Remembering G. Fox & Co.

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.

Hartford law firm marking 225th year

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.