My wife had a business trip to Boston, so I went along to do some sight seeing. One of the things I did was to drive to Springfield to visit the Armory and then swing down to Hartford, CT to see the old Colt factory.
The area was designated a National Historical Park 4 years ago, but not much has actually been done in the intervening years. Here is a link to an excellent article about the glacial progress: https://ctmirror.org/2017/11/27/coltsville-crawls-toward-formal-national-park-status/
This is the front side that faces I-91 and the Connecticut River. The river is located just on the other side of the highway.
A part of the factory has been reused for other purposes, including schools, technology businesses, and a brew pub that I failed to photograph. The majority of the buildings appear to be vacant though.
The backside of the old factory.
Coltsville is the area surrounding the old factory that once housed the factory workers. Colt essentially created a village intended to attract and maintain a stable work force, and some of the housing was specifically designed to remind workers of Germany. Most of it is now a public park with ball fields, but some of the housing remains in use.
Colt's son Caldwell drowned at sea. His mother built this parish house to remember him.
The park includes a monument to Samuel Colt. It is now home to the homeless. The neighborhood in the area is not a pretty one, it is pretty run down, and I would have felt more comfortable if I had a Colt while I was there.
Armsmear is the mansion that Colt built for his family. It is now used as a home for poor single women. There is no access to it for the public, but it appears it is well maintained though.
The area was designated a National Historical Park 4 years ago, but not much has actually been done in the intervening years. Here is a link to an excellent article about the glacial progress: https://ctmirror.org/2017/11/27/coltsville-crawls-toward-formal-national-park-status/
This is the front side that faces I-91 and the Connecticut River. The river is located just on the other side of the highway.
A part of the factory has been reused for other purposes, including schools, technology businesses, and a brew pub that I failed to photograph. The majority of the buildings appear to be vacant though.
The backside of the old factory.
Coltsville is the area surrounding the old factory that once housed the factory workers. Colt essentially created a village intended to attract and maintain a stable work force, and some of the housing was specifically designed to remind workers of Germany. Most of it is now a public park with ball fields, but some of the housing remains in use.
Colt's son Caldwell drowned at sea. His mother built this parish house to remember him.
The park includes a monument to Samuel Colt. It is now home to the homeless. The neighborhood in the area is not a pretty one, it is pretty run down, and I would have felt more comfortable if I had a Colt while I was there.
Armsmear is the mansion that Colt built for his family. It is now used as a home for poor single women. There is no access to it for the public, but it appears it is well maintained though.
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