36 Gardner Street

The Gothic Revival mansion with Italianate detailing at 36 Gardner Street at Warehouse Point in East Windsor was built in 1843 (or 1847) for Avah Gardner. The Gardener estate later became a Swedish orphanage and working farm. The property was acquired by the state in 1883 when the Connecticut General Assembly decided to create an orphanage/country home in each of its eight counties. The orphanage served children who had run away from home or were truant. Known as Gardner Hall or the Administration Building, the former mansion has two additions: a north wing built c. 1890 and a section on the east side added in 1921. The building originally had a tower which has since been removed. The state’s other county orphanages closed in 1955 except for the facility at Warehouse Point, which was renamed the State Receiving Home. It was later renamed the Connecticut Children’s Place, serving as a residential and educational center for abused and neglected children. Since 2013 has been the Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center- North Campus, a psychiatric treatment facility for juvenile males.

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Gardner Mansion (1843)

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