A series of entries designed to capture the ongoing adventures of NINA! See how we came to be where we are today, and follow along as we enter the new century of social media!
Page: 30In between the south parlor and the passage to the kitchen, there’s a line of inlaid wood. You can mostly see it in the photo of the parlor, there on the floor to the right of the fireplace. There’s a similar line of inlaid wood between the north parlor and the dining room. What do they mean? They represent the original front of the house – the front section of 115, including both parlors on the first floor and the two front bedrooms on the second floor, was an addition to the house. It was probably built in the 1890s, following the death of Samuel F. Jones, who built the original house (i.e., the rear section). At that time, his widow, daughter, and son-in-law James Plimpton moved in, and they would have needed the additional space. It’s not clear whether they moved in before or after the addition was built, but of course we’ll try to track that information down.
The town homes are taking shape.
Chris Montross and Brenda Pabon stopped by the project site today for some photos to salute Aetna’s contribution to the new homes at 86 and 88 Hawthorn Street. Aetna has contributed directly to the project through funding and volunteers, but even more critically Aetna donated the land on which these two town homes – as well as the two yet to come at 80 and 82 – occupy. Aetna has been instrumental in the transformation of the Nook Farm section of Asylum Hill, supporting the work of our peers on South Marshall Street and Laurel Street as well as taking the lead role as a major supporter of our project at 1 Imlay Street. And of course, Aetna is one of NINA’s member institutions, and Aetna supports our operations annually and has done so since helping to create NINA in 2003.
Pictured here are Chris and Brenda with Ken Johnson, standing in the bay window of 86 Hawthorn and holding architectural renderings of all four town homes that will eventually occupy this site.
A group of volunteers from Aetna worked at 86 Hawthorn today, helping to finish framing the first floor and starting to work on the second floor.
A group from The Hartford came down to 86 Hawthorn today to pitch in with the framing. The group included Andy Daly and Rachel Pattison, both members of NINA’s board of directors. It was a blistering hot day, but they worked hard, stayed hydrated, and had a good time.
The old ServCorps gang got back together for a day of framing at 86 Hawthorn.
Edward Peltier and Jean Linderman from the American School for the Deaf came down today to take people on a tour of the former campus of their school – which, of course, is currently The Hartford. They led an informative tour that showed people where the school’s various buildings had been, and they explained the connections the neighborhood still has to the school: Asylum Avenue, Cogswell Street, and the statue of Alice Cogswell in Gallaudet Triangle.
Among the things we learned today: students from the school once lobbied Hartford to change the name of Asylum Avenue to something else.
Ed and Jean will be back next year, so if you missed the tour today make sure you don’t miss out in 2020!
A peek into the future living area on the third floor.
Carl of Farmington Valley Wall Concepts painting the gable.
Back in 1947, some developers started work on Marshall Gardens, a complex comprising 10 buildings that were planned to be affordable housing for veterans returning from World War II. At the same time, the Connecticut Highway Commission, precursor to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, was planning for the East-West Expressway through Hartford. The expressway, better known now as Interstate 84, had three different paths through the center of the city, but the Highway Commission wasn’t in any hurry.
Until, that is, they found out about Marshall Gardens. he developers had gotten as far as framing their new buildings when the Highway Commission condemned the three southernmost buildings and seized the land on which they sat through eminent domain. They demolished the frames, and they backfilled the foundations. As it turned out, the expressway would go a bit to the south of this property, and the property eventually became parking for the factory across the street (which burned down in 1994) before it passed to Aetna.
Today, that property is 80-88 Hawthorn Street. Pictured above are the concrete slabs we found when we excavated for the foundation at 86-88 Hawthorn – they comprised the old foundation of one of the condemned Marshall Gardens buildings. In the background, the brick building is the southernmost building of Marshall Gardens that remains.
In case you’re wondering, yes, the Department of Transportation will affect Hawthorn Street again, once it figures out what it will do to the I-84 Viaduct. Everything old is new again.
