235-257 Asylum Street, Hartford (1872)

The series of buildings at 235-257 Asylum Street in Hartford are valuable nineteenth century survivors, examples of a period when cast iron was popular as a decorative element on commercial buildings in the city. New York has its famous Cast Iron District in SoHo, but Hartford has a few examples of cast iron ornamentation from the same period, most notably the cast iron front added to the building at 105 Asylum Street in 1896. The three buildings at nos. 235-257 Asylum Street were built between 1870 and 1872 by John Harrison. As reported in the Courant on June 13, 1871:

John Harrison and his associates, who purchased a portion of the Shepherd property on Asylum street, will erect at the head of Ann street a five-story iron building, which will be the second iron front in that street when the improvements now going on are completed.

To the left, in the image above, is 235-237 Asylum, completed in 1871. The original cast iron front on the first two floors was later replaced, but has been retained on the upper three floors. The adjacent middle building, 241 Asylum, is a narrower structure, having three instead of four bays. The largest of the buildings, 247-257 Asylum on the right, dating to 1872, was constructed of brick. Its windows have cast iron architraves and the building is topped by a bold cornice featuring semicircular arches, a feature also used on the later McKone Block on Main Street, built in 1875. There are more pictures after the jump…

The first image below is 247-257 Asylum as it appears today. Just below that is a historical image of nos. 241 and 247-257 from over a century ago.

Below is a close-up on nos. 235-241.

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These buildings and others, which have not survived, were constructed at a time of rapid development on this part of Asylum Street, which had previously retained some residential homes. Quoting the Courant again, this time on “Asylum Street Improvements” from Nov. 5, 1870:

The central location of Asylum street and its connection with railway lines makes its destiny, as the most important of our business streets, sure. Capitalists have already discovered this, and the large investments made there during the past year prove the confidence which leading business men have in the street.

Below is an image of the area of our three buildings from an 1877 Birds-eye-view of Hartford: