Commercial Buildings Archives - Page 32 of 76

Main Street, Hartford, Connecticut (2)

February 9, 2018September 3, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Main Street from State Street in Hartford, on January 30, 1904. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Main Street in 2016:

These photos were taken from nearly the same spot as the ones in the previous post, just looking a little further to the left. This view shows the commercial development along the east side of Main Street north of State Street, including the mid-19th century Exchange Block on the right. Beyond it, there are several other buildings from around the same time period, all of which have long since been demolished. The site of these buildings has since been redeveloped into State House Square, which now stands on the right side of the photo.

Most of the other buildings from the first photo have since been demolished, but a few are still standing. The tall building in the center of the first photo was built only a few years earlier, in 1898, and was the home of the Sage-Allen department store. The company closed in 1994, and for almost a decade the building’s fate was in limbo, but its facade was ultimately preserved and incorporated into a new development.

Another prominent building, which has survived more or less intact from the first photo, is the Cheney Building at the corner of Temple Street, just beyond the Sage-Allen Building. This brownstone building was designed by prominent architect Henry Hobson Richardson and completed in 1876, and for many years it was the Brown-Thomson department store. A third department store, G. Fox, was also located along this section of Main Street. Their building, barely visible in the first photo beyond the Cheney Building, burned in 1917, and was replaced with their much larger flagship store, which is still standing in the distance of the 2016 photo.

Exchange Block, Hartford, Connecticut

September 3, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Exchange Block at the northeast corner of Main and State Streets, on December 6, 1903. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

The scene in 2016:

This location at the corner of Main and State Streets, directly opposite the Old State House, has long been an important commercial center for the city. Known as the Exchange Block, it dates back to the 1830s, when it replaced an earlier building destroyed in a fire. By 1903, when the first photo was taken, the signs here indicate a wide range of businesses and professional offices, including a coal company, cigar store, clothing store, tailors, lawyers, a real estate broker, a dentist, and a physician.

The oldest portion of the building appears to be the section in the center, with Greek Revival architecture that likely dates back to the 1830s. The left side of the building has more of an Italianate design, and was probably built or renovated around the 1850s or 1860s. This part of the building was demolished in the 1920s, and everything else from the first photo was gone sometime between the 1930s and 1984, when construction began on State House Square, the office building that now stands on the site here.

State Street from Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, Connecticut

September 4, 2016August 30, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking east on State Street from Front Street (now Columbus Boulevard) in Hartford, on November 12, 1905. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

State Street in 2016:

This same intersection was previously seen in other posts, facing north and west from here. This scene is also a block west of the photos in the previous post, which show the same elevated railroad tracks that are visible in the distance here. The first photo shows State Street facing toward the Connecticut River, as it appeared at the turn of the last century. State Street begins two block west of here at Main Street, at the commercial center of the city, with prominent banks, insurance companies, hotels, and government buildings nearby. However, as one moved further down the hill toward the river, like in this photo, the street became much less glamorous, with warehouses and other industrial uses along the railroad tracks and riverfront.

Photographer William H. Thompson captured scenes like this, using his camera to document the areas of the city that did not appear on postcards or in tourist publications. Because of this, we are able to see the largely immigrant and working-class eastern section of the city, essentially all of which was demolished in the late 1950s for the Constitution Plaza urban renewal project. Around the same time, in 1958, the Founders Bridge opened, extending State Street across the Connecticut River to East Hartford. Just beyond this intersection, it crosses over Interstate 91, which was built along the river a few years later. Just to the right in the 2016 scene is the Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, which was built above I-91 and provides access to the parks along the river.

Temple Street from Market Street, Hartford, Connecticut

February 9, 2018August 29, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking west on Temple Street from Market Street, around 1903-1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Temple Street in 2016:

When the first photo was taken, Temple Street extended for two block from Main Street to Front Street (now Columbus Boulevard), but it was later reduced by half, and today ends here at Market Street. This scene shows the same intersection as the photos in the previous two posts here and here, and some of the same buildings are identifiable from the other photos, including the police department building on the left in the first photo, and the commercial block/boarding house on the right, which housed everything from a barber shop to a bicycle shop to a laundromat.

Today, the only building left standing is in the distance on the right side of the street, at the corner of Main Street. Known as the Cheney Building, this Hartford landmark was completed in 1876, and was designed by prominent architect Henry Hobson Richardson. It has survived 140 years of redevelopment and urban renewal, and it is now a hotel, with shops and restaurants on the lower floors.

Market Street from Temple Street, Hartford, Connecticut (2)

August 29, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking south on Market Street from Temple Street, on April 22, 1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Market Street in 2016:

Taken from the same spot as the photos in the previous post, these photos here show Market Street in the opposite direction, toward State Street. This section of the street is closer to the center of downtown Hartford, so while the previous post shows older buildings used primarily for housing immigrants, this block is more commercially developed. The building on the far right in the first photo was the police station, which was built on the site of the old city hall. In the distance is the American Hotel, which was located across State Street. It opened during the first half of the 19th century, and was a prominent Hartford hotel for many years, before being demolished in 1925.

Along with the American Hotel, all of the other buildings in the first photo were eventually demolished. Based on the architecture, most of these brick commercial buildings were probably built around the 1870s or 1880s, although the wooden Greek Revival building on the left is undoubtedly older. However, they were all demolished by the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the section of Hartford north of State Street and east of Main Street was demolished and redeveloped to build Constitution Plaza.

Market Street from Temple Street, Hartford, Connecticut

August 28, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Market Street from Temple Street, around 1903-1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Market Street in 2016:

This view shows the same block as the photos in an earlier post, just viewed from the opposite direction. Like in the previous post, the only building left standing is the former St. Anthony’s Church on the left. The church is mostly hidden by other buildings in the first photo, but the cross and part of the roof are visible just to the left of the center. Aside from the church, the rest of the buildings in the first photo were a mix of residential and commercial uses, including businesses such as Sharff’s First Class Barber Shop on the left. The same building also had a bicycle shop, and several young boys appear to be looking at the bicycles that were on display on the sidewalk. According to a 1903 city directory, the building also had a laundromat, which was run by Chinese immigrant Quong Chung.

Along with Chung, there were plenty of other immigrants who lived in this neighborhood. The upper floors of the building on the left were used as a boarding house, and at the 1900 census there were at least 14 people living here, most of whom were either born in Ireland or had parents who were born there. Across the street, Quong Chung lived in the three-story, flat-roofed building on the right, which was also home to other immigrants from Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, and Russia. All of these buildings, with the exception of the church, were demolished by the early 1960s, when the neighborhood was redeveloped into Constitution Plaza.