{"id":675,"date":"2018-05-16T20:26:29","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T20:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scholarscollaborative.org\/Hartford\/?p=675"},"modified":"2018-05-17T17:53:52","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T17:53:52","slug":"the-colt-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scholarscollaborative.org\/Hartford\/infrastructure\/the-colt-building\/","title":{"rendered":"The Colt Building"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Buildings of Hartford: The Colt Building<\/strong><\/h1>\n

by Vanessa Villar<\/p>\n

You may be surprised to discover the historical significance that lives in Hartford. The city of Hartford, CT has transformed on multiple occasions since its initial development due to industrialization, transportation, commercial and corporate development. Despite these changes, its historical significance is preserved in the architecture of the city. The architecture in Downtown Hartford specifically demonstrates the changes that occurred prominently in the 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

The Colt Building<\/h5>\n

In the era of industrialization, one of the most notable industries was the Colt Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company founded by Samuel Colt<\/a><\/strong>. In 1836, Colt patent the first revolving cylinder gun in Paterson, New Jersey (Simon). The firearms production was slow and essentially failed due to the challenging economy and struggle of starting a business. However, Colt remained hopeful and in 1846 he received a letter from Samuel Walker, a Texas Ranger, who had successfully used Colt\u2019s gun in combat and raved it as the \u201cweapon of advantage on the Great Plains\u201d (Simon). \u00a0Due to this praise, the sales of Colt\u2019s arm increased enough to motivate Colt to develop an armory in his hometown of Hartford, CT. While representing the American manufacturing at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, Colt is impressed by the British model of industrial communities. This inspiration to recreate such a community called \u201cColtsville,\u201d to not only be driven by armory but also equip additional facilities, worker\u2019s housing, community centers, and a home for him and his wife Elizabeth Colt (Holsey).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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