Second Church of Christ Scientist [Hartford] (1927)

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The Georgian Revival-style Second Church of Christ Scientist, located off Columbus Green in Hartford, was designed by the architects Isaac A. Allen & Son and was built over several years in 1920s. The foundation was finished in 1924 and in 1927, with assistance from William A. Boring, the remaining superstructure was completed. The interior dates to 1929. Like such neighboring buildings as the Connecticut State Library and Supreme Court, the church was part of an attempt to create a setting in keeping with the “City Beautiful” movement of the early twentieth century.

First Presbyterian Church, Hartford (1870)

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The First Presbyterian Church of Hartford was formed in 1851 and had several homes until a chapel, in 1868, and then a sanctuary, in 1870, were built. Located on Capitol Avenue, near the Bushnell Memorial, the First Presbyterian Church was designed by Renwick & Sands (James Renwick, Jr. was architect of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington D.C.). It is a polychromatic stone building in the High Victorian Romanesque style.

The Travelers Tower (1919)

The first part of the Travelers Building was constructed in 1906 as the headquarters of the Travelers Property Casualty Corporation, founded in Hartford in 1864. The company, now part of The Travelers Companies, has had many firsts in the history of insurance, including the first automobile, commercial airline and space travel policies. The first section of the Travelers building to be built, in 1906, was the Renaissance Revival-style structure facing Main Street in Hartford. The building began to expand southwards in 1912, with the 527-foot tower, featuring classical influences, being completed in 1919, at which time it was the tallest building in New England and the seventh tallest in the world. The architect was Donn Barber of New York. In 1963, after the removal of some adjacent buildings between the tower and the Wadsworth Atheneum, a new grand entrance plaza was created facing south. More recently, the building has become a nesting site for Peregrine Falcons. A camera was set up to study them, which is also available to the public online. Visitors can go to the top of the Travelers Tower in the Summer.

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UCONN School of Law (1926)

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Originally the campus of the Hartford Seminary, the Collegiate Gothic-style buildings of the University of Connecticut’s School of Law are located along Fern Street and Girard Avenue in Hartford. The land was purchased by the Seminary in 1913 and the original buildings were constructed in 1922-1926, designed by the firm of Allen & Collens, architects of New York’s Riverside Church. In 1978, the state authorized $6 million for the Law School, founded in 1921, to purchase and renovate the campus. The Seminary moved to a new adjacent building and the Law School occupied the old campus in 1984. In 1996 a new library was constructed on the campus, which has recently been revealed to have significant structural problems.

Ahern Funeral Home (1855)

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The house at 180 Farmington Avenue in Hartford which now serves as the Ahern Funeral Home, was built around 1855. It represents the transition from the Greek Revival style (with its cubical shape and three bay front) to the Italianate style (with its overhanging roof and elaborately detailed portico). The one story addition was added in the later nineteenth century. The Ahern Funeral Home, Inc. was founded in 1886 and acquired the house in 1934.