This video is about what once existed on a block of Asylum Street in Hartford, CT where the City Place office towers were built in the 1980s. This included the house where J. P. Morgan was born, the sites of many historic Hartford businesses (including music stores, Turkish baths, bakeries and clothing stores), and a controversial mural that sparked public debate in the 1970s.
New Video: 4K Walk Through West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square
New Video: The Growth of G. Fox & Company (1917 to the 1960s)
My latest video is about the growth of G. Fox & Company in Hartford, from the aftermath of the fire which destroyed the store in 1917 through the expansions of the 1930s through 1960s.
New Video: The Early History of G. Fox & Company
In this video I talk about the growth and development of G. Fox & Company department store from its early days in 1847 as a small fancy goods store, to a large department store occupying several contiguous buildings. I focus on the various buildings the store occupied. I end by describing the fire that destroyed the store in 1917. In another video I will describe the rebirth of the store and its continued expansion into the 1960s.
New Video: A Lost Vanderbilt Mansion in West Hartford
A mansion erected by a member of the Vanderbilt family once stood along Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, Connecticut. In this video I explain how the mansion came to be built, mention a notable artistic couple that was married in it, and tell how the mansion was replaced by an exclusive housing development.
New Video: Old Wethersfield Walking Tour (with Captions)
My latest video is a walking tour of Old Wethersfield with historical information given in the captions.
New Video: Brown Thomson’s Department Store
This video is about Brown, Thomson & Company, a department store that existed in Hartford Connecticut from 1866 to 1969. I talk about the store’s history with a focus on the buildings the business occupied. I also talk about another store, the Bee Hive, which existed from 1847 until 1894, when it was absorbed by Brown Thomson’s.