Coltsville Historic District

Coltsville Historic District
Location Hartford, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°45′13.89″N 72°40′29.03″W / 41.7538583°N 72.6747306°WCoordinates: 41°45′13.89″N 72°40′29.03″W / 41.7538583°N 72.6747306°W
Built 1855
Architectural style Italianate
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 66000802
Significant dates
Added to NRHP November 13, 1966[1]
Designated NHLD July 22, 2008[2]

Coltsville Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in Hartford, Connecticut. The district encompasses the factory, worker housing, and owner residences associated with Samuel Colt (1814-1862), one of the nation's early innovators in precision manufacturing and the production of firearms. The district is a 2008 expansion of a National Historic Landmark designation of Colt's mansion, Armsmear, that was originally made in 1966, and encompasses the entire community planned and built by Colt, including his factories, worker housing, and community facilities such as Colt Park.[3]

Description and significance

The Coltsville District is a large area south of downtown Hartford, bounded on the north by Wyllys and Charter Oak Avenues, on the east by Van Dyke Avenue and the Connecticut River, on the south by Warwarme Avenue, and on the west by Wethersfield Avenue. This area was developed by Samuel Colt, and after his death by his widow Elizabeth, after Colt constructed dikes to shelter the area from periodic flooding. The district encompasses a number of listings on the National Register of Historic Places in addition to Armsmear: the Colt Industrial District (which includes the Colt Armory as well as some associated worker housing and Colt Park), the James B. Colt House, the Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House, and several properties contributing to the Parkside Historic District.[4]

Samuel Colt is known as the inventor of the revolver, but he was also an innovator in the development of factory methods and processes, enabling the mass production of his high-precision products. His business practices were also innovative, involving not just a shrewd use of patents to protect his products, but also new developments in marketing and business organization to create a highly successful business which long outlived him. This success was propagated in part by his wife Elizabeth, who continued to run his businesses for forty years after his death in 1862.[4] In December, 2014, legislation was passed authorizing the creation of the Coltsville National Historical Park incorporating much of the Historic District.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23.
  2. ↑ "Samuel Colt Home". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  3. ↑ "Coltsville Special Resource Study".
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "NHL nomination for Coltsville Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-12-08.
  5. ↑ http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-coltsville-what-next-20141212-story.html#page=1. Missing or empty |title= (help)