hartford Courant.

The red-brick building, located on Charter Oak Avenue, between the Colt factory and Main Street, has been vacant for some time and vulnerable to vandalism.

Save the gravestones of our Revolutionary War veterans

2006-04-21T17:31:00.000-04:00

By one count, the Old South Burying Ground holds the remains of 32 Revolutionary War veterans, not to mention those of many other early residents of Hartford. Yet the place is almost invisible, set far back from Maple Avenue and overshadowed by the adjacent Fox Elementary School (formerly Bulkeley High School.) That invisibility has been costly. Most of the gravestones have crumbled; some have all but disappeared. A small group, Friends of the Old South Burying Ground, has been trying its best to preserve the cemetery, but it needs help -- especially from the City of Hartford, which controls the site.

On Monday, April 17, the Friends took it upon themselves to hold Patriots Day ceremonies at the gravesites of the Revolutionary War veterans they could identify. Here's a PDF file containing photographs of the event and some of the stones.

And here's a Yahoo! map for finding the place.

Edythe Gaines: 1922-2006

2006-03-24T09:45:00.000-05:00

Edythe Gaines was a Hartford "first" in two respects: She was the first African-American to lead the city school system and the first woman to do so. Gaines, whose tenure as superintendent of schools lasted from 1975 to 1978, died Thursday morning at the age of 83, according to the Hartford Courant.

CHS director leaving for New Orleans

2006-03-16T13:05:00.000-05:00

The Hartford Courant reports today that David M. Kahn, executive director of the Connecticut Historical Society for the past nine years, will leave in May to become director of the New Orleans-based Louisiana State Museum.

Kahn told the Courant that he could not pass up the opportunity to help a historic institution rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The newspaper listed these as some of Kahn's accomplishments at CHS:

The museum's decision in 2003 to assume responsibility for managing the Old State House, where a $3.5 million permanent exhibit on the history of Hartford will open in September. A new audio tour of the Old State House was introduced on March 4.
An expansion of audience-friendly and interactive exhibitions on topics ranging from 18th-century Connecticut furniture to the history of the comic book.
Improvements in cataloging the museum's collections and making them easier for the public to navigate.

By the way, CHS wants visitors to its museum and headquarters on Elizabeth Street to know this: "In order to better protect and preserve our collections, the CHS Museum will be installing new climate control (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems in 2006, thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. While access to the exhibitions, plus the library and museum collections may be limited (especially between February and June 2006), we’ll strive to accommodate your interests and research needs, but recommend you call ahead. Thanks for your patience! Call for further information (860) 236-5621, or e-mail ask_us@chs.org for further information."

Historic gardens lecture on April 6

2006-03-15T12:47:00.000-05:00

Artist, garden designer, and historic gardens consultant Rob Fuoco will present an illustrated lecture on Victorian gardens and new thinking in historic landscapes on Thursday, April 6, at the Butler-McCook House & Garden at 396 Main Street.

Mr. Fuoco oversees the historic gardens at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford and has authored an extensive historic grounds report on the Nook Farm neighborhood.

The event is sponsored by the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, a statewide cultural organization that operates a network of historic house museums, including the Butler-McCook house. The cost: none for A&L members, $6 for non-members. Reservations are suggested, so please call (860) 522-1806.

Also on April 6, the Butler-McCook House’s Aetna gallery will host the opening of "A Photographer’s Eye: H. Robert Thiesfield’s Hartford Images." The opening was originally scheduled for last month, but a snowstorm forced postponement.

Nominations sought for Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame

2006-03-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

Governor M. Jodi Rell is accepting nominations to the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, which she created last year "to recognize the post-military achievements of generations of outstanding veterans from the state, living or deceased, and to spotlight their contributions to their community, including education, public safety, politics, recreation and other areas of public service."

Under the executive order that established the hall, 10 Connecticut veterans will be inducted every year, with the ceremony taking place around Veterans Day.

Veterans who served in all military conflicts will be considered, including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iraq invasion.

Rell, in a press release, emphasized that the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame is not a military hall of fame. Rather, veterans selected for induction must have honorably served their country in the military and continued to serve it afterward, in civilian life. Nominations for deceased veterans are also accepted.

For more details and a nomination packet, visit the state Department of Veteran Affairs website, or call (860)721-5939.

No free lunch -- but there is a free bus

2006-03-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

It's a little nippy out lately for walking tours of the historic sites in downtown Hartford. But you can still check them out from the sheltered warmth of the FREE shuttle bus that runs downtown.

Here's a map of the route and the stops.

Series of Hartford history lectures begins May 16

2006-03-04T21:04:00.000-05:00

The Greater Hartford Arts Council is co-sponsoring a series of lectures on the history of Hartford, in the belief that "newcomers as well as long-term residents of the region should share a base of knowledge about our core city and its environs."

Trinity College historian Andrew Walsh will deliver the first lecture, "The Changing Face of Hartford: From River’s Edge to Ribbons of Concrete," on Tuesday, May 16, at the Hartford Club, at 46 Prospect Street. A half-hour of socializing, with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar, will precede the lecture, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $35, with seating limited to the first 100 paid admissions.

Visit the Arts Council's website for more information.