The Phoenix Fire Insurance Company was founded in 1854. From 1873, the company was headquartered in a building on Pearl Street in Hartford designed by H.H. Richardson (and later torn down). In 1917, it moved to a newly completed building at 30 Trinity Street. The Georgian Revival building, designed by Morris & O’Connor, now houses the Connecticut Secretary of the State‘s office. This building is one of the sites featured in Tour 3 in my book, A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut.
The Hartford Electric Light Company began operations in 1883, led by its first president, Austin Cornelius Dunham. He had earlier pioneered the use of electricity for industrial lighting in 1878 by installing a six-lamp arc-light system in a building of the Willimantic Linen Company. The Hartford Electric Light Company established an office on Pearl Street in Hartford, which was later replaced by the current building at 266 Pearl Street. According to the Hartford Courant of April 14, 1913:
The new building to be erected on Pearl Street by the Hartford Electric Light Company and covering the site of the old office of the company and the vacant land immediately west of it, and extending north from Pearl street to the present Pearl street substation of the company, will have a frontage of substantially 131 feet, and a depth of 100 feet. It will be five stories high, with a basement.
It is to be constructed as a fireproof building of brick and steel throughout. The entire front, together with the east and west sides to a depth of twenty-nine feet, will be constructed of limestone up to the level of the second story. The rest of the structure will be of a soft grey brick, harmonizing with the limestone of the first floor.
On July 27, 1914, the Courant announced that the new building was ready and the company would move into its new quarters that day. The Hartford Electric Light Co. (HELCO) sold the building in 1960 (but continued to rent space in it for a number of years). In more recent years, the building, which has had an extra floor added on the roof, has been converted into condominiums. (more…)
The Weldon Block is a commercial building at 901-907 Main Street in Manchester. Compared to its flat-roofed neighbors on Main Street, the Colonial Revival-style Weldon Block has a more residential design, featuring a hipped roof with dormer windows. Dr. Thomas Weldon (1861-1939) built the Weldon Block in 1898 after a fire destroyed his earlier (c. 1890) building in 1897. Dr. Weldon both had his office and resided (until 1915) in the building. The Weldon Block also housed Weldon Drug Company, which had been founded by Dr. Weldon’s father, Thomas Weldon, Sr. (1826-1910). The building remained in the family until 1937 and Weldon Drug continued in business for many years thereafter. The Weldon Block, which has been expanded several times over the years, has been home to a number of businesses, including Regal Men’s Shop from 1940 to 2000.
At 512-528 Main Street in Middletown is a two-story Colonial Revival commercial building with scrubbed terra cotta tiles on the facade. Built in 1925, the building displays the name “J. Poliner & Sons.” Jacob Poliner (d. 1933), an immigrant from Austria, first settled in Hartford and then moved to Middletown, where he established at shoe store at 548 Main Street (at the corner of Ferry Street). A leading member of Adath Israel synagogue, Poliner officiated as cantor in the congregation’s early days and was widely known for his knowledge of the Talmud. One of his five sons was Judge Isreal Poliner, who opened a law office in the Poliner Building in 1928. (more…)
At 31-33 Lewis Street in Hartford is a Georgian Revival office building built in 1928 and designed by William F. Brooks. It matches well stylistically with the neighboring early nineteenth-century residences on Lewis Street. Recently rehabilitated, the building is back-to-back with the Trumbull on the Park apartment complex. To learn more about Lewis Street and other sites in Hartford, buy my new book, A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut.
The former headquarters building of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, at 56 Prospect Street in Hartford, is currently vacant. An Art Deco structure built in 1932, it was designed by Carl J. Malmfeldt. This block of Prospect Street was once the site of two lost Hartford landmarks: the old headquarters of the Travelers Insurance Company and Parson’s Theatre. To learn about the founding of Hartford Steam Boiler and find out about other great sites in downtown Hartford, check out Tour 1 in my new book, A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut.
In 1893, Jacob Stueck built the commercial structure at 460 Main Street in Middletown, which housed his bakery. In 1914, his son, Philip Stueck, built an attached structure at 62-70 Washington Street. Philip operated a restaurant on the upper level, called Stueck’s Modern Tavern, and rented out the first floor to various retail shops. The restaurant remained in business until 1939. The Renaissance Revival building, which features bold notched brick-work, was sold to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1946.
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