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The Hartford Municipal Building, also known as Hartford City Hall, is a historic Beaux-Arts structure located at 550 Main Street in
The Municipal Building is located south of Hartford's downtown central business district, and is bounded on the west, south and east by Main, Arch, and Prospect Streets. It is separated from the Wadsworth Atheneum by the Burr Memorial Mall, a former roadway converted into pedestrian plaza. The structure is built of brick faced with Bethel white granite, a copper and tile roof, and doors made of
Pictures of the Hartford Municipal Building
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510231629/http://hartford.omaxfield.com/citycenter/munibldg.html , date=2015-05-10
Municipal Building — Hartford Preservation Alliance
(National Register of Historic Places. Inventory—Nomination Form) Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut City halls in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut Government buildings completed in 1915 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. Completed in 1915, it is a prominent local example of Beaux-Arts architecture, and is the third building to serve as city hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1981.
Description and history
Hartford's first city hall was a Greek Revival building, erected in 1827 and located at the corner of Market and Kingsley Streets. In 1897, the city offices were moved to the 1796 Old State House, which the state had made available after construction of the presentConnecticut State Capitol
The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the Connecticut Sen ...
. It was soon judged to be too small, and the present building was completed in 1915 after a design competition. Davis & Brooks
Davis & Brooks was an American architectural firm based in Hartford, Connecticut, active from 1897 to 1919. It was established by F. Irvin Davis (1869-1944) and William F. Brooks (1872-1950). Among their projects is the Hartford Municipal Build ...
, the winning architects, were local architects who had recently designed an addition to the high school. They shared the honor with Palmer & Hornbostel of New York and Pittsburgh, who were associated in the design, though the project was executed by Davis & Brooks alone. Land for the building was donated by J. Pierpont Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. As the head of the banking firm that ...
, who sought a suitable use for the parcel adjacent to a wing he had recently donated to the Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...
.
The Municipal Building is located south of Hartford's downtown central business district, and is bounded on the west, south and east by Main, Arch, and Prospect Streets. It is separated from the Wadsworth Atheneum by the Burr Memorial Mall, a former roadway converted into pedestrian plaza. The structure is built of brick faced with Bethel white granite, a copper and tile roof, and doors made of bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
. It has a three-story central atrium which is wide and long, decorated with panels depicting the history of the city of Hartford. The basement level has extensive Guastavino tile
The Guastavino tile arch system is a version of the Catalan vault introduced to the United States in 1885 by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). It was patented in the United States by Guastavino in 1892.
Descript ...
vaulting.
See also
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut
__NOTOC__
This is a list of properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and historic district (United States), districts on the National Register of H ...
References
External links
Pictures of the Hartford Municipal Building
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510231629/http://hartford.omaxfield.com/citycenter/munibldg.html , date=2015-05-10
Municipal Building — Hartford Preservation Alliance
(National Register of Historic Places. Inventory—Nomination Form) Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut City halls in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut Government buildings completed in 1915 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut