Across from Old North Cemetery, on Main Street (formerly Windsor Avenue) in Hartford, are a pair of three-story brick buildings constructed in 1864-1865. Known as the Widows’ Homes, they were built for charitable purposes (housing Civil War widows) through a bequest by Lawson Ives, a manufacturer and member of the Pearl Street Congregational Church (since demolished). Plaques on the exterior of each of the two buildings memorialize Ives’ gift. According to the Annual Reports of the Board of Charities to the Governor for the Years Ending September 30, 1905 and 1906 (1907):
The Widows’ Homes at Nos. 210 and 216 Windsor avenue were established in 1867 by the will of Mr. Lawson C. Ives, an honored citizen of Hartford. The two Homes are under the management, respectively, of the pastors and prudential committees of the Farmington Avenue Congregational Church and of the Park Congregational Church, who were incorporated for that purpose by the General Assembly of 1867. Each Home contains twelve apartments of three rooms each, and all occupants who are able to do so, pay a monthly rental of $2 for front and $1.50 for back rooms. The inmates do their own work and enjoy a degree of homelike privacy not found in a large institution.
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Good Day! So good to be in the Capital City so steeped in history! What is the current state and function of the Widows’ Homes? Are they still living quarters?
Mr. John A. Wyatt-
I’m not sure what their current use is.
Dan
Don’t understand the frowning emoji which is rather large. What is its significance; obviously negative, am I not correct?
John,
No negativity was implied. The frowning face was not an emoji, but was a randomly generated avatar created by WordPress (the software program this website runs on). Users who don’t have their own avatars have one randomly assigned by the system. I had it set to automatically create “Wavatar” avatars, which are humorous faces. To avoid future confusion, I’ve changed the setting to instead generate “Identicons” which are patterns that don’t resemble faces. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
Dan
Good Morning, Daniel! Thank you for the clarification.
It might interest you to know that I am a five-year volunteer Research Assistant w/ the Hartford Preservation Alliance since Oct. 2018. Ms. Mary Falvey, the Executive Director, is who I report to for volunteering.
Would like to show you two buildings in Colt Park that I want to save.
Would also like to “pick your brain” over coffee in downtown Hartford at a restaurant or coffee shop.
Thank you for all that you do and for believing in the Nutmeg State!
Best Regards,
John
John,
What are the two buildings you want to save?
Dan
Good Morning Daniel,
Unfortunately, the names escape me. Let me do a bit of sleuthing and I’ll get back to you! Mary Falvey of the Hartford Preservation Alliance would know.
Am curious, is their a postal address of Historic Homes of Connecticut, just in case I do research and don’t have access to a computer scanner?
As I may have mentioned, I am Mary Falvey’s 5-year volunteer Research Assistant. Perhaps you and I could work in conjunction w/ one another for the continued preservation of historic homes in Conn.
Please let me know.
Regards,
John
P.S. Seeing Mary on Tuesday the 20th.
Am going in tomorrow on the twentieth to volunteer for Mary Falvey at the HPA. Will ask and get back to you.