Hartford, Connecticut--The State Capitol and the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

On Saturday, 6/7, we stopped at the Connecticut State Information Office just after we crossed the state line from New York.  In looking at the many Connecticut attractions, Hartford, the state capitol city,  looked very interesting and I-84 passes very close by both the State Capitol building and the 116 ft high Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch.

Hartford grew from a 1633 Dutch trading post into an English settlement in 1636.  It was one of the first Colonial cities to resist English rule  The city prospered and in the 1870s it had the highest per capita income in the country.  Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe lived here as did other literary figures. The Hartford Courant newspaper was founded in 1764 and today is the oldest continuous name and circulation news- paper in the country.  Hartford is considered the insurance capital of the world with the establishment of the Hartford Fire Insurance Co. in 1810 beginning today's multibillion dollar multi-company industry in Hartford.

Bushnell Park in Hartford is the site of the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, spanning the Trinity Street entrance to the park.  This monumental brownstone Gothic revival style arch is dedicated to the 4000 Connecticut soldiers, who served on the Union side in the Civil War including 400 men who died. This was the first permanent triumphal arch in America and was dedicated in 1886!  Each of the two towers is topped by an 8' bronze angel playing either a trumpet or cymbals.The large sculpted friezes on either side show the story of War with General U.S. Grant surveying his troops or the story of Peace with the citizens of Hartford welcoming their soldiers home.  There are six 8' tall sculpted figures on the sides of the towers representing a mason, carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, student and an African Amercian breaking the chains of bondage.

As we were walking into Bushnell Park, there were a large number of police motorcycle officers parked in a wing formation.  As we got near them, a command was given and all the Harley-Davidson motorcycles roared to life and took off one by one.

Bushnell Park is also the home of a working 1914 Stein and Goldstein carousel with 48 hand carved wooden horses, 2 chariots and a 1925 Wurlitzer band organ.  Unfortunately the carousel was closed on the day of our visit.

Modern sculpture in Bushnell Park

The Connecticut State Capitol with its iconic gold dome is adjacent to Bushnell Park rising up on a hill with a good view of the city skyline. Its architectural style is Eastlake with French and Gothic elements. The central dome is 257 feet high!  From a distance, the Capitol appears to be a fairy castle!  The building is made of New England  granite and marble and is extremely ornate, befitting a city that was at that time, the richest in the nation!  The building cost $2.5 million at its completion in 1879!!  It houses the chambers of the State Senate and the House of Representatives plus the office of the Governor.

Connecticut's Charter Oak

There are several sculptures on the Capitol grounds

The most impressive is the "Petersburg Express" a mortar used by the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Civil War.  Another is a memorial to men who suffered in Southern military prions during the Civil War.  Lafayette is sculpted on horseback.

Coming soon:  The Beginning of the U.S. Industrial Revolution--Lowell, Massachusetts