Colt Park is a city park in the southeast
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 ...
neighborhood of Sheldon/Charter Oak. The park was established from the former
Armsmear Estate of
Samuel Colt and
Elizabeth Jarvis Colt which was gifted to the city upon her death in 1905. Today the park is home to playgrounds, sports fields, a pool and
Dillon Stadium. Colt Park 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 ...
on June 8, 1976, designated as part of the
Colt Industrial District, valued for its association with industrialist
Samuel Colt. It is bounded by Wawarme, Wethersfield, Hendricxsen, Van Dyke Avenues and Stonington, Maseek and Sequassen Streets.
The grounds were originally developed in
High Victorian Gothic style, and served as Colt's exclusive "pleasure-grounds." It was complete with large reflecting pools, rustic furnishings, fountains, urns, statuary, artificial ponds for fish and foul, a deer park, orchards, fields and more.
Pope Park and Colt Park were the last major additions to the City of Hartford Parks System in 1898 and 1905, respectively. The two parks were intended to serve the traditionally working-class
Hartford neighborhoods of Frog Hollow, Parkville, and Front Street.
In 2019, Public Field #9 was renamed in honor of Hartford native and
Negro league baseball player
Johnny "Schoolboy" Taylor.
Dillon Stadium
The lands for
Dillon Stadium were a part of the original Colt gift. The stadium was
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was a program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, building on the Hoover administration's Emergency Relief and Construction Act. It was replaced in 1935 by the Works Progre ...
relief project and was dedicated in 1935, with the related Field House erected in 1939. Stadium seating capacity is 9,600, and includes a block west of the stadium for dedicated surface parking. It has been host to various concerts and sports teams throughout its history. After not having been used for some years, the stadium was refurbished and partly rebuilt in 2018-19. It is the current home of the
Hartford Athletic.
Dillon Stadium homepage
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See also
* Bushnell Park
* Elizabeth Park
* Pope Park
References
External links
Colt Park and Dillon Stadium Home Page
Colt Park Foundation
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National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Geography of Hartford, Connecticut
Parks in Hartford County, Connecticut
Tourist attractions in Hartford, Connecticut
Urban public parks