The modern apartment building on Arch Street in Hartford stands on the site of a once-famous Hartford tree: the Ledyard Elm. My latest video is about John Ledyard, the famous traveler, and the fate of the tree he planted back in 1773.
The image above (taken near the start of the twentieth century) shows the three-story Italianate-style office building erected in 1853 by the Hartford Life and Health Insurance Company at 39 Pearl Street in Hartford. In the 1860s, the building was taken over by the State Savings Bank. Right behind the building was a fire house at 43 Pearl Street, which by the time of this photo was used by the department’s Squad A. The fire house was built in the early 1860s and behind it was the tower that housed the city’s fire alarm bell. Installed in 1867, the nearly-9,000-pound bell was linked to a telegraphic alarm system that involved alarm boxes throughout the city. After the bell cracked in 1881, it was recast and reinstalled. The new bell continued in service until 1921. At that point, the State Savings Bank acquired the fire department property and replaced all of these structures with a new bank building that lasted until 1972. The large bell was taken out of service and was eventually donated to the Connecticut Historical Society (now the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History). You can learn more about Hartford’s Fire Alarm Bell in my latest Substack post: https://open.substack.com/pub/oldhartford/p/the-old-pearl-street-fire-alarm-bell?r=4j8x6h&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
My latest in-person presentation is about Hartford’s Lost Riverfront at the Windsor Senior Center (599 Matianuck Avenue, Windsor, CT) Wednesday June 10 at 12:30 PM. Call to register: 860-285-1992. For centuries, Hartford was an active port along the Connecticut River, with numerous wharfs, dockyard businesses and warehouses connected to the West Indies trade. Learn about the many buildings and fascinating personalities associated with the old riverfront, which was gradually lost to the development of modern bridges and highways. You can find my other upcoming presentations here: Upcoming Presentations – Daniel Sterner
I’ve made a compilation of my videos about the history of Pearl Street in Hartford, which had great architecture and was called Hartford’s “Wall Street!” Its now lost buildings included banks and insurance companies, an early design by H. H. Richardson, the location of the city’s old fire bell, the telephone exchange (home of the “Hello Girls”), Plimpton’s, the Halls of Record, and much more! Check it out!
In my latest Substack post, I consider where the House of Hope, the fort constructed by the Dutch in 1633, was located in Hartford. I’ve circled in red the location of the Dutch House of Hope in the map above that depicts Hartford in 1636 in William DeLoss Love’s 1914 book The Colonial History of Hartford.
My latest video continues to reveal the forgotten history of Prospect Street in Hartford. Focusing on the east side of the street, I show houses where fascinating people lived, including notable lawyers, judges, authors, and business innovators. The houses were replaced by ornate buildings that housed important social clubs, organizations, and the home of the Hartford Times.
My latest video is about the west side of Prospect Street in Hartford (between Central Row and Atheneum Street) where a row of historic houses came to be replaced by the expansion of Travelers in the twentieth century. Some of these houses were the residences of prominent figures like the original publisher of the Hartford Courant, the founder of one of Hartford’s oldest law firms, the man who inspired a historic library and museum in a small Connecticut Town, and more! Also, the stable where George Washington kept his horse in 1780! The houses later became the homes of several important social clubs!
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