Congress Street (Hartford, Connecticut)

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Congress Street
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Location Both sides of Congress St. from Wyllys to Morris Sts., 54-58 Maple Ave., Hartford, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°45′16″N72°40′34″W / 41.75444°N 72.67611°W / 41.75444; -72.67611 Coordinates: 41°45′16″N72°40′34″W / 41.75444°N 72.67611°W / 41.75444; -72.67611
Area 10 acres (4.0 ha)
Built 1855 (1855)
Architect Bissell,H. & S.
Architectural style Greek Revival, Italianate
NRHP reference # 75001927 [1]  (original)
92000903  (increase)
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 6, 1975
Boundary increase July 24, 1992

Congress Street is a city street in the South Green neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut. Extending for a single block from the South Green to Morris Street, it was developed in the 1850s with modest two-family residences, with infill development of larger apartment blocks around the turn of the 20th century. The entire street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as a good example of a well-preserved late-19th century residential street. [1]

Hartford, Connecticut capital of Connecticut

Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. The city is nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", as it hosts many insurance company headquarters and is the region's major industry. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. Census estimates since the 2010 United States Census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

Description

Congress Street is located south of downtown Hartford. It is a narrow one-way street extending south from its junction with Wyllys Street at South Green, to Morris Street. It is lined with paved sidewalks on both sides, which are separated from the street by a section of cobblestone construction and granite curbs. At the northern end of the street is its only commercial building, a triangular "flatiron" building shaped by the junction of Maple Avenue, Wyllys, and Congress. It houses commercial establishments on the ground floor and residences on the upper floors. The west side of the street is predominantly lined by a series of Italianate two-family brick houses built in the late 1850s, while the east side is taken up by larger apartment block dating to the turn of the 20th century. [2]

Congress Street was laid out in 1855, serving in part as an access to the back sides of large mansion houses facing Wethersfield Avenue, which it parallels to the east, and whose properties extended all the way to Congress Street. The west side of Congress Street was developed in the 1850s, benefiting from the growth of the Colt Armory to the east. Prominent residents of the early period included Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney, machinists who founded a business now known as Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems, and whose names grace the more well-known Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine manufacturer. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of the estates facing Wethersfield Avenue were subdivided or redeveloped, and the apartment blocks facing Congress Street were built. The area underwent a major rehabilitation in the 1970s to restore its 19th-century character. [2]

Francis A. Pratt American businessman

Francis Ashbury Pratt was a Connecticut mechanical engineer, inventor, and co-founder of Pratt & Whitney.

Amos Whitney American businessman

Amos Whitney was a mechanical engineer and Connecticut inventor born in Biddeford, Maine. In 1860 he partnered with Francis A. Pratt to organize the Pratt & Whitney company to manufacture machine tools, tools for the makers of sewing machines, and gun making machinery for use by the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems

Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems is an American multinational corporation that specializes in producing high-precision measuring instruments and systems.

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Congress Street". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-05-03.