Broad Brook Hotel (1840)

The three-story gambrel-roofed building at 98 Main Street in the village of Broad Brook in East Windsor was built in 1840. Its gable-end faces the street and has a two-level front porch with columns. When it was erected, the building was known as Hubbard’s Hotel. It was later called the Broad Brook Hotel and was owned by the Broad Brook Company. The upper floors contained guest rooms and dining facilities, with an auditorium on the third floor. The ground floor housed businesses, such as a harness shop and possibly a tin store. Other tenants over the years included the Broad Brook Library and a U. S. Post Office. In 1956 the building became the Masonic Hall of Oriental Lodge No. 111. Their previous lodge at E. W. Pigeon’s store had been wrecked in the Flood of 1955. The Lodge later moved to South Windsor.

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Broad Brook Opera House (1892)

The neighborhood of Broad Brook in the town of East Windsor was once a mill village for the Broad Brook Company, which manufactured textiles from 1849 to 1854. In 1892 the company erected the building at the corner of Main and Depot Streets, next to the Broad Brook Dam. The building had a company salesroom and shipping department on the first floor and a public hall, called the opera house, on the top floor which was used for community events. After the company moved its departments out in 1920 the first floor was used for retail stores. The Opera House on the second floor continues to host live shows today.

Upcoming Event: State House Square 360 Walking Tour (Saturday, June 10, 11:30 A.M.)

Get ready to kick off the summer with an engaging walking tour around the historic State House Square in downtown Hartford! Featuring local historian, Dan Sterner. State House Square lies in the very heart of the city of Hartford. Bordered by Main Street, Central Row, Market Street, and the pedestrian walkway that used to be part of State Street, hundreds of people walk by this site every day. They might look up and see the high-rise buildings, marvel at the beautiful Old State House at the center, or hurry to work in one of the office complexes that line the blocks. But how many know the history of those streets they walk, and the buildings they frequent? How has the neighborhood changed in both appearance and purpose? What kinds of businesses and people used to occupy the lots that surround them? Local historian, Dan Sterner has done vast amounts of research on the history of Hartford. He will lead an hour-long walking tour around State House Square. The tour will include a look at Connecticut’s Old State House’s newest exhibit: State House Square 360°. The exhibit features a number of historical images of State House Square dating back to the 1800s. Dan will highlight some of the most interesting stories of the sites. Open to the public!
Registration: https://bit.ly/OSH2023SHS360Tour 

New Video: Hartford’s Asylum Street before the Parking Garage (including Huntington’s Book Store)

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This video is about the section of Asylum Street in Hartford, CT where a retail/parking structure was built by the Hartford National Bank & Trust in the 1960s. This was once the home of clothing stores, like the now vanished Covey & Smith, and the legendary Huntington’s Book Store, which was in existence under various names between 1835 and 1993 and was known to Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain as Brown & Gross.

American Museum of Tort Law [former Winsted Savings Bank] (1925)

In 2013, Ralph Nader purchased the former Winsted Savings Bank building at 654 Main Street in Winsted to become the future home of the American Museum of Tort Law, which he first announced was in development in 1998. The museum, which opened in 2015, has a mission to inform and inspire Americans about trial by jury and the benefits of tort law (the law of wrongful injuries). The museum‘s building was erected in 1925 by the Winsted Savings Bank, which was incorporated in 1860. From 1867 until 1925 the bank had occupied the 1851 building at 690 Main Street that had originally been erected by the Winsted Bank.

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Bethel’s Old Train Station (1899)

The former train station at 5 Depot Place in Bethel was built in 1899. It replaced an earlier station, erected at the same location in 1852, when it was on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. The original station had burned down in December of 1898. The second station continued in use until 1996, when a new station opened on Durant Avenue. For some years the former station became a bicycle shop and it is now home to Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewery. In 2019 the station’s old canopy, which extends along the tracks on the west side of the building, was restored.