My latest video is about the Garden Street Reservoir, which stood on Asylum Hill in Hartford behind where the Hartford Insurance Company Building is today. There are many interesting stories about the reservoir, including about the seal that once lived in it! In fact, there are so many stories that I couldn’t fit them all in the video, so I’ve also written a Substack article with quotations from the 1850s relating to the original digging and construction of the reservoir.
New Video on a Lost Section of Hartford’s Main Street
This video is about a section of Main Street in Hartford, Connecticut that is now occupied by the building at 740 Main Street that was erected by Travelers Insurance in 1956. At the time of the Revolution, the businesses of female merchant Margaret Chenevard and bookseller and apothecary Hezekiah Merrill were located here. In the early nineteenth century, property here was owned by Oliver Ellsworth. A building erected at the corner of (the now lost) Grove Street in 1856 served as a post office and for over a half century was occupied by the Hartford Times newspaper.
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Hartford’s 20 Most Iconic Buildings
What are the most iconic buildings in Hartford, Connecticut? This video lists 20 structures that symbolize the city and its importance in history.
Hartford’s Lost Pavilion House

In my recent Substack article I talk about a lost Federal style mansion that stood on Pavilion Street in the city’s Clay-Arsenal neighborhood. Check out the article to learn more about this house’s history, which over the years served as a billiard resort and a school.
New Video on Hartford’s Lost Ely Mansion
My latest video is about two lost Hartford mansions. The Ely family homes stood on Main Street, where the Capitol Prep Magnet School is today. They were built in 1811 and 1830-1832 by William Ely, a wealthy shipping merchant who had a town called Elyton named for him in Alabama. Elton was later absorbed into the city of Birmingham, but the Elyton Hotel in Birmingham and Ely Street in Hartford perpetuate his name today.
New Video about the Keney Memorial Clock Tower
This video gives the background on the Keney Memorial Clock Tower in Hartford, Connecticut. It was built on the site of Henry and Walter Keney’s wholesale grocery business and next door was the brother’s Greek Revival style mansion, which is now lost. There is doubt about whether the Tower was built as a monument to Keney business or to the mother who raised them.
New Compilation Video: Hartford Department Stores
This is a compilation of my videos about Hartford department stores: Steiger-Vedder, Sage-Allen, Wise-Smith, Brown-Thomson, G. Fox, and the West Hartford Lord & Taylor.
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