Connecticut Archives - Page 30 of 39

Morgan Street, Hartford, Connecticut

August 27, 2016August 17, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking west on Morgan Street from near the corner of Front Street (today’s Columbus Boulevard), on August 21, 1903. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

The view just two months later, on October 25, 1903. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

The scene in 2016:

For many years, the only bridge across the Connecticut River at Hartford was here at the foot of Morgan Road, just behind the photographer. The original covered bridge that had been built here in 1818 burned down in 1895, and although a temporary replacement was soon built here, a more permanent bridge was in the works. The city ultimately chose a stone arch bridge, which was completed in 1908 and is still standing as the Bulkeley Bridge. As part of the project, they designed broad avenues on either side of the bridge, which required demolition along Morgan Street.

As seen in the first two photos, Morgan Street was fairly narrow, and passed through the working-class neighborhood on the east side of the city. Looking to improve this and provide a more impressive entryway into the city, they demolished the buildings on both sides of the street to widen it. Although taken only two months apart, the first two photos here show the demolition progress, with at least five of the buildings gone by the time the second photo was taken. The buildings that were still standing were covered in advertisements, including the one on the far left that has posters for plays entitled “The Christian” and “A Working Girl’s Wrongs.”

In later years, further transportation improvements would reshape Morgan Street again. With the coming of the Interstate Highway System, this spot just west of the Bulkeley Bridge became the intersection of I-91, Connecticut’s primary north-south route, and I-84, one of the main east-west routes in the state. Any of the early 20th century efforts to make Morgan Street a grand boulevard were completely undone by the 1970s, when I-84 was built directly above the street. Today, instead of being lined with the tenement houses and merchant storefronts that once stood here, the street is now surrounded by parking garages and elevated highways.

Charles Street, Hartford, Connecticut (2)

August 18, 2016August 17, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking south on Charles Street from Talcott Street in Hartford, on March 4, 1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Charles Street in 2016:

This view shows the same block as an earlier post, just from the opposite direction, facing south toward Kilbourn Street. As with the other photo, most of the 19th century buildings here appear to be either industrial buildings or tenement homes, which would have housed this neighborhood’s large population of Italian immigrants. Behind the camera, Charles Street once continued north to Morgan Street, but that section of the road has since been completely destroyed to build Interstate 91, leaving just this southern one-block stretch of Charles Street, sandwiched between the highway to the left, an office building to the right, and an exit ramp for Interstate 91 directly above it.

Talcott Street, Hartford, Connecticut

August 17, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking west on Talcott Street from Front Street (now Columbus Boulevard) in Hartford, around 1903-1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Talcott Street in 2016:

As mentioned in previous posts, this neighborhood along Front Street in the eastern part of Hartford was once home to a large Italian community. When the first photo was taken, the building on the right was owned by Felix Mainello, an Italian immigrant who operated a saloon at the corner. His wife Mary was also an immigrant, from Ireland, and they lived in the back part of the building along Talcott Street. They also rented out apartments in the building, with the 1910 census showing 9 other households with a total of 42 people, nearly all of whom were born in Italy. A good number of them only spoke Italian, and many had vague occupations like “Laborer” working “odd jobs.”

As with the rest of the neighborhood, this entire scene was demolished between 1958 and 1962 to build Constitution Plaza. Today, there is nothing left from the original photo in the two blocks between here and Main Street in the distance. The site of Mainello’s saloon is now a parking garage, and in the distance modern high-rise buildings line Main Street, with several pedestrian walkways over Talcott Street as well.

Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, Connecticut (2)

August 16, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Front Street (now Columbus Boulevard) from the corner of Temple Street, on April 1, 1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Columbus Boulevard in 2016:

Taken just a little further north from an earlier post, there is a lot going on in the first photo. The photo was taken on a Sunday, and the shadows indicate that it was sometime in the morning, so the street is busy, perhaps with people heading to or from church. This neighborhood had a large immigrant population, especially Italians, and many of the boys posing for the photographer in the distance were probably first generation Americans. The buildings in this scene are a mix of architectural styles, with most probably dating back to the mid-19th century, and there are a number of shops in the first floor storefronts, including a grocery store on the far left at the corner of Temple Street, and what appears to be a bar on the far right.

It was once Hartford’s “Little Italy,” but the largely poor neighborhood was hit hard by floods in 1936 and 1938, and over the next couple of decades it continued to decay. Because of its close proximity to downtown, it was eyed for redevelopment, so from 1958 to 1962 the entire neighborhood was demolished to build Constitution Plaza. The project added high-rise buildings to the area, but over the years it has also received widespread criticism for displacing its residents and isolating the plaza from the rest of the city, creating nearly empty streetscapes like the 2016 photo here.

Charles Street, Hartford, Connecticut

August 16, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Charles Street from Kilbourn Street, on March 4, 1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Charles Street in 2016:

The first photo here shows Charles Street as a narrow alley, with what appear to be tenement homes lining both sides of the street. A 1917 city atlas shows that nearly all of the buildings along this street had owners with Italian surnames, so this street was probably home to a number of immigrants. I don’t know if the people in the photo are posing for the camera or eyeing the photographer suspiciously, but they add an interesting human element to the photo, with the well-dressed men smoking pipes on the right side, and the assortment of men and boys on the left side. There are also a few people visible in the distance near the center of the photo, leaning over the railing of a second-floor porch to see the photographer.

The entire neighborhood, including all of Charles Street, was demolished by the early 1960s. To the left is an office building, which is part of Constitution Plaza, and to the right on the embankment just beyond the trees is Interstate 91. Charles Street is still a back alley, although instead of housing poor immigrants it is now a service road running behind the office building on the left.

Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, Connecticut

August 12, 2016August 12, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Front Street (now Columbus Boulevard) from near Kilbourn Street, on April 1, 1906. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

Columbus Boulevard in 2016:

The first photo shows Front Street just a little further north from the one in this earlier post, which was taken a week later. The view here shows a neighborhood with a wide variety of architecture, from relatively modern four-story commercial blocks to wood-frame houses that probably dated back the the 1700s. The gambrel roofed building just to the left of center was probably one of the oldest, and was likely used as a tenement house by the time the 1906 photo was taken. Several businesses are also identifiable in the first photo, including a grocery store on the left and the Kilburn Cafe on the right, with “cafe” being a euphemism for a bar.

Many of these buildings were likely gone by the 1950s, but any that were left standing were demolished by the early 1960s to build Constitution Plaza, replacing the neighborhood with the hotels, office buildings, and parking garages in the 2016 photo. Part of the design was to build the plaza above street level, and connect the different buildings with pedestrian walkways like the one seen here. The result was a complex that was largely isolated from the city streets, and even though the second photo was taken in the middle of the day on a weekday, the street is completely devoid of any pedestrians, unlike the much more vibrant appearance of the first photo.