Orient Insurance Company Building (1905)

orient-insurance.JPG

The Orient Insurance Company Building was constructed in 1905, on Trinity Street in Hartford, next to the Bushnell Memorial Hall and near the State Capitol. It is just around the corner from Elm Street, which by the 1920s became known as Insurance Row, after four more companies built offices there near the Capitol. Designed by Davis & Brooks in the grand Beaux-Arts style, the Orient Insurance Company Building originally featured a large dome, which is no longer extant. The building now serves as state offices.

Polish National Home (1930)

An excellent example of Art Deco style architecture, the Polish National Home, on Charter Oak Avenue in Hartford, was completed in 1930. Together with SS. Cyril and Methodius Church, it was once at the center of Hartford’s Polish community. Although that community has since dispersed throughout the Greater-Hartford area, the Polish National Home continues to serve the region’s Polish-Americans. An informative article from the Hartford Courant provides interesting background information on this historyczna budowla stanu Connecticut.

(more…)

The Ebenezer Plummer House (1765)

ebenezerplummer.JPG

What is now known as the Ebenezer Plummer House was originally built in 1750 by Dr. Elizur Hale, who ended up not being able to afford the house he had built on Main Street in Glastonbury. He sold it to Ebenezer Plummer, a successful merchant. Plummer moved to Glastonbury from Boston in the 1750s and his house displays some architectural features perhaps more common to eastern Massachusetts than to the Connecticut River Valley. Plummer was a town leader during the Revolutionary War. The house was moved to its current location in on Main Street in 1947, when Douglas Road was constructed connecting to Main Street at the home’s original site. Post Edited 5/27/08.

John Hollister House (1649)

johnhollisterhouse.JPG

The oldest House in Glastonbury was built in 1649, by Lt. John Hollister, and originally stood on the bank of the Connecticut River. Due to frequent flooding, it was moved to its current location, on Tryon Street, near Roaring Brook, in 1721. The rear lean-to, added around 1830, gave the house a saltbox shape. Hollister probably did not live in this house himself, as he maintained his main residence in Wethersfield, across the river. Instead, he rented it to three tenants, the brothers Josiah, Jonathan and John Gilbert, who farmed his land on the east side of the river. Hollister’s descendants would later make the house their ancestral home for many generations.

Hartford Fire Insurance Company Building (1921)

the-hartford.JPG

The Hartford neighborhood of Asylum Hill got its name from the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, which was founded there in 1817. A century later, the organization changed its name to the American School for the Deaf and moved to West Hartford. Its Hartford property was purchased by the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, which had been founded in 1810. This firm was the first of many to leave downtown Hartford and build a new headquarters in Asylum Hill. The headquarters of the company, which is now known as The Hartford Financial Services Group, was constructed in 1921 in a Classical Revival style, designed by Stevenson & Dodge, with Parker, Thomas & Rice.

Wetmore-Starr House (1752)

jehosaphatstarrhouse.JPG

Built around 1752, on Washington Street in Middletown by Jeremiah Wetmore, on property that had once been part of the 1670 land grant to Rev. Samuel Stow, the town’s first minister. The house was purchased by Jehosaphat Starr in 1756, who enlarged the original central chimney home with an addition to the east elevation. This was done to accommodate his large family, which eventually grew to 14. Starr, a Major during the Revolutionary War, was married to Sarah Stow, who was a great-grand niece of Rev. Samuel Stow. The house remained in the family until 1851.