The Webster Memorial Building is a historic house at 36 Trumbull Street in downtown

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 ...

. Built in 1870 and extensively restyled in 1924, it is a rare example of Georgian Revival architecture in the downtown area, noted for its historical association with the Family Services Society, a prominent local charity. The building, now in other commercial use, was listed on 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 1982.

Description and history

The Webster Memorial Building is situated at the northeast corner of Trumbull and Jewell Streets on the west side of Hartford's downtown area, facing one of the main entrances to

Bushnell Park Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the second oldest publicly funded park in the United States, after Boston Common, which was established in 1634, and converted to a park in the 1830’s. Bushnell Park was conceived by the Reverend Hora ...

. It is a three-story brick structure with a flat roof and a decorative wooden carved cornice. The main facade spans five bays, with most windows set in rectangular openings featuring brownstone sills and lintels. The main entrance is recessed within the central bay and is framed by a projecting portico supported by paired Corinthian columns. These columns uphold a frieze bearing the building's name, above which rests a cornice and a step adorned with a pair of urns. The bay above the entrance showcases a window flanked by pilasters and crowned by a broken segmented-arch pediment. The building was originally constructed in 1870 as a private three-unit apartment house, designed in the then-popular Italianate style, featuring a bracketed cornice. In 1925, it was acquired by the Charity Organization Society, a philanthropic organization established in 1890. The purchase was made possible by a bequest from John Webster, a local insurance executive. The society decided to remodel the building for its own use and enlisted the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

firm of

Allen & Collens Allen & Collens was an American architectural firm based in Boston. It was initially established by architect Francis R. Allen in 1879. After two early partnerships he formed Allen & Collens in 1903 with Charles Collens. Th ...

, renowned for their work on the Hartford Theological Seminary, to oversee the project. It is to Allen & Collens that the building owes its present exterior appearance. Renamed the Family Services Society, the organization has been at the forefront of social service endeavors in collaboration with other local charities since its inception.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut Houses completed in 1870 Houses in Hartford, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References